Mirror, Mirror: Area boutiques are restocking with indie designers

Maureen Doron, owner of the Bryn Mawr boutique Skirt, is ushering in the spring shopping season with seven new-to-her-store women's-wear lines.

This may not seem to be major fashion news, but it marks the first time in four years that Doron is selling untested designers on her store's racks. Like many other recession-weary boutique owners, Doron didn't want to take chances with a clientele that had grown price-conscious, seemingly interested only in affordable basics.

That is starting to change.

"Customers are willing to take risks again," said Doron, who carries about 40 lines in her apparel shop. Earlier this month, Doron began subtly mixing in the Perfext leather-fringed skirts with such tried-and-true pieces as Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses.

"People are buying less, but they are buying better-quality pieces. Fashion is slowly becoming a priority again."

As the 2015 spring shopping season gets underway, local boutique owners are going back to what they do best: introducing new designers to our fashion consciousness.

Traditionally, they have been the ones who are invited to exclusive industry trade shows such as Capsule and Intermezzo in New York. They have been the ones who visit designer showrooms, and, based on the pulse of their community and personal tastes, buy collections in hopes that they have discovered the next "it" designer.

Yet, even after the recession - and what looked like an endless onslaught of up-and-coming designers - many boutique owners put new talent discoveries on pause, more focused on staying afloat than finding gems.

In the meantime, an influx of indie designers was fighting to start careers. Some built up major social media presences. Others, such as Veronica Beard, created entire collections around one kind of item - in her case, the dickey.

Many, such as Warby Parker, the eyewear company that revolutionized how we buy glasses, added philanthropy to their business model. Premium men's underwear company Flint & Tinder turned to crowdfunding in 2012 and raised $300,000 to start the company. And others, such as Philadelphia-based designer Lobo Mau, found ways to make clothing in the cities in which they lived.

All of these characteristics - using stateside manufacturing, implementing charitable giving, appearing hip and social - are things that shoppers now value. And boutique owners must take notice.

It's a beginning, but an important one. That specialty stores - which have a lot to lose when their deliveries don't arrive on time - are willing to do business with homegrown companies is a sign that individuality is winning.

A very good sign.

"We have to celebrate the small victories of emerging designers," said Bob Bland, a former Philadelphian and the CEO behind Manufacture New York, a nonprofit dedicated to boosting stateside manufacturing. "It's the ideal time for specialty boutiques to invest in the work of emerging designers."

Of the 20 designers Ann Gitter plans to introduce to Knit Wit customers this spring, some are small specialty lines mostly made in their countries of origin, such as Japan and England, but more than half the lines will be made in America.

They include leggings by Philadelphia-based Sophi Reaptress, structured dresses by Shosh New York, and more playful frocks by New York-based label Rhié.

"I was bored. I was just bored," Gitter said. "It was time for a shift, a change. After a while, fast-fashion and celebrity lines kind of get on your nerves. You want something that's sustainable, that's going to last."

The popularity of sporty yet dressy silhouettes for men and women have specialty-store owners wading into trendier waters, too. Last year, fashion experimented with the idea of Chanel sneakers, sweatpants fashioned from silk and paired with heels, and sweatshirts with perforated leather shoulders.

In addition to the jewelry Susan Ahn plans to carry at Eaves, she's adding an appropriate-for-work, but casual-weekend clothing line called Skin. The collection is also made in America.

"There has never been more of a need to edit and curate collections," said Ahn, who opened her Wayne store three years ago. "For us, it's also about building new relationships. We built our business during the recession. Now we are having fun growing with these emerging designers."

215-854-2704

@ewellingtonphl

Elizabeth appears on WURD (900AM) with Solomon Jones at 8 a.m. Fridays.