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Sisters
Issue a Tall Order
By EVAN CLARK
NEW
YORK ‹ Smaller niches are often addressed by smaller players,
even when the target customer is anything but diminutive.
Witness
Tall Couture, a Katonah, N.Y.- based company launched and operated
by two sisters, each just about 6 feet tall. The duo sells fashionable
apparel through their Web site, Tallcouture.com, to women who
may run into trouble putting together fashionable wardrobes in
tall sizes.
Jennifer
Caputo, Tall Couture's chief executive officer, and her sister,
Rebecca, who holds the title of chief style guru, launched their
site in May after a lifetime of trying to fit into styles constructed
for women not quite as tall.
"We
get so many people who are just so excited that we're doing this,"
Jennifer said.
Mirroring
the sisters' urban-chic sensibility, the site's offerings include
accessories, sportswear and dresses. Prices for apparel range
from $38 for knit tops to $178 for sateen pants.
While
the site is a good venue for tall women with a more fashionable
bent, the business is also a good match for the sisters.
"We
have very complementary skills," Jennifer said. "I have
the business background and Rebecca is great on the creative end.²
Tall
Couture hunts out vendors who don't usually offer tall sizes and
gets them to make up small batches of their styles. Rebecca, who
does double duty as the firm's fit model, tries on samples and
adjusts the specs to look right on a taller woman. The goal is
to make the fashion look as it would on someone 5 feet, 6 inches
tall.
"Getting
it to fit properly was our main goal," Rebecca said.
While
it has been difficult to find vendors who meet the chief style
guru's exacting standards and are willing to make talls in small
quantities, the company has lined up several suppliers, including
Jessie Della Femina, Comf, Blue Tattoo, Rouge Soixant-trois and
Hobo International. Jonden, one of the site's first suppliers,
already offered some talls.
"Some
people just add a few inches and call it tall," said Beth
Krupa, co-owner of Comf. "They went through great pains to
adjust the patterns and really sculpt for the tall figure,"
she added of Tall Couture.
This
fall, new vendors include Nelli, Identify, Fray, Zola and Derek
Green. Some shoes and suits will be added to the site for the
fall and will help extend the line to about 50 pieces.
"Next
to finding the actual inventory, the hardest thing to do was to
acquire the target demographic," Rebecca noted. "If
there was a Tallville, U.S.A., we¹d be there."
Since
no such place exists, the Internet is an ideal venue for the endeavor.
Traffic is directed to the site through online advertising and
direct mailings.
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