What you’ll hear in this episode:

• A mother-daughter duo
• Classic pieces for the modern woman
• Small batch clothing

Many women can say their mom is their best friend, but how many can say she’s their business partner? Amberleaf is a fashion company run by mother and daughter, Lisa and Liz Sikora. They work side by side at every step of the process to their clothing line. What sets them apart form the others is their focus on sustainability by creating pieces that aren’t mass-produced, and as they say “will outlast trends and survive years.” Their pieces are made by a production team once the customer picks their silhouette and fabric, and is then shipped to them within a few weeks. This cuts down on a lot of excess waste that the fashion industry is known for. The brand is also known for its flexibility in color, silhouettes, ways to wear, and sizing.

Amberleaf specializes in designing and bring clothes to their customers that are timeless. They shared with us that they make clothing that women want and that they’ll still be able to wear ten years from now because of the high quality and because it’ll never go out of style. By working as a pair, the two are able to blend generations and produce pieces for all different ages and not just cater to one generation or another.

To hear more about their design process, how they customize their pieces for the customers, and how they got where they are, tune into the fifth installment of Founders of Fashion. If you enjoy the episode be sure to share it with friends and colleagues!

Host: Jennifer E.S. Millspaugh, PhD

Guests: Liz Sikora and Lisa Sikora

 

Transcript:

this is a founding media podcast if Hey all welcome to this episode of founders of fashion I’m your host Jennifer mills Spock I’m the CEO of a static ventures and the Austin fashion initiative on this podcast series we dive deep into fashion entrepreneurship to explore new brands and business models today we are in discussion with Lisa and lists of Cora the mother daughter duo behind emerging fashion label Camberley amber leaf is a women’s ready to wear line based here in Austin Texas that specializes in chic and timeless coats and Blazers here’s my conversation with Liz and Lisa

what I love about what you guys have created is really created this platform for personalisation and customisation within your line around this idea of the timeless day dress in cocktail dresses and things so first thing I want to hear about you know what is in your life and and what makes you guys unique so one can give me this in your company okay so amber leaf kind of like how you touched on earlier as a mother daughter company so my mom and I we co design each silhouette acne create and then we go through all the fabrics that we work with and we decide which fabrics that work best for the celebs specific silhouettes and then what we do is the way it works with the customer number working with somebody they can choose the select that they’re interested in and then they choose the fabric that they want and then our production team creates the dress for them you know part of what we’re trying to do is not mass produced not create excess so each time a customer order something our production team is making that dress that code that police are specifically for them and then it’s delivered to them about two to three weeks later correct we’ve got a production team that what makes us different in the in the women’s fashion spaces that are team only works for us and so it allows us to have a very very nimble and be very responsible to the customer’s needs they were not doing custom made clothing it’s not missed that were awesome not an offering says that prices so the problem can make out the silhouette she likes the color she lives and the size that fits your best we can deliberate is let’s mention anywhere between two and four weeks and as was alluded to before part of what we’re doing as in our strategy because we come up with silhouettes and then we got up you know four or five also fabric for each silhouette that will work is not you know filling landfills with clothing that women don’t need don’t want or retailers cannot sell so what makes is also different when we’re dealing because we do direct to the customer we also sell wholesale is it is a changing time for retailers as well we know it’s a huge inflection point in that space and they’re not used to working with a client comes to them and says oh you have to buy this dress an entire size run will say to a retail listing you can pick out four different silhouettes pick out will make you know to end each silhouette merry go and I think at times it’s difficult for them to deal with also read your head around yet right and also because of a quick turnaround if an industry full of people that are used to making what I call that six to nine months in advance and we come to them and say listen you know need to pick out in February what coast you think you’ll be selling in November like you can wait till August and so it times you know when you are as my husband likes to say not on the leading edge but the bleeding edge yeah you know you get bloody so you know it takes time with you know when you’re gonna need a concept for the consumer and in this case retailers to come around to working with us I think most of them though being able to make those fats those decisions much closer to offering to the consumer do you actually see that little less risky yeah hi less risky for them and we’re not requiring that they buy sizes two through eighteen I mean I’m I’m happy to say we offer actually we offer up to size twenty four bit they don’t have to commit to all of those when they know maybe their customer base is size twelve and fourteen pages five to twelve in the fourth down and they’re happy and and can spend money on other things

