Northern California's New Faces

Cutting-edge leather and customized accessories

Teski

Design duo Frankie Kwong and Phara Petrie are the creative minds behind Teski, a sophisticated leather sportswear line that combines contemporary looks with cuttingedge technology.

The 35-piece collection uses imported leather from Italy and offers pants, jackets, coats, dresses, shirts, skirts and bikinis. It includes styles such as an accordion-pleated military jacket; a lace, embossed blazer with back ties; and a kimono blazer and skirt with a low, satin Jacquard waist.

The line is infused with technological details. Leather pieces are embossed, rollercut, bonded and distressed. Special techniques create intricate roller-punched and scalloped edges and accordion pleats. The collection also uses bead trimming, tassels and flower appliqueacute;s.

“The collection’s theme is ’come wonder with Teski,’” explained Kwong, who previously designed lingerie for Victoria’s Secret and ready-to-wear for Mag London before joining the San Francisco-based company last year. “The line is based on fashion styles from major cities around the world.”

Teski is geared toward women who like sophisticated stylings in their leather, said Kwong. With wholesale price points ranging from $140 to $500, the one-year-old line is headed toward upscale specialty destinations. Retailers such as Elisa Wen in Walnut Creek, Calif.; Plenty in Hood River, Ore.; Kate Daniels in Seal Beach, Calif.; and Melange in Santa Monica, Calif., currently carry the line.

For Winter 2003, the designers have added new looks to the collection. These include a miniskirt with magazine-print on suede, a fishtail skirt made with lambskin and top-stitching, and a Spanish troubadourinspired red suede poncho. Initial deliveries for Fall begin July 30.

For information, call (510) 781-0709.

Viv & Ingrid

Five years ago, Viv & Ingrid designers Vivian Wang and Ingrid Chen combined their fashion senses to create a contemporary accessory line using precious and semiprecious stones.

The jewelry designers, based in the San Francisco Bay area, came up with a line that uses a colorful array of stones—such as carnelian jade, turquoise, blue quartz, jasper, yellow and green garnet, and blue goldstone— in shell, dew drop, leaf and chandelier crystal shapes. The line comes in sterling silver and features multi-strand necklaces with matching bracelets, earrings, rings, toe rings and hair accessories.

Viv & Ingrid produces two small collections each year. Rather than try to mass-market similarly designed pieces, the designers prefer to customize each piece themselves.

The line features about 200 pieces per collection, which are produced at a rate of about 300 pieces per week.

“We’re still at that brand-building stage, so we’re sensitive to the needs of our existing accounts,” explained Wang. “We want our company to grow, but we’re not at the point where we want to see our brand in every department store.”

When the company first launched in 1998, it generated $30,000 in orders, said Wang. Sales revenues for the company have increased between 20 and 50 percent each year since then.

“We try to pay close attention to what’s happening on fashion runways around the world and then create accessories that can be merchandised to specialty retailers who carry contemporary styles,” said Wang.

Wholesale prices range from $5 for hair accessories to $70 for a pair of chandelier earrings. The line is sold nationally at Anthropologie and at better retailers such as Bigelow & Co. and Henry Bendel in New York, Olivine in Seattle, The 24 Collection in Miami, and Bleu in Los Angeles. Viv & Ingrid also attend a handful of trade shows each year that cater to contemporary markets, such as Designers & Agents in Los Angeles and New York.

Buyers are also drawn to the line’s packaging, which comes in miniature silk and corduroy bags.

“Our retailers liked the packaging so much, they began requesting orders for the bags alone,” said Wang.

Recently, Viv & Ingrid added cosmetic bags and coin purses to the line, which wholesale for $12. A kimono-print, fanshaped coin purse and a polka dot-print cosmetic bag are a couple pieces in the collection.

For information about Viv & Ingrid, call (510) 524-0662, or visit www.vivandingrid.com.