Monthly Archives: January 2021

…………………….The theme for the May 2001 group was the beginning of one of my reoccurring themes through out the years…….SAFARI………I introduced a rayon/linen blend for jackets, skirts and a dress. It’s a fabric that everyone liked and I used it in different ways for many years. This group had many interesting fabrics…..starting at the top, next to the chart is a shirt in a Leopard print. I believe it ended up being printed on a silk georgette….next to that is a charmuse burnout crocodile pattern fabric. the sheer and the silk satin was so beautiful…..it draped amazingly. It was BI-COLORED!!! The sheer was olive color and the satin croco was in a grayed orchid a grayed pale peach and a sage. Next sketch is a suede and faux lizard leather trimmed bag with a short handle. It came in 3 colors…..next to that is my Silk CD tunic shirt with the silk chiffon border, and right below that is the very first Capri legging QVC ever did. This was 19 years ago!!! I remember very clearly arguing with my buyer why leggings were going to be important AGAIN! With tunics, big shirts and long sweaters making a strong come back leggings and slim pants were a must for a proper proportion. I finally won out. They were in cotton knit span. They bought the minimal amount, [because they thought they were going to be a bust!], but they sold out in a flash. With all of the tunic styles we were doing I knew they would. Of course the ladies weren’t happy that they couldn’t get them. The leggings were reordered for a few years. Others came out with leggings and mine were discontinued, which I was not happy about. Once again the customers proved that they knew more than the buyers!…….The rest of the middle row shows the JUNGLE PRINT  rayon/linen over sized unlined jacket…..the oblong ombre  silk chiffon scarf ……the Silk CD Safari jacket [the first safari jacket of many to come]….a printed dip dyed wide rib light weight sweater, and a rayon/linen maxi sleeveless shirt dress. The sketch to the extreme bottom left shows the jungle print skirt with different tops, the sleeveless 5 gauge zig zag and rib combo cotton/acrylic sleeveless sweater and a silk shantung stand color shirt………at the extreme bottom right the slim pant with the stitched crease detail…..There were lots of interesting fabrics, colors and silhouettes in this group, and many were to become trend setters a la the leggings……There was absolutely nothing like this on QVC. No one was doing coordinated separates…..Remember, American sportswear was MY BACKYARD!

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……………….March 2001 was my second year at QVC, and my third show…….it was still all so knew to Jac and me……..Cotton stretch for jackets and bottoms, cotton/acrylic blends for sweaters [I’m sure if you still have sweaters in this blend they are like knew. It was a great quality yarn], and silk crepe de chine and silk georgette for solid and printed shirts. In the early days China was the only place where you could get silk. Actually it still is. Since they had a monopoly over the silk worm fiber silk fabrics were very inexpensive at the time. Europe still to this day imports silk fibers from China. They spin it themselves and make their own fabric, but the yarn all comes from China. I remember when printers in the Como area of Italy tried to grow their own silk worms and make their own fibers. It was a disaster….the worms died. Elaine used to say to me design silk, design silk, because the fabrics were incredibly priced. For years we made everything in silk. Then one year China decided to raise all the prices for silk and that was that. Silk disappeared from the Linea line overnight…….Above, is a wonderful drop shoulder, unlined cotton stretch jacket. The inside was all piped in contrast color. The under collar and turn back cuff were also contrast color. The bottom row of sweater were all in the cotton/acrylic. In the middle is the reorder sketch of the “Jockey Shirt” in new colors. The top row has two print silk big shirts. One is a take on an Hermes scarf print with harnesses, straps and horse bits. The stripe shirt next to it was a stripe with no repeat…..meaning the entire shirt was made with different printed stripes. We introduced a suede and leather color block tote to work with the entire collection…….The bold stripe sweaters at the right did incredibly well and were reordered for 3 years straight!

………………………The March 2001 group was quite large…….I probably had a 2 hour show. Yes in those days they gave the new “hot kid” on the block 2 hour shows…..LOL….The polka dots and stripes were silk. The sweaters were all cotton/acrylic which was incredible soft, washed well, and the colors dyed beautifully. All of the bottoms were in the cotton/span except the drawstring pant which came in silk dots ans solids……………It certainly was a fun colorful grouping.

…………………HALLELUJAH!!!!!…………2021 has been a long time coming…..When I was searching for a picture to post I came across this, and it touched me! A person jumping over the great divide. 2020 has been an historic year in almost every way possible…..I think everyone can’t wait to leap into the new year, and leave the old one behind……The only year that personally was worse for me was 2017. Health crisis has hit my family hard this year, and we will be dealing with it into 2021….so…..even though I hope for the best in 2021, I know it won’t be a bed of roses. At the start of every year I think this is the year…this is the year when everything will get better, and with each year it seems to have gotten worse…..but…….I like to think of myself as an optimist…..so I will continue to hope and pray that this new year coming will bring brighter things for every single person on this planet………………………………………..Happy New Year to one and all……………………much Love……………………..Louis