also I mean I’ve been to so many retail stores Racine them completely weighted down by their excess inventory and trying to climb back on top of that I mean we’re solving multiple problems with this version and another part of you know sort of what makes this unique and what makes us different is distribution you know we have an online presence but we’re also you know we show every now and then and some retailers pop up shops we don’t have a brick and mortar we believe back retail part of retail might be on its way out and that all this excess inventories essentially killing business another thing that we’re working on currently is building a network of stylists you know stylists are you know they’re in their clients closets are ready you know they know what they might say you know what looks good on them they know what they feel comfortable and so having these network of stylus that’s working for us that’s already in the customer’s class and they can tell them and direct them to exactly what they want we see little to no returns for at least six and and the stylist know all the other Sestri them so they’re saying to their clients local maps yeah this stress goes with this scarf in terms in this drawing or the bite wings are from us and show the client how we’re ten different ways and so it really becomes an investment piece which reminds me of one of the stops for working which has a website called investment piece dot com that came out yesterday saying really great things about us because of our flexibility in not only sizing and coloring and silhouettes it’s just also easier than for the stylus we feel in the stuff they’re not finding other places and right we do compensate the stylised by offering them commission that we feel like it’s well worth it for the Finglas mansion which is we have zero returns yeah and happy customers yeah

that’s amazing so you’re really kind of working on several different avenues here too in your own way to revolutionize the industry through Europe through your online because you have your line you also we’re kind of experimenting with new type of new work like work flow in the production process and then also of new ways of reaching your customers that’s just like if you think about the logistics that go into each and of course I know you guys are thinking about logistics that go into each of those things but my mind is just constant like it is just blown because it you really are having to re design a system that previously has been designed for if you’re a designer you do this yeah you’ve designed your pieces you have them produced by some a else you sell them at you know you show them up on fashion we can you sell them to a wholesaler and then they’re in the store and it’s you know and it’s it’s eighteen months of work to see if it was a hit or not the thing is there’s a lot of middle men in that process which all of that drives the cost up I feel like we’re able to deliver to the consumer we might be selling them a blazer that we only charge them to earn fifty dollars for a comparable piece that is in a retail setting would probably be three to four times that cost us the house all of the layers of marketing in middle man that go into that so we felt like part of it were it’s classic pieces for the modern women I believe in the very good value but somehow you know we we have had feedback from some industry experts that save us we really need to charge more money is there for any kind of lead yes see that’s more value yeah yeah I think are based on our current customers okay with the prices for each region so but now that’s really cool

so how did you come to launch in relief what let’s go back to the beginning what did that look like well I feel like we have like multiple beginning if anybody’s had to have IT and business you know it’s yes central in the same company but it’s going in a completely new directions so there’s amber leaf when Emily was initially created back in two thousand and thirteen thirteen and then there’s amber leaf when amber Leo really sort of took off and had a bigger presence in the United States and then there’s an relief when I joined the team so initially was started in China credit right you’re right I mean we have a a business associate that we’ve worked with for many years but more on the technical and who saw a need there and so we are calling on Chinese based companies that make clothing and they were you’re saying first generation entrepreneurs go from like zero to fifty nine in five years so the thought was that model works in China but what’s missing is professional looking women’s clothing and so that’s how he started in twenty thirteen we came into the business in twenty fourteen and I actually bought it out and and in twenty fifteen I guess you would say I guess since twenty sixteen we really just kind of because of the changing economic issues in China became only the manufacture offshore in China we only distribute in the U. S. I guess we really got to that position in early twenty seventy okay yeah but to lose it and let’s join us over a year ago you know as entrepreneurs you have to be able to have it and respond to what you’re finding out there the strength that we’ve always had is our own production capabilities yeah and really in a and I call them tailors the team that works for us on average are in their forties and fifties they have over twenty years experience and if you look at that hand stitching of any of our coats for example that the quality and screams at me when I really think that’s our differentiator and we to the point that we’ve had other clothing companies come to us and ask us to meet their clothes and actually were in a prototype phase right now with a designer a project friendly saying we’re she designs the clothes because those designers that had all that media exposure half following but they they should they don’t have access to the production right they should spend their time designing and then promoting their designs and they need quality team like mine behind that producing so that’s part of the team that I don’t see us into abandoning our clothes are our design into production itself I just see it as a way of expanding our business yeah another opportunity for revenue

