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ONE-ON-ONE - October 2005
by Ed G. Lane
'Once a Lady Feels Good in What She's Wearing, She Glows'
Calumet Farm owner talks about fashion and entrepreneurship in Lexington
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Arianne de Kwiatkowski
Arianne de Kwiatkowski is the daughter of Henryk de Kwiatkowski, who purchased Calumet Farm at a 1992 public auction. Upon her father’s death, a trust based in the Bahamas took title to the property.
Arianne and her brother Stephan now live at Calumet. Together with equine experts, the de Kwiatkowski family manages the horse farm.
In 2003, Arianne moved to Lexington from Geneva, Switzerland with her two children. Her one-of-a-kind clothing line – Arianne de K – also crossed the Atlantic Ocean and now resides in the Bluegrass. The designs, conceived and produced exclusively by her company, have been described as “sexy, sophisticated, and representing the delicate side of femininity with confidence.”
The Lane Report interviewed her on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Calumet Farm. |
EL: Arianne, where were you born?
Arianne de Kwiatkowski: I was born in New York City at New York City Hospital.
EL: Could you review your education and the schools you attended?
AdK: I went to school at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. and Christ Church College at Oxford University in England and studied liberal arts and European politics.
EL: What attracted you to Lexington?
AdK: I had been living in Switzerland for 12 years. I got divorced five or six years ago, but I stayed in Geneva so there weren’t too many changes for my children. But after four years, I was raising the children on my own so I figured, I’ll come back to my homeland – America. I’ve always been involved with the horses – show jumping. My siblings and I agreed it would be best to have someone here at Calumet. In any business, you really need to be hands-on in order to get the most out of it.
EL: Are you and your brother, Stephan, the two principals with the family that run the farm?
AdK: The farm is managed by our trust – so the whole family is very much involved.
EL: In addition to being an owner of Calumet Farm, you are also an entrepreneurial businesswoman. While in Geneva you created your own line of clothing – Arianne de K.
AdK: I like working with my hands and the feeling of creating something. I taught myself how to design a dress. My grandmother taught me how to sew. For me design is like logic – you figure out how to turn something into a pattern – it’s mathematics.
EL: Your father Henryk was very entrepreneurial. Do you feel your interest in business and capitalism is an inherited trait?
AdK: When you’re living with somebody like my father you get a lot of education. You get drive.
EL: Your clothing is marketed under the name Arianne de K. Please describe your product line.
AdK: The business started in Geneva with me working on my own – making dresses for three or four years – until I moved to America. In Switzerland, my clothing sold in up to three shops. Each shop had different garments – one of a kind.
In Kentucky, it’s much the same, but here I have Amanda Hedges helping me operate the business. We still sell in Switzerland – to one main shop in particular, and other shops. We’re expanding more and more. The style of my clothing is evolving, but also keeping my look. That’s my signature.
EL: A couple of quotes that I read from the Internet were, “classy yet provocative” and “it flatters a woman’s curves” – are those a good descriptions of your product?
AdK: Yes – definitely. For sure. It’s about identifying yourself through my clothes. Once a lady feels good in what she’s wearing, she glows. That energy is what attracts people to her beauty.
Our clothes feel great, they make you feel great, they make you feel really beautiful.
EL: How do you market your product?
AdK: Some of my trademark items, like my shirts, are offered on the Internet. People can buy them on the Web from all over the world – that’s isleofyou.com.
At Bella Rose we do a lot of custom work. This is unique and something that other shops don’t offer and it’s right here in Lexington. At Bella Rose, we’ve organized three or four trunk shows a year. There will be one October 20th. At a trunk show people can also custom order from a broad selection of beautiful fabrics. Our fabrics include unique vintage materials, as well as silks.
EL: Are the clothes difficult to fit?
AdK: It’s not too tricky. Each dress can fit a range of people being that it does wrap around, so it’s not fitted with sleeves and a back, and the skirt is cut on the bias.
We have two basic sizes. The principal variance is chest size, if anything. That’s where we do special custom orders.
EL: What is the price range?
AdK: A standard price range for the evening dresses is $600. And for the day dresses it’s $400. The custom orders depend on the individual and the fabrics they choose. Wrap tops are $145.
EL: Where will your products be sold?
AdK: We’re negotiating with new shops in New York, Atlanta and England.
And I still work with the shop in Switzerland – Septieme Etage; Clodhoppers on Bardstown Road in Louisville; and Bella Rose and Isle of You in Lexington.
EL: You indicated each order is made custom. When you receive your orders do you actually make the dresses in Lexington?
AdK: Yes – we do it right here on the farm.
EL: How many units per year do you think you can make?
AdK: Amanda and I can make about two dresses per day. We could put out 12 shirts a day if the material is cut before. We can get a lot done – it’s all about teamwork.
EL: How do you prefer to market your products?
AdK: I like to work on consignment where I have hands-on with the retail shop owner. I prefer a direct relationship, because I like to get feedback. It’s almost like a test market where I can see how things will sell abroad. I like to hear what the clients want, what they don’t want, and how they feel in what they try on. I make tops for the store’s employees because they all love the product and the more excited they are about something, the better it sells. It’s about pleasing the employees at the shops as well, and making everyone happy, because if you’re happy, then it’s going to work.
