For nearly 20 years, Pomona’s Hope Wade quietly went about her business. In 1991, low on resources, she designed and sewed up a party dress to wear for a special occasion in Nyack. She got so many compliments — and requests for the source — she decided to launch a small couture atelier, Hope Wade Designs.
“Everyone loved the dress, and I got so many requests on where to find it,” she laughs.
Wade, the mother of a 12-year-old, stepped back from her career in fashion design to raise her child. “I had been doing it for friends and referrals here and there, but when I had my daughter I just decided, ‘I am staying home,’ ” says Wade, who was born in Jamaica.
After nine years, the creative urge began to nag at her. She sewed a few designs and participated in a fashion show at Nyack’s Memorial Park. Things started to take off again, with clients finding her by word of mouth.
Last month, Wade was chosen as one of seven designers to represent the United States in the 2013 Emerging Trends Fashion Challenge in London, a showcase for women’s apparel and trends. “It was incredibly exciting,” says Wade, who finished in third place. One of her designs, a polka dot dress made from jute, was chosen by the judges as the most outstanding piece in the showcase.
“Everybody is moving toward natural fibers, so I thought why not jute,” she says. “It looks like linen, but when you get up close, you can see how heavy the weave is. The judges were really impressed.”
As part of the competition, judges zeroed in on the contestants’ business savvy along with their fashion sense. “I don’t get nervous easily,” she says. “But they interview you before the show on your business acumen and your growth.”
And she’s the first to admit, her company needed a push. “Honestly, success is something I always wanted, but being pragmatic, I wasn’t advertising. And I am self taught. A lot of it has been trial and error, so you have to push yourself to do what’s necessary.”
Wade’s style is opulent and upscale, and she uses rich fabrics such as silk, linen and lace. Her current line includes a jaunty Tartan-patterned evening dress with a tiered skirt and a sexy, diaphanous black and yellow silk gown with a deep front slit.
Her success at the expo has convinced her it’s time to expand: She has a new line for children called Jasper’s Closet, an e-commerce site about to launch, www.hopewadedesigns.com, and three new employees. Up to now, she relied on word of mouth and referrals to find customers.
“Before this, I was doing everything myself and it was a pretty much round-the-clock job; I have literally made 14 dresses in 40 hours,” she says. “I have to expand. The next thing for me, in the next six to eight weeks, is to have the online business up and running.”
When it is, the site will have about a half-dozen designs available for purchase, including that polka dot jute dress.
One of Wade’s clients wore the dress to the United Nations First Ladies luncheon in September. “Everybody was taking pictures,” she says.
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