One home shopping network that's really at home
Source: Boston Globe ()
One home shopping network that’s really at home
Luxury lines, personal attention come under one friendly roof
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By
Erin Skrypek
Globe Correspondent
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November 22, 2007
WELLESLEY - Lots of women sneak out of the office to go shopping on their lunch break. But how many speed off to someone’s home in Wellesley to buy a $798 sweater or an $1,800 cashmere wrap?More than you think.No, some suburbanite hasn’t gone all “Desperate Housewives” and started selling bootleg designer goods out of her basement. On a recent afternoon, well-heeled professionals and affluent moms were visiting Jennifer Sleeper, a sales associate for The Worth Collection, one of several clothing companies eschewing department stores and boutiques and focusing instead on direct sales. Think of the gatherings as Tupperware parties where consultants sell upscale clothing, rather than candy-colored kitchenware.Amber Dahl, a stay-at-home mom, came all the way to Wellesley from Cohasset for the Worth event. She bought about 10 pieces of clothing, three of which she’ll wear for black-tie events.”[W]hat I love about the eventwear is that they are pieces you can go back to. I could put this jacket with jeans and wear it for day,” Dahl said of a midnight blue jacket with a hint of sparkle.If the idea of shopping for a single brand of clothing in someone’s home seems antithetical to the buy-anything-anytime ethos of the Internet era, it is - and that’s part of the allure. Company executives compare direct fashion sales to the traditions of couture society, when women shopped by going to a designer’s atelier and placing orders for an entire season.The New York-based Worth, started in 1991, isn’t the only one selling direct. Carlisle and Doncaster have been selling their clothing through private appointments with their sales associates for Just last year, Bill Blass licensed Bill Blass New York, the first designer-label direct sales collection. …