Quail: Hatching New Jersey Knit Classics
Michelle Nguyen first got addicted to the jersey fabric drug while working as an intern at The Closet’s corporate offices in Costa Mesa, Calif., where she saw how jersey tops and dresses flew off the racks.
Nguyen’s funky reworked vintage style made an impression on The Closet buyer Kari Stade, who suggested that Nguyen morph her look into a clothing line. When she took Stade’s advice and started her line Quail for Spring 2006, Nguyen instinctively picked Modal/Lycra jersey fabric as the foundation.
“I always wanted to work with jersey because I saw how well it did at The Closet,” said Long Beach, Calif.–based Nguyen, who said she likes the simplicity and easy-to-wear quality of the fabric. At the time, she was a college student majoring in communications. “I was able to see what worked and what didn’t.”
One of Quail’s first accounts was The Closet stores in Orange County, Calif., and the line has since been sold to Filly and Sirens & Sailors, both in Los Angeles, and Lola Y Maria in New York.
Nguyen tries not to over-think when designing the Modal/Lycra jersey baby-doll dresses with pintucks, a Peter Pan–collar blouse, high-waisted vera sateen gingham shorts and leather bow belts. Her knack for clothing improvisation has helped her along without a fashion degree. For one strapless stretch-cotton dress with an apron tie in the back, the sample size was too large for the look-book model. So she folded the top over into a front flap, crossed the strings around and tied them in front. The new and improved dress is now in the line.
Nguyen gets her vintage-inspired style from her mother, who toted the designer along to antique fairs in search of antique lamps and vintage dishware. Nguyen’s mom found the designer’s shabby chic bedroom bed, desk and dresser on such an excursion when Nguyen was in the fifth grade. Though it didn’t click when she was a tween, Nguyen now appreciates the classic grace and practicality of the furniture.
“It is still in my house today,” said the 24-year-old Nguyen of the vintage dresser and desk. She extends the sensibility of timeless design to her clothing line. “I still wear clothes that I wore in junior high. Finding a cute 1950s dress when you’re in junior high, it still works.”
Wholesale price points range from $14 for a pair of Modal/jersey leggings to $60 for a woven stretchcotton dress.
For more information, contact the Mag/Net showroom in the Cooper Design Space, suite 211B, at (213) 622-0180.
—Rhea Cortado
