With Vintage Fabrics and a Sense of Humor, the Designing Duo of Rouge Creates the Take-Notice Dress
The Designers: Rouge is designed by Michelle Lucas, 34, a native Angeleno (and self-described “Valley girl”) and Pauline Howland, 37, who was born in Putaruru, New Zealand.
The History: Howland studied fashion at Wellington PolyTech in New Zealand and then moved to London. After traveling around Europe and getting married, she moved to San Francisco, where she has lived for 15 years. She designed for small missy and junior companies, a children’s wear company, and freelanced before teaming up with Lucas.
Lucas went to Otis / Parsons and, after graduating in 1986, moved to San Francisco to workfor Esprit. She went on to work for other junior sportswear companies and met Howland when they worked together at the “cheesiest of the cheesiest of budget junior companies.” Lucas now lives in Los Angeles, so there’s “a lot of faxing and sending boxes back and forth between the two cities.” They get together about once a month, and although “it’s not ideal,” they manufacture and ship from both cities.
They showed their first collection for fall 1996.
The Goods: For spring and fall ‘97, Rouge is based on the use of vintage prints, usually silk. “We’re obsessed with the vintage fabrics . . . and the buyers fell in love with them too,” Lucas says. “We want our customer to know that these are couturier fabrics from the finest European textile companies like Bianchini Ferrier and Lesur. Jacques Fath used these fabrics. We love beautiful workmanship and even when these fabrics run out, we will always use fine details from the past.”
Rouge does coats and sportswear pieces in the same beautiful prints, but it’s the dresses that make the statement. “Our clothes are very feminine,” Howland says. “They’re for a woman who wants to be noticed, but in a sexy--not slutty--way. We do the take on classic Hollywood glamour, but it’s sex appeal with a sense of humor. We think of it as ‘Glamour Lite.’
“None of our styles are weird. We want to do timeless clothes with something subtly different. In our first collection we did mauve, moss green and orange boucles, and people just ate it up.”
Retail prices range from $85 for a top to $500 for a printed silk coat.
The Customer: “My mother looks great in our clothes” Howland says, “and so does the 16-year-old model. We think our customer has great taste but doesn’t take herself too seriously.”
Rouge does a lot of business with stores that cater to the entertainment industry. “They constantly want special things,” Howland says. “Sometimes we only get three dresses out of a fabric and then it’s gone.”
The Inspiration: Color and fabric obviously inspire this team, but as they talk about their partnership, one can see how much they inspire each other. Says Lucas: “Pauline has this incredibly subtle sense of style and such a sophisticated color sense. I’ve learned so much from her. I’m a little more commercial.” Says Howland: “We work so well together because we don’t have the same taste but we have the same taste level. We’re very complementary.”
The Stores: Fred Segal, Melrose, L.A.; Ron Herman, Brentwood; Flair at Fred Segal, Santa Monica; Jill Roberts, Santa Monica; American Rag, L.A.; Polka Dots & Moonbeams, L.A.; the Shop, Calabasas. In San Francisco: Metier, Salon de The and Vivo.
The Last Word: Lucas has thought about this. “Well, there’s good and bad to having L.A. as a base,” she says.
Good is:
* The film industry, celebrities and their photo shoots and TV stylists.
* Buyers are creative and visionary and love having a local designer to cater to their needs.
* Most everyone is slim and gorgeous.
* Cold weather dressing isn’t an issue.
Bad is:
* Getting almost no press in the New York-based fashion media.
* No real trade shows here for their market.
* Having to go to New York to look at fabric.
