SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
We adopted a dog named Scamp! You will see him in the pictures for a feature on my work in the local paper, the Hamilton Spectator.
Local designer enjoys job’s independence
By Doreen Pitkeathly Spectator Staff
c. fall 1981 Hamilton design studio
DESIGNER JANICE Colbert doesn’t only believe Hamilton is as good a location as Toronto for designing—she thinks it’s better.
“I’m better off here. Toronto is so big and all the manufacturers are there. The stores are just clogged with people trying to sell their clothing.”
Janice moved her small designing business from Toronto to Hamilton in October of last year and, although the move was for personal reasons, she finds it hasn’t hurt her work one bit.
A graduate of the fashion course at St. Lawrence College in Kingston and a native of Ottawa, Janice has had her own business for about a year and a half.
Instead of custom work, she operates a scaled-down version of what the big tIme designers do. Every season she designs a line of clothing and then goes out and searches for a buyer among the retail stores.
“In my first season I sold 40 outfits. Last season, my second, I sold 250 garments, so I’m happy with the way things are going.”
Janice estimates that to be successful her seasonal production should total more than 1,000 garments but she’s in no hurry to become that big.
“I figure about 250 garments is my limit, doing all the sewing. I’m getting to the point now where I have to get other people to help me with the sewing.
Janice’s studio is located in the upper floor of her King Street East home. Like any other full-time job, she spends an entire day designing, cutting and sewing and finishing her garments. She has no problem disciplining herself, she says, and enjoys the job’s freedom.
“I like being my own boss. I’m disciplined enough and organized enough to do it. Some people don’t understand how I can, but I enjoy scheduling my own time. I also like selling my ideas to stores and I like shopping for fabric. I think it’s the independence that appeals to me mainly.”
Janice designs for the 18-to-40-year old woman who wants sophisticated, good-looking clothing. Her designs are essentially classic and she keeps her line small with good mix and match ability.
c. fall 1981, popular ethnic look, wool blend skirt with matching shawl
Her fall line features feather corduroy in wine, gray, camel and green in two skirts styles, a walking short and a pant. To wear with the bottoms, Janice has designed a pullover bow blouse, available in natural-coloured raw silk or an elegant print polyester crepe de chine in colours of gray, brown, mauve and wine.
She has also incorporated this fall’s popular ethnic look into a wool blend divided skirt and regular skirt, each with matching shawl, in a brown or wine mixture.
One of Janice’s designing quirks is buttons—she loves them and says they add a little extra to a garment when they’re good quality. On her corduroy pieces all the buttons are real leather, on the blouses, they’re mother of pearl.
The retail price of Janice’s designs is reasonable, ranging from about $55 to $80, depending too on the retailer. Currently her clothing is available at J. Jatel’s in Stoney Creek and Designer Collections in Burlington, as well as Kingston and Gananoque.
“I don’t need a lot of accounts to keep going. I think I can make it, going by my increase in sales already. If it keeps increasing, I’ll be fine. You need to get to a point where you have a few good stores that will buy from you on a regular basis.”
At this point, Janice is turning all of the money she makes back into her business, buying extra machinery and setting up an efficient studio. The financial rewards may not be great but she’s much happier doing this that working in a design factory where most young designers have to get their start.
Gray feather-weight corduroy walking short,
front wrap conceals the front zipper, leather button with loop,
front pleats, slash pockets