With her talent for marketing, passion for fashion and eye for what's trendy, it's easy to see why Carmen Busquets is so successful. The green eyed Venezuelan beauty is the majority backer of the online pret-a-porter store Net-a-Porter and is now busy marketing her second offbeat venture, CoutureLab.
“As individuals we have two sides to our personality: one that is trend hunting, constantly looking for what's new, and the other side is loyal to what's old. These sides don't talk to each other," she says with a laugh.
“It's a split there are certain items in your closet that you wouldn't part with in a million years. Others you give up in six months time, with the thought, what in the world was I thinking!"
While Net-a-Porter caters to what's trendy, CoutureLab is about fashion that transcends trends. The collections at CoutureLab are painstakingly crafted, artisan pieces from a range of talent. Fashion designers working with Busquets include Maurizio Galante, Duro Olowu and L'Wren Scott, luxury leather expert Jean-Francois Ducas, jewellery designer Siki de Somalie, and the sculptor Ernst Gamperl.
Born to a Cuban mother and Spanish father, and raised in both Venezuela and Miami, Busquets embarked on a career in couture when she opened a store when she was 22 years old. “My father wanted me to take up something that was more business related, so I studied marketing and advertising not art and fashion like I wanted to. But I was always interested in fashion."
The store in Caracas stocked designers like Chanel and Galliano. She would send pictures of her collections to clients in New York, Paris, London and elsewhere, and they would buy based on those images. Busquets ran Cabus, her boutique, for six years and the client list continued to grow.
From a retail operation in Caracas in 1990, Carmen built an international network of customers. She was ahead of the trend, recognising that geographical location was irrelevant to her clientele.
In 1997, she decided to go online and a former boyfriend introduced her to the founders of Net-a-Porter.
“My father told me I was crazy to invest in the internet. So I invested $1 million (Dh3.67 million) of my own money in various dot coms; most of these investments paid off well."
An alliance of artists, artisans and designers, CoutureLab exists both in the physical and the virtual space. This year Busquets opened the CoutureLab gallery filled with one-off and limited edition fashion, furniture, jewellery and accessories in Chelsea in London. Another gallery in Paris is scheduled to open shortly. In fact, Busquets was in Dubai recently to scout around for another location for CoutureLab's gallery space.
“We have a number of clients from Dubai and Saudi Arabia," Busquets says, though she declines to reveal the names of the 130 members of Middle Eastern royal families who are among CoutureLab's 700 members.
“I feel people like to keep their privacy when it comes to buying. Hence we never reveal any of the names. Not even people within the company know who our buyers are."
All that she is willing to reveal about the buying habits of Middle Eastern royalty is that, “they appreciate craftsmanship and couture".
“They buy everything from baby clothes to jewellery and kaftans."
The top selling items in the region are Indian shawls, cashmere, kurtis (Indian tunic tops) and kaftans. “A lot of our clients get involved and recommend designers to us. CoutureLab has grown into an artistic community."
What's hot
CoutureLab's top sellers in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, are:
- Vicente Gracia: The Spanish designer, named by Vogue as one of the 20 most prestigious jewellers in the world, has ornate pieces comprising diamonds with rare stones such as moonstone, coloured sapphires, fire opal, pearls and Mashad turquoise.
- Lydia Courteille: Her collection features spectacular gemstones; diamonds, rubies, green garnets, white and yellow sapphires combined with semi-precious stones such as jade, pink jasper and onyx in white gold and rhodium settings. Some of her most ancient gems come from the 18th century.
- Maurizio Galante: Each of his pieces takes up to 300 hours to make, using a complex technique, infused with mainly ancient Oriental dress patterns. There is an exquisite mix of layered accordion pleats, embroidered with 18th century lace, silk tulle, or swan feathers. The geometric silk shapes, embroidery and beadwork are all made by hand.
- Christian Astuguevielle: An artist who designs home accessories, much of his work has a museum-piece like quality. Materials he uses include shells, synthetic hair, wire meshes, artificial flowers, paper bows, polished cotton-wool, gold thread, organza or resin. His collection includes jewellery, a series of mirrors and miniature sculptures.
- E2: Michele Meunier and Olivier Chatenet are the design team behind the Parisian vintage-recycling label E2. They unearth vintage by the likes of Madame Gres, Chanel and YSL, then rework these to produce one-off creations worn by stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna. Their reworking can involve anything from new buttons and added sequins to fashioning old fabrics into entirely new pieces.
- Rohit Bal: One of the best known Indian designers, Bal's collection has matador jackets, skirts and coats in silks, tulle and velvet with exquisite embroidery and craftsmanship.
- Paola Napoli: Her jewellery line is made from 18 karat. gold, which is combined with different materials such as precious woods from Africa and Asia, seashells from the Pacific, mother of pearl from Tahiti and gemstones.
How it works
CoutureLab connects the very limited production collections of emerging and established designers, artists and artisans with a global clientele. It's ideal for those who produce one-off creations and small collections. Access is by membership and clients have to be accepted by the Membership Committee. They have access to the several specialised areas within CoutureLab: VintageLab, PrivateLab, The Gallery and Karma.
Goodies on the site range from spectacular jewellery to quirky home ware, baby clothes and more. It's not bespoke, but given the limited edition nature of these pieces, it's next to impossible that you would see the same on your neighbour.