EL: On consignment, your company pays the store a commission for selling; if they don’t sell, they return the clothing?
AdK: Exactly. So, it’s more benefit for me, but there’s no cost for the retailers. For them it works as well because new things come in all the time. It’s great to be in a shop day after day and see something new and not just the same rack of clothes that’s been there for the last month or two. That’s what works well on both sides.
EL: Do you consider design to be less of a manufacturing process and more of an artistic expression?
AdK: That’s very well said. And if you get into a huge manufacturing process it’s not art, it’s a business then. And for me, clothing design is artwork. That’s why the payoff is to see my design on someone at a party or in a nightclub.
EL: Amanda is your only full-time employee or associate. How do you work together?
AdK: Amanda does most of the sewing now. But there are times when she is away – it’s fun because when I get to sew, I get into a trance. My mind goes to a different level. I need to get into a creative mode to keep on working.
EL: How did you meet Amanda?
AdK: Amanda used to work at Phillip Gall’s and that’s another part where we are very compatible, because she’s introduced me to people. I go rock climbing and it’s been my favorite sport since I’ve been here. Amanda does all her kayaking – goes out to the gully and the gorge with all her group and they’ve just been the most wonderful people I’ve met here in Lexington.
EL: What is your top management problem?
AdK: It’s just getting our clothes in the right shops that attract the people and make them happy. Since I don’t work in quantity, the retailer has to be a boutique that ideally can sell both dresses and tops.
EL: Do you go out and make personal appearances at shops and show your product?
AdK: All the time. I love to walk into a shop and see people trying on my clothes and then I’ll comment, “Oh, you can do this,” and then I’ll introduce myself.
EL: Is the product in such high demand that when you send some to a shop, it just blows out the door?
AdK: Oh – that’s been happening in Switzerland. It’s funny, I got an e-mail from a lady who actually works in Rockefeller Center in New York. She was in Geneva and didn’t know anything about the Arianne de K. line being in the U.S. She saw a bunch of my things in the shop there, she tried it on, she loved it, she came back the next day with her husband to buy and they were all gone. She e-mailed saying, ‘this happened. I really want a dress,’ and now when I go to New York I’ll be bringing her some dresses.
We had one lady here who bought a dress and she went to Paris and everyone stopped her. Paris is the center of fashion. It was great for her to come back and tell Amanda and me that everyone said, ‘Wow, where did you get that dress.’ That’s a compliment. For me, I want someone to wear my dress and hear people say, ‘She’s unique, she’s creative, she shows herself through her clothes.
EL: Have sales exceeded your expectations?
AdK: I just started pushing local sales this summer. Sales in Lexington are going super-well. It really punched in right away – within the first month or so I see my clothes on the street and people are happy wearing them.
EL: What is your long-term vision for your clothing?
AdK: This line of clothing is my bread and butter. We’ll vary on fabrics and maybe I could add more detail. There will be other lines coming up, but this one will never change. This has just been such a wonderful line. I’ve made over 600 unique dresses with this design. We have a line of pants coming out to go with the tops. We’ll definitely expand – perhaps make capes and different things to go with the dresses.
The new look is very high-waisted, kind of ’40s. Kind of high-waisted because the shirts that wrap around would fit that. We’ll do high-waisted skirts, but the pants will be in silk and just float at the ankles making the body look longer. It’s just what the dresses do, they lengthen the body, which is what I strive for because I’m not the tallest person.
EL: Is there anything about Lexington that makes it difficult to conduct business here?
AdK: Getting materials – for sure. And finding more people like Amanda. Lexington is not a fashion center so it’s hard to find people that can sew, that are young and creative.
One day, we may want to do a blue jean line – Kentucky is great in all their stone blue jean washing – there’s huge productions here for that. That will be something that we could look into in the future.
EL: Do you find going to work each day to be challenging as well as exciting?
AdK: Oh yeah! There’s days when I come in and we’re just doing orders, but I need that drive, so I create. A lot of times I dream of something. I can be in our office and then it just all comes together. It’s like the light bulb goes off in my head. Great things can happen. It’s fun!
EL: Are a lot of Kentucky women wearing your clothes?
AdK: The line has been selling out in the shops. Women love them because they’re one-of-a-kind, which is a new thing for them here. It’s exciting. That’s a big part of our marketing – that they’re one-of-a-kind. Our clients go to a party and no one else will have on what they are wearing.
EL: Do you wear your clothes?
AdK: All the time. And I love them.
EL: Have you ever had a situation come up where you have a date and you’re going to some event and you say, ‘I don’t like anything I’ve got in the closet. I’m just going to make something for myself’.
AdK: Oh yeah. It’s fun, yeah. There was the Lexington Arts & Cultural Council (LACC) charity event – it was Tango night. So we made a red dress. I’m on the LACC board. I like to support local artists.
EL: Could you comment about what it is you like about the Lexington area?
AdK: While living in Switzerland I remembered what my father often said, “Live the American dream. In America you can get anything done if you want. If you have the will, there’s a way.” And I always heard him say that because he lived that life. When I moved from Switzerland to Lexington – I suddenly perceived that America is thick in that vision. Basically, I felt everything he was talking about – if you have an idea and you have the drive, you can get it done. You definitely feel that here in Lexington.
Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Consultants Inc. and publisher
of The Lane Report.
edlane@lanereport.com
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