there’s something to be said for being vertically integrated you know and having that having that ability that not many people have access to something that we can definitely capitalized on a sort of a sort of we grow you now and expand where we are now I think that you know also in one of the ways that we have a with me joining the team as we realize that it wasn’t just women I love you but it wasn’t just the women in the you know older generation was in there yeah it was just you know women who are my age I’m in my late twenties and women who are my age were looking for classic clothing that they could wear to the office that they could you know go to church and that they could wear every day and be comfortable and still have the capability of you know customizing it in a certain line towards exactly the so if they were interested in is the exact color the exact fabric that they want right so how many times have you walked in like I really love this I just wish it was in black or I wish it was yeah I wish it like the sleep or like I don’t want another cold shoulder dress you know like I want something that’s classic that will last me you know I think that I can still wear ten years from now so it’s well made and it looks great on my body and it’s a trend that will never go out of style and so by me joining the team it really it really allow for you know to create some new silhouettes that appeal to you not just your generation but my general change in Washington so that we could really you know why in our audience wider customer and I think that that focus the the coming together of both of our ideas and making sure that the silhouettes we offer to the market place are ones that will work for Liz and work for me I think really says a lot and I think the quality of what we the silhouettes the quality of design has increased because of that yeah because it really has to stand much stronger yeah you have to really test the concept of the design right

so okay so tech take me through walk me through what is a typical day like being with your mother in working with your daughter and then we’ll those design conversations like I’m gonna go with a good day okay so every day it’s not a good thing well you know you are ma’am yeah I would say that you know on our best days they range as far as what we’re doing so much because there is so much that we love to hear you now this past weekend we had events all weekend which we were working and that’s you know moving inventory out of moving inventory again in the beginning of the event and selling that inventory so you know there’s a lot that goes and bedding I want to say that in typical day when we’re meeting you were discussing designs this is it is it a couple weeks ago we’re talking about the new codes yes for this winter so we need in our office we go through all the different designs different codes that we felt inspired by that we’ve seen out either on celebrities you know in the public somewhere or features or something yeah also go do that I mean we go shop and look it features like heart it may just be inspired by construction life well look how they did this reversible pocket is big part of what we’ve done is created we we found some fabulous double sided Kashmir and that two time so whether it be for tax Austin I should send a ticket we got a burnt orange and a camel for the folks that are at Texas tech fans we’ve got black in an read them and then so we have a lot of reversible coats we got five or six so its you that Mister Lang earlier this year I found a coke you know and this season and that had mastered that technique well and so that would be something we would in heartbreak nurture designs so my gosh it might not be an overall silhouette it might just be a feature about combining off we think works and what the consumers looking for is still classic but is kind of future looking yeah so we come together and we talk about her inspirations and we’re not copiers I mean we’re not copying the designs specifically but we do take you know pieces of things that we feel inspired by and then we talk about you know despite the six new designs that we have on the table we prioritize each one based on what we both connect with mouse so I think this fall with coming out with this this best this Kashmir best that I resign as actually it goes down to your knees at the Kashmir reversible vest and I connected really struggling with this design and she did too so that’s number one on our priority list as finalizing fabrics that we’re gonna wanna use specifically with this design and then and then going through talking with the production team which makes the day even longer which my mom to tell you because we’re we are talking with people our production team they only work for aspen they’re all short yeah and they’re on an opposite time schedule of SP so typically conference calls with our production team or ten o’clock at night yeah and so sometimes it’s really hard to be on your game to one in the morning but that’s required specially if at nine o’clock the next morning you have a client meeting are you meeting with stylus three doing a photo shoot yeah yeah so one how often do you have to travel over business China in a few years I used to actually go every quarter but I think now that I yeah we are going next year but now that I as we I got more comfortable with the team is it just wasn’t required to do to do that as much as you can imagine it’s very costly to travel all the way there yes now that we’ve got everything in place we kind of you have a work flow with the tweet went remembered so it’s it’s not it’s not required as much I’m I think that when we do go over there at least for me when I think about things that we would do when we go over there and I know that the fabric industry there’s crazy so I’m even saying anything to her some of the world’s fabric come out China is so there’s huge textile markets and opportunities but you know if there was a specific pattern that we really wanted to work with that we can find access to that we felt really confident about that would be something you know that sort of fat and also there are there we have done some of her own in fact none of them were some friends in the past and and and printed them and to expand the offering is going to take us to go on site and look at the quote I mean right now we’ve done and more just cars and stuff so it’s so small that we’ve been able to manage it well that before going into a print for either lining up our coats dresses that’s going to require more hands on to execute that I think effectively

cool so yes so lots of cool changes kind of in the pipeline yeah you’re just continually experimenting and then started you know to and and relationships with different I know I’ve mentioned to you before relationships both with girl scouts actually across the country we participated in their national conference last year in relationship with girl scouts USA I’m getting not only are pretty scarce in there but also our clothing line at the Brighton they require other documentaries in place where any influences our production model is because silhouette will make it any color you want we can easily make many many different things a player yeah well that’s cool that that I think that really speaks to kind of the flexibility that you have to have as an entrepreneur and building your in actually beginning to like point see of what I want with your company you’re constantly like okay what are some of the opportunities that I can take advantage of with the assets that we have the hope is leveraging the assets that we have and then monetizing that which we do really well yeah awesome

