Ladies in (Up-and-coming) Business

Tonight Rena of Rare Device hosted a Ladies in Business cocktail at her neat little Boerum Hill apartment. Her idea was to bring together a group of women running their own up-and-coming businesses in Brooklyn and Manhattan, add some wine, snacks from the Middle Eastern shop downstairs, and devilish cupcakes, and let the rest take care of itself.

The result: a marvelous evening getting to meet some of the people behind the boutiques, design lines, and blogs and share stories and good energy with them. Everyone was so pleasant and enjoyable to talk with, and I came away feeling excited to be part of this wonderful community of smart, savvy women.

I’m so happy to have met these lovely, entrepreneurial young women that I just have to give them each their own little plug. (Please let me know if I have any of these details incorrect!)

:: Camille Howe is a designer who works with Chilewich, a studio in Manhattan that uses woven vinyl textiles to create chic table mats, floor mats, and handbags. She also makes her own work.

:: Denise Kerr opened a brand new shop called Beryl in Park Slope this past May carrying clothing and accessories by emerging designers. She also designs her own jewelry.

:: Erin Weckerle is the owner of Sodafine, a 2 ½ year old boutique offering handmade and vintage fashion, accessories, and gifts in Fort Greene. She is busy preparing Sodafine’s new digs on Grand St. in Williamsburg opening later this summer.

:: Grace Bonney is the creator of the essential-reading blog design*sponge, which has recently launched a podcast.

:: Kristen Aronsson is a designer (and fellow Bushwick dweller). Her new handbag collection may be found at Rare Device.

:: Laurice Curran is a full-time jeweler whose creations can be found at Rare Device.

:: MK Wong buys for and manages Cursive, a shop of colorful, edgy stationary housed at ABC Carpet & Home (and I don't think has a website yet). I must also mention that she brought the most deliriously delicious chocolates from Chocolat Michel Cluizel of Paris which can be found stateside at ABC, and thank goodness!

:: Karen Young writes the retailer-oriented (but eminently readable for everyone) blog called clothes-pin featuring new work by contemporary emerging and independent fashion designers every day.

It was a brilliant idea of Rena’s to put this together, and I’m hopeful that we can make this somewhat of a regular occurrence, even if it’s only a couple times a year.