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It Began With Wendy Foster
With a girl-next-door charm and infectious smile “Katie” – as she
was known as a child – journaled her dreams for a future in the fashion
business and embarked upon that journey in earnest when she began
working for
Wendy Foster
and husband,
Pierre Lafond
. Wendy Foster’s
clothing boutique in Montecito at the intersection of East Valley and San
Ysidro Roads is known and admired far and wide. One could argue, in
fact, that Wendy Foster
is
the Montecito look. Certainly, she has been a
fashion leader in the Santa Barbara area for at least the past two decades.
Kate worked at Wendy Foster for close to 10 years, and credits that
internship as the greatest influence on her career as a fashion designer and
manufacturer. It was there Kate learned the fashion retail business from
the ground up. She traversed through their retail stores, Angel, and Wendy
Foster in Montecito and Downtown and Upstairs at Pierre Lafond, where
she worked in sales, merchandizing, went on buying trips to New York
and L.A., and finally managed and reconfigured the entire Wendy Foster
State Street Store down to the hangers.
It was during her time as a buyer and manager of the State Street
Store that Kate’s idea for her pant line took root. After years of buying
and listening to frustrated retail clients looking for the “perfect fit,” Kate
realized there was a niche to be filled. Her clients needed pants that fit
like jeans, were comfortable, held them in, but that could also be worn to
work or lunch. In other words, pants that fit like jeans but were not jeans.
The Fall/Holiday Line
The key to Kate’s pant line – called Kate McHale
– is the fit. With a blend of cotton and spandex,
“they fit like a jean and flatter the figure in all the
important ways and they can be worn anywhere
and be dressed up or down,” she says. Kate focused
on fit and comfort, and her attention to detail – double
stitching on pocket and whimsical printed pocket linings,
signature buttons – and feel of fabric, all married with the
sophistication of a contemporary slack. Fall/holiday fabrications range
from stretch suede, satins, and cottons to velvets in deep fall tones such as
black, merlot, pewter, yarn-dyed plaids, sable, eggplant, and deep green.
Her premier line will debut for fall/holiday 2008 and includes 40
pieces (5 styles in up to four colors). All pants are machine washable, come
in a variety of flared, boot cut, wide- and straight-leg designs, but no super
skinny and no denim.
Kate first showed the line to mentor Wendy Foster, who remarked, “I
have known Katie McHale since she was a teenager, and when she was in
my working life she was certainly a bright light. She took her work very,
very
, seriously and has a very good feeling for detail and for what people
want. I
love
her new pant line and I am sure people will respond well to
it. Kate’s velvet pants are made with some of the finest velvet I have ever
seen!”
The line will be featured in all Wendy Foster stores including the
Wendy Foster Dress Shop in the Upper Village, Angel on Coast
Village Road, and Wendy Foster on State Street. It will also be
available at Fred Segal stores and
Jaye Hersh’s
Intuition in
Los Angeles.
Kate, who is planning on living close to home where
friends and family are her base, says she hopes her brand “will
appeal to the universal customer who appreciates elegance and
taste in clothing, and combines timeless and classic elements with
a modern sensibility.” Kate McHale, young entrepreneur with vision,
believes she has created pants for women who are “aware of the trends
without relying on them, designed for the long haul and meant to stand
the test of time.”
Kind of like Montecito.
For more information, go to: www.katemchale.com.