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Karol Richardson, a London born designer, specializes in comfort as well as style. Her three boutiques located on Cape Cod and Newport, RI have been catering to a multitude of women for the last eighteen years. Celebrating ten years in Newport and eighteen on Cape Cod, Karol Richardson has become a shopping staple for many women. Karol designs for herself and states "I am not a fashion designer, I design clothing. My goal is for every woman to feel like herself and to look fantastic while doing so." The locally manufactured collection is designed and produced in New England. The line, sold exclusively at her three stores incorporates sporty and casual with elegant and sophisticated. It has a timeless element that enables Karol's customers to wear their purchases for years to come, enjoying excellent quality and unique fabrications. Karol Richardson also carries a wide range of designers that compliment Karol's own designs including handbags, shoes, jewelry and gifts. Come visit us at any of our three locations and experience rich textures, sophisticated designs, and excellent customer service!
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In Style with Karol Richardson
by Deborah J. Carr
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I recently had the good fortune to interview Karol Richardson, a clothing designer and the owner of two clothing boutiques on the Cape (in Orleans and Wellfleet) and the new Karol Richardson shop in Newport, Rhode Island. Not only that, but I was tempted by her dazzling designs to purchase two outfits, and am happy to add another first-rate clothing boutique to my list of favorite shops on the Cape.
Karol Richardson, whom Access magazine has described as "a London-born clothing designer of extraordinary talent" came to the Cape by way of London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. A graduate of the London College of Fashion, Karol also
attended art school at Loreto College in England. Her first designs, which were published in the London Sunday Times, led her to a position with a Los Angeles manufacturer, and then on to Seventh Avenue before moving to Wellfleet.
Her clothes are carried in over 80 boutiques throughout the country, and her designs have been noted by Women's Wear
Daily, Los Angeles Sunday Times, McCall's, SoHo News, New York Times, and New Age Magazine as some of the best around. And she's right here on the Cape!
In a refreshing example of art imitating life, Karol's design principles reflect her personal and corporate philosophy -- her designs are fluid, elegant, practical and stylish; her personal philosophy is organic, considerate, creative and respectful; her corporate philosophy is egalitarian, quality-driven, team- and client-oriented. Her beautifully appointed shops, which have the immaculate, uncluttered feeling of art galleries, carry her own clothing designs, as well as the jewelry, clothing and accessories of other designers who are known for impeccable quality and unique concepts.
Karol's tag line "I hate fashion--I always describe myself as a clothing designer" may be true; however, it shouldn't be over-interpreted. She designs clothing that has been described as "easy, very comfortable, slightly sophisticated, with a very casual air." Philosophically, she thinks fashion is the antithesis of style if it means gimmicky, uncomfortable, or unflattering clothing. "I appreciate style. I like timeless clothing that's beautiful to see, feels comfortable, special, and is made well." Her clothing is all of the above--the shapes and fabrics of the garments allow for variations in wear and accessorizing, and the range of sizes is extensive with designs cut to fit petite to large sizes. The details incorporated, from fabric mixing to accent braiding and exceptional buttons, allow the pieces to stand by themselves. Classic quality and construction define her designs--people don't just buy her clothing; they collect it.
While working on her first full-time job in Los Angeles, Karol confronted a reality that became essential to her life choices. She realized the value of time. More to the point, she realized she was willing to sacrifice salary for time. She negotiated a three-month-on, three-month-off work schedule so she could visit family and friends in Europe.
Her flex-time trade-off ultimately proved to be quite profitable. Her three months off gave her fresh inspiration for her creations and the sale of her designs topped all her competition. She had learned an important lesson about priorities, motivation and performance. Time has always been important to her, so she has adjusted her living-scale to correspond to that priority.
Karol's basic values have influenced her clothing designs, organizational objectives and management style. She means it when she says she doesn't need or want all the money in the world. "I've never bought a new car. My secondhand cars have been just fine." She also is content with the size of her operation. All her clothing is made in New England, which allows her to pay attention to details and have direct contact with the production contractor. "If my organization were any bigger, I wouldn't have the luxury of making many of the decisions I do about quality."
Karol decided to leave New York for a more rural environment when her daughter Natasha was seven. The sight of Natasha riding her bicycle around their loft in Tribeca was eventually the push she needed to move to Wellfleet, where she had spent summer vacations. She wanted Natasha to enjoy the freedom and independence she had experienced as a child in England. "Wellfleet reminded me of the little villages in England and Spain that I had always loved. When I sold my loft in New York, it gave me a nice little nest egg for the move, and eventually enabled me to buy my three acres of land in Wellfleet."
