Serena & Lily’s Breakout California Style

 

(Photo:sexy prom dresses)Serena & Lily is bringing its fresh California point of view to the world of fashion. Serena Dugan and Silicon Valley veteran Lily Kanter founded a novel direct-to-consumer home goods company twelve years ago. Last week the eponymous design brand launched its first fall fashion collection featuring distinct Serena & Lily colors, patterns, textiles, and design details, all with the professional woman on-the-go in mind. This marks the second apparel and accessories collection this year for the Sausalito-headquartered design duo.

The 39-piece fall collection offers a range of classically designed dresses, tops, pants, outerwear, belts and scarves. Each incorporates Serena & Lily’s West Coast aesthetic – dynamic colors, unique patterns, and original textiles. A tailored thatch print shirtdress, a pair of eucalyptus pattern pencil pants, and a graceful herringbone alpaca cape all uniquely reveal Serena & Lily’s California style.

The brand is making room for its fashion line amongst its laid-back rattan chairs, seaglass-bead chandeliers, and plethora of patterned throw pillows featured in the company’s carefully curated California-style catalog distributed to around 5 million customers per year. The fall collection will also be available for sale online. Price ranges: apparel $250-$595 and accessories $88-$128.

Serena Dugan leads the creative vision for the brand. Her experience as an independent artist and designer for major home retailers along with her education at the Lorenzo de’ Medici School in Florence, Italy, gave her the foundation for the company’s designs. Lily Kanter steers the business as CEO. She worked as an executive at IBM and Deloitte & Touche before leaving Microsoft with a nest egg at age 35. Kanter created the first Microsoft flagship retail store in downtown San Francisco, earning her the Chairman’s Award from Bill Gates. Companies that have invested in Serena & Lily include Protea, Forerunner Ventures and Battery Ventures.

Serena & Lily Co-Founders share more:

Kristina Moore: Why add fashion to your product line now?

Lily Kanter: Since Serena and I launched the company back in 2003, we’ve always seen Serena & Lily as a lifestyle brand because we have a point of view on style across many categories, including fashion and home. Women’s fashion is a natural extension of that vision.

Serena Dugan: And I felt like there was something missing in the market from an apparel perspective. All of our categories have been derived from a sense that there’s more to say in that category. We have such a distinct point of view of design, it felt like a category that could bear our stamp, so it just felt like a natural foray for us.

Moore: How do your collections address the needs of the professional woman?

Dugan: The approach for our fashion line is about updating classic styles for today’s woman. The shirtdress is the central axis of our apparel collection regardless of the season, because it really bears the hallmarks and attributes of the brand. Not too fussy, clean, fresh, and the wearer or person can express themselves because they are wearing their clothes, their clothes aren’t wearing them, which is perfect for the professional woman.

Kanter: Serena has designed our fashion collection with a modern woman in mind. The dresses have just the right combination of fit and flare to take you from day to night. The pencil pant and boatneck top are a great look for the office, and the colors and textures allow them to be great party-wear as well.

Moore: Serena & Lily is known for its original textiles. What are some of your favorite uses in the new fashion line?

Dugan: The eucalyptus print is featured on several home items, including napkins and wallpaper, but it takes on a whole new life in the fashion line with luxurious fabrics and rich textures.

Moore: Where do you draw design inspiration? Is it different for apparel versus home décor?

Dugan: Not to sound trite, but inspiration really is everywhere – from the streets of Morocco to my own backyard in Sausalito. It’s a matter of maintaining a curious eye and open mind. That said, I get a visual infusion by traveling the world to get a fresh perspective on colors, patterns, textures and techniques. Then I find ways to incorporate those concepts in our designs and make them work for our customers. Ultimately, designing for home and designing clothing is complementary. Our point of design differentiation for both categories is our attention to detail, quality construction, and our timeless silhouettes. We’re able to apply much of our knowledge of textiles and construction and production to apparel, while bringing a more feminine sensibility and fashion aesthetic.

Moore: Any tips to quickly update a room? A wardrobe?

Kanter: I love to play with color and pattern in unexpected places using paint and wallpaper. It’s such an easy way to make a room feel fresh and new. In our library, I added bright colors of paint and pops of coral, lime and pink, and put our Lamu wallpaper in the coffers on the ceiling.

Dugan: Accessorize! A great piece of jewelry or a new pair of shoes do for an outfit what a new range of pillows do for a sofa. Invest in something timeless (like a dress or a piece of furniture), then freshen it up with your accessories.

Moore: What is Serena & Lily’s formula for success?

Kanter: We are a design driven business with complementary partners that each have very clear domains. We balance the needs of both creativity and business with mutual respect. The healthy tension between business and design has been both our biggest challenge and our greatest advantage.

Dugan: I agree with Lily. I think our partnership has allowed us to be more than the sum of our parts and conquer a lot. Neither one of us could have started or could maintain Serena & Lily without the other. Additionally, it’s SO much more fun to have a partner in crime to celebrate the successes with, and laugh through it all!

Moore: If you were going to give advice to an aspiring entrepreneur what would it be?

Kanter: I think Jim Collins is one of the most brilliant business mentors of all time. Some of his advice that I’ve found helpful and carry with me is to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off, try new initiatives in small doses, and that hubris is the first sign of failure. And, finally, never ignore your gut feeling!

Dugan: Start with a strong view of what you want to say in the world. Make sure it isn’t being said already. Know your mission, never waver from it, and stay fueled by that purpose. You will need to return to it over and over again and be reminded of why you keep pushing uphill. Be alive with the notion that you can make a distinct and personal mark on the world, and make that your North Star.

Moore: What future plans for Serena & Lily excite and energize you?

Dugan: Getting in a rhythm and flow with fashion that is just as smooth as home, so that we can break down our barrier between home and fashion. I believe our brand is more spirit than product. If we collectively capture this notion, then the lines between fashion, home, child, adult – blur. Designing products becomes a means of storytelling about life and living. These are my hopes for the brand and business. And, I’d like to finally find that perfect storefront for an NYC Store!

Kanter: I’m really excited about our retail plans. We’re opening this year in Los Angeles and Westport, CT, and a handful of additional locations in 2016. We are developing our retail format in these major cities, and our strategy is to create locations that are unique to the area, so the architecture and design of each store will be a little bit different. Each of our stores will be special, one-of-a-kind expressions of the Serena & Lily brand.

Moore: What activities allow you to replenish your creativity and energy?

Kanter: Playing tennis has always been a way for me to clear my mind and challenge myself in a physical way. And I love traveling the world. I just returned from a month in Africa with my family. I appreciate the perspective and time away from the regular day-to-day.

Dugan: Anything and everything outdoors. I love the mountains and the beach year-round. Activity, exploration and wonderment – whether my own or my children’s – is where I derive my creativity and energy.Read more at:prom dresses uk