so how it now has your life changed since you have been building amber oh gosh and your mailing address yes okay well I see my mom a lot and I think you know it’s it’s it’s different no one told me I mean before I join the NBA team I sort of had like a traditional you know nine to five ninety six maybe work on the weekends every now and then I would you work home but it wasn’t travelling here there and everywhere it wasn’t the constant never ending you know you know no one told you that when you became an entrepreneur they are never going to sleep again your network and you know you’re gonna wake up at this time so you could finish this or travel here and drive through the night so that you can make this fashion show I mean you just don’t even really think about it so I don’t know I mean I think it’s for me personally it’s I mean it’s changed me for the better I know that for sure because it’s I am I feel like that and what we’re doing a product that we’re creating a honesty wholeheartedly believe in and I see it making a positive impact in the industry I mean there’s whatever the industry is doing right now is not sustainable I mean we can’t keep creating such massive waste and you know all of these you see all these retailers going under they’re not capable of balancing office let me just saw you know Burberry getting you know finally the light shot shown on them for burning what thirty eight million dollars a product and I know they’re all burning yeah hi X. million dollars yeah and I mean it’s I was reading a statistic that said over two hundred million pounds as clothes are thrown away by Americans hello yeah here and I mean it’s just it’s not a sustainable model so we really I I I wholeheartedly believe that what we’re doing is not only creating a product that women love that women wear but we’re also helping the industry move in a more positive direction so I’m you know I’m I’m happy to stay out late and you know and and and mingle and network with the the appropriate people so that more people learn about our brand because I I truly believe that I know my husband’s not happy being gone all the time but but yeah and it’s also a means sort of on a base level strengthen my relationship with my mom for sure yeah that was a stuff

what are you well it’s I think it’s important and appropriate to have a purpose and German life and to be ambitious sometimes I’m also really anxious at was already covered all the not sleeping but I think that always going back to the core of what the brand is what we believe about the brand what our strengths are and looking for ways to develop and grow that and I think as entrepreneurs you can’t ever get settled on this is the way things worked in the past there for this is the way it will always be because it’s not only changing yeah right and and and something that might have been a phenomenal opportunity for us in twenty sixteen could tell if you’d rather not make sense anymore because it’s not cost effective and I mean I think sometimes also people think that fashion is glamorous I just want to say there is no glamour when you’re schlepping five hundred pounds of clothes here you know what you’re saying is here there and everywhere there’s no glamour there’s so much work that goes on behind the scenes yeah yeah yeah so I mean it’s not I mean it may look glamorous I like when I mean it feels great when we see our clothes on the runway yeah that’s some button well in getting me you guys always look amazing I’m like sitting here and I’m like okay I spent most of my life sitting behind my computer and yoga pants because that’s just where I am but you guys are like slapping the stuff while looking fantastic which is where we we do shopping in yoga pants hello this is my plan I’m going to dress yeah but I

I think it’s inspiring though to help women put drip draped themselves in something that makes them feel good about themselves and then go in front of whether it’s your day to day an audience what whatever it is and continue to feel good and confident about the south and I’m really proud of the fact that that’s part of what we do I I think that’s awesome yeah actually we sold some dresses to woman on Sunday and Sunday night she was at a political fundraiser on stage and have her photo taken and she was wearing us I was so I’m so proud of that moment and she looked so confident and good and you cannot she felt good yeah it was and it was perfection so and there’s something to be said for creating clothing that it is for us I believe transcends time you know I mean I’m think the dress I’m wearing right now I feel confident that I can wear this dress five years from now and I don’t feel like I’m wearing yesterday’s fashion do you know what I mean it’s you know so mumming clothes that last ten years but also look like they’re right they get from yesterday yes so yeah check an awful lot of boxes