She didn't have a long-range plan, but things evolved in her favor. "I was designing and making all of Natasha's clothing, so I decided to open my own shop, English Trifles, in Wellfleet, and sell children's clothing. I did it with such optimism and innocence. I made the entire inventory of Edwardian children's clothing myself. If I had considered the market for such items, I might not have succeeded." As it turned out, her line of beautiful children's clothing was a huge success and in such demand that, after the first summer, she went into a full-time wholesale business. "I was very lucky," says Karol. "A customer took a few samples of my children's clothing to a show in the middle of the summer. As a result, I received almost more wholesale orders than I could handle." She looks back on the venture almost as if she is considering another life.  Even now, it is obvious that the sequence of events was extremely fortuitous. English Trifles was a wild success, and she went on to design her own line of women's clothing, opening her first store in Wellfleet in 1990.
She worked in English Trifles for the first month after it opened and it gave her insight into her own preferences. "It was great for me to have direct client contact and see their response to my creations, but I realized I couldn't sell and create simultaneously." This realization has influenced her style of management in the stores. "I appreciate the people who work in my stores. Because they sell the products of my creative energy, they are stabilizing and nurturing my dreams. They are also the direct link to my clients. It is perfectly clear to me how much I rely on my staff and how essential a team structure has been for my stores. I know I can't do it all myself. If you want to grow your business, you have to delegate."
Her appreciation of her staff and acknowledgment of their value has contributed to staff loyalty and superior performance. Clients are the positive recipients of the harmonious environment of a Karol Richardson store, where staff members are highly trained, astute in product knowledge, and artful in pulling outfits together. They know and are proud of Karol's designs and their behavior reflects Karol's philosophy. "I would never want a staff person to think that making a sale is the highest priority. I want my clothing to be right for my clients. That is my priority. We would never want a client to walk out of the store in an outfit that doesn't suit her," says Karol. "If someone is wearing something I designed, I want her to look and feel terrific. We frequently receive thank-you letters and pictures from clients who have worn an outfit to a special occasion, and want us to know how it looked. I know my designs and our sales philosophy are working properly when that happens." The tremendous appeal of her clothing is testimony to the success of her basic philosophy and women who have worn Karol's designs demonstrate their loyalty to her and her collections by coming back year after year.
Karol is happy with the career choices and the decisions she has made over the years. Perhaps her decision to move to Wellfleet 20 years ago has been the most rewarding. It is also a tremendous source of pride to her that her daughter Natasha is now managing her Newport store. "Natasha went off on her own for a while, and then made her own decision to join me in the business. She is doing a fantastic job, and I think her decision-making process was productive for both of us."
Karol's design principles coupled with her personal and corporate philosophies enabled her to succeed in a notoriously competitive business, while her equation for quality of design and quality of life has proven that the elements of style can equal the elements of success.
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Simply Stunning: Always in style, the little black dress fits any occasion
By Donna Scaglione
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It can have the sex appeal of that first French kiss or the practicality of the sensible black flats you might wear with it. The little black dress can be every man’s fantasy and every woman’s dream – and that’s what makes it the must-have of every woman’s wardrobe.
| "[Audrey Hepburn] became an icon of New York sophistication in that beautiful, simple dress,” Richardson says. “I think that’s so striking. To me, that’s the quintessential little black dress.” |
Wellfleet designer Karol Richardson first experienced the full impact the perfect little black dress can have when she was a 6-year old girl living in the Far East with her family.
“My parents were on their way to one of those stuffy English balls and my mother decided to wear a simple black lace cheongsam (a body-skimming sheath with tiny buttons on a diagonal closure all the way up to the mandarin collar) that her tailor had whipped up for her practically overnight,” she recalls. “I still have a photo of her looking impossibly elegant in a sea of pastel crinolines.”
Another image made all the more memorable by the little black dress is that of Audrey Hepburn sporting a chignon and long cigarette holder in the classic film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
She became an icon of New York sophistication in that beautiful, simple dress,” Richardson says. “I think that’s so striking. To me, that’s the quintessential little black dress.”
Richardson designs hers simply, but with a special tuck here and there, or a pocket.
“As soon as you put it on, you feel fabulous,” she says.
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