Designer Christine Alcalay
Designer Christine Alcalay photo by Tiff Pemberton
Designer Christine Alcalay grew up in New York City after emigrating from Vietnam with her family when she was just three years old. Her mother who was a tailor and worked in factories in the Garment District, introduced her daughter to the art of sewing. Christine attended Parsons and, while a student, studied in Paris under designer Christian Lacroix. After finishing school, Christine worked in high-end retail in order to gain skills and knowledge would be useful in the long run. She opened her first boutique KIWI, to focus on “made-to-measure” clothing and then in 2011, introduced a full “ready-to-wear” collection. In 2023 Christine opened her namesake boutique in Brooklyn NY.
Sustainability is part of every aspects of Christines business. She makes her own patterns and samples, manufacturers locally in NYC and sources fabrics from small, sustainable mills. She knows her customer well and only makes what she knows she can sell - offering pre-order as a way to base production on demand. As she says in the Fashion Designer Survival Guide "I make difficult decisions all the time. Especially when I am doing market. We don’t really need more clothing so when Im designing I ask why am I making this?”
Here are a few other insights from Christine as found in the Fashion Designer Survival Guide.
Before you start…..”Design like there is no tomorrow because once the business starts to roll, you'll find yourself dealing with contractors, stores and handling problems before you have any time to be creative with your pencil and paper. Most of the creativity that follows in the business is how to survive.”
Regarding investment….Christine has kept her business independently owned. She says “I didn’t go into this to answer to someone else. You don’t open your own business and work this hard to just become an employee.”
Regarding sales research….“You have to be smart about it. When I do trunk shows, I call the store before I go and ask - what sells well in the store, what is the weather, what is the customer like - so I know which product to bring.” She holds a trunk show at the retail store of a hat designer in LA who has a similar price point. Her clothes complement the hats and they both invite their customers to introduce them to each others brands.
What is the single most effective thing you do which affects your sales?
“Talking to my customers. I always love hearing what my customers have to say, what they love and what they can do without- Listening to them can help me understand their desires and what inspires them.”