so what is what is your mission what is your vision for the future of the company well we think that I mean we are online but not just solely online I mean one of the challenges in the end you know selling clothing is it’s really a tactical cell and the challenge was selling just online is the return rates about thirty percent and that’s really tough on any company in any entity and drives a crisis that saw the heart manage and manage orders logistics so we feel like part of our sale is a mix you know on an offline percentage gets to try and try it on and feel the fabric and look at the colors because also colors aren’t always clearly represented for fabrics online and so we see the vision on the road is whether it be pop up triumphs shops are permanent we do have some retailers that do what I call the store within a store we are giving them you know I I S. at Friday at silhouettes and coats in a variety of sizes and and so they’re constructing risking image and pick and choose what they want but because our turnaround time is so quick and it’s easy for them to sell someone a coconut Tober and by the time it gets chilly three weeks later that got the coat closet already in so we we see that’s the vision up either pop on track public transit or is a permanent or did the storage and explorations in bright retailers right but with that that where the consumer has a chance to touch and feel and try I think we’ve also been toying with the idea of having something then semi permanent we were thinking full time but having a location where right thank customers know that will be there Thursday through Saturday you know Thursday and Fridays by appointment only and then Saturday anybody can comment but I’ve just every week same time so that that the customer really knows that if they’re interested in a name they want to come see our new designs that they have a place that they can always go to define yes I never been towing with that idea of possibly having sort of like a pop up shop but you know like three days a week the same three days a week the same location and it’s interesting because more multi generational business and we serve multi generational people’s approach to shopping is vastly different I mean I think younger folks are more comfortable buying something online or is I think as you get older if you grew up always going to this store in the mall that’s an experience for you right with your family that’s just the wait you’re trying to do things and so I think in order to reach all of our consumers we have to have multiple alternate distribution strategies yeah yeah absolutely so yeah I know I totally up I like everything online so but I do I send back when I don’t need like I buy a lot so one thing we’ve noticed is that both of the women who are buying online or in your generation Dave purchased from asking price and before I know exactly what their sizes the scene all the fabrics the colors they you know they know which Sylvester interested and so every time we release a new design it’s got a similar so I did something they previously on they just go online and print but they need that first experience yeah at first time Jack right I think the first one was a touch and after that I think online because those online sales stack yeah yeah they’re not returning at all awesome

so what it what about what have you learned about running your business that has surprised you so for me it’s like finding out something that I didn’t realize that I would actually like doing and I’m like oh I actually really enjoy doing that I thank positives and negatives I’m in the best for me when it comes to what we’ve done with and really is when I have a client customer and put something on and just feel good and confident about what she’s wearing I have seen women or I have put them in something and I feel like they’ve routinely checks for me that’s the best the most exciting and I gotta say I would have anticipated in advance those interactions face to face would have been the high point that maybe the more created the design etcetera lately he said the runways would have been a more exciting but really that’s not it it’s me and one woman one on one she put something on and I feel grows and her confidence and self esteem and that’s the best right so you guys are really designing something for like real people yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean I think that I picked up for minds me of the ago positive an experience that I had with the woman who I and we were the Texas conference for women and we have those we were there and we met thousands of women I mean there were so many people there and but it wasn’t just necessarily about selling I mean we were connecting with other women who were there on another level as well and there was one woman that I connected with and she called me two days later and she ended up buying she’s like I saw this one who are you trying on it you looked amazing we really connected I really like you can we like you know hang out on a friendly let me go get a Cup of coffee and I really like this code and she ended up purchasing this I think you seen at the floor length you check cashmere hooded coat that code which is actually a I think it’s the most expensive item on our so it’s just it’s just interesting you know women are these just interesting women are just interesting that that that this connection that I mean I the Texas conference for women she would then contact me later and then purchased this coat you know two weeks they if she couldn’t stop thinking about but she felt like she could do it because she liked us you know I mean I don’t know it’s just you like that connection yeah I mean I just I guess I didn’t realize and then once we make that connection and women start buying our staff they always come back which is so cool that you know it’s not like I don’t know if they really like the clothes around

okay so so real quick before we sign off where can people find you online at W. W. W. dot and relief dot com I was Lizzy is in charge of our of our social media and are so she is your address out Instagram handle is at chic in Amberley and Facebook if you go to amber leaf clothing I think that’s our and then a local retailer that we’re so proud to associate with this call to choose and she’s located leave at seventeen seventeen east twelfth street but also to the Amberley flying here in Austin Austin ossa alright guys well thank you for listening everybody thank you for listening to our founders of fashion podcast don’t forget to subscribe where ever you get your podcast if you’re watching this podcast on YouTube be sure to subscribe to this channel and click that notification bell for new episode alert founders of fashion is produced by Mariah Gosset and myself audio and video production by Jake Wallace and also a huge thank you to the rest of the team at founding media who makes this podcast possible I’m your host Jennifer mills spot to learn more about my work at the intersection of fashion internationalization and entrepreneurship visit aesthetic dot insurers