AW Fashion: Decades of Signature Styling
Sisters and co-owners of Signatures Boutique Jean Anderson and Patricia Samuels are go-to names in the fashion industry, who have styled, mentored and dressed the region’s, who’s who. Indeed, women in search of a show-stopping ensemble have been known to jet in from Atlanta or Washington for private consultation with the style dynamos. “Fashion and entrepreneurship were a natural fit,” Samuels shared with All Woman Fashion (AWF). Coming from a business-oriented family, their passion for retail and fashion was almost inevitable. With many evenings and weekends spent assisting their seamstress mum: think the formation of countless pleats and button holes they had to open, plus front-row seats to fittings, and watching the smiles emanate from the faces of satisfied customers. The style arbiters, we reckon, needed no more inspiration or conviction and certainly entered the foray with a competitive advantage.
In 1991, an impressive 26 years ago, the sisters tested their entrepreneurial skills when they opened their first boutique on Dilcoosha Avenue, starting off with a wider range of products like clothing, shoes and household items. Brides-to-be found favour with their wedding registry whilst mothers-of-the bride and guests twirled in front of floor-to-ceiling mirrors deliberating the final look. Signatures boutique at Dilcoosha was the destination for all things fab, and the two sisters reigned supreme for close to three decades.
Frequent overseas trips to buy, attend seminars and press flesh with fashion influencers like themselves underscored the need to stay current, according to Anderson. “Adjust or die! Fashion is as fickle as it is a billion dollar-industry,” she noted.
‘Adjust’ meant taking a critical and analytical look both at the business, the stock, the location and the clients. A move to a new location, notably Unit 9, Lee Gore Business Centre, off Waterloo Road, soon followed. The new-look, Philippa Epstein- pearl and charcoal-designed interior garnered rave reviews not just from existing customers but piqued the interest of many more. Mission accomplished!
Never ones to rest on their laurels the sisters continue to strategise. Investment in our customers is tantamount to the success of our business, they say, and maintain constant dialogue with them, learning their customers’ preferences while providing excellent service. “We take into consideration our price points, ensuring they correspond with the market and we have still managed to maintain the quality of our products,” Samuels stressed to AWF.
Good news for the Signature Boutique habituee, who is described as “a fashion-forward woman who loves to look elegant and on-trend”. And for the young executives who reference a ‘softer’ approach to the power suit. Anderson and Samuels are in the unique position to lend their expertise to the daughters and granddaughters of customers. How fab is that!
Signatures Boutique has been a part of Fashion’s Night Out (now TSO) since its inception. “We use the opportunity to fete our customers over the years because they have stuck with us,” they explained to AWF. No idle boast! Customer loyalty was obvious on TSO night as the inclement weather did nothing to dampen neither the atmosphere at Signatures Boutique nor the retail therapy, for that matter.
