Rebecca Taylor Says Logoff and Buy in Store
Rebecca Taylor started her fashion line two decades ago, cutting and sewing at a kitchen table in New York that she had built herself. Since then, the New Zealand-born designer has established stores in five US states.
Taylor was in Los Angeles last month to launch her new label, La Vie. The collection is predicated largely on denims – jeans in that of-the-moment high-waisted, ankle-skimming silhouette – ruffle tops, simple plaid dresses and twill jumpsuits.
Taylor is known for an aesthetic that is quietly dressy: Victorian-inspired blouses in silks and georgettes, ethereal dresses in subtle floral prints and neat peplum jackets.
She spoke with the Los Angeles Times about how fashion has come full cycle and the importance of logging off the laptop, and, at least once in a while, shopping for clothes in a store.
“When my brand first started, I had a lot of touchstones: striped T-shirts and sweaters, cargo pants, Victorian blouses – there’s a lot of Victoriana out there in New Zealand,” Taylor said. “When I started, some of my key things were a snake motto, a little sequinned slip dress, something very feminine but also downtown. Then the pendulum swung to be more austere and androgynous, and that was a tricky time for us. It’s swung back the other way. Some of the pieces we had when I started I’m now pulling out of the archives room, and they feel good again.”
Taylor still has a thriving department store business, without focusing all her efforts online.
“I still believe in brick-and-mortar,” she said. “It’s important to have a venue for people to come together socially. So much of our collection is about a mother and daughter shopping together, buying pieces for a first job interview. There’s very much an emotional component there. We train our salespeople to treat customers like family and to make the experience important. You miss that when you shop on the internet.”
Original article by Kavita Daswani, Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2016.
Photo by Rebecca Taylor.
