St. Louis stylesetters scale up the retail house party, selling jewelry and purses handpicked in exotic locales
By Katie Pelech
“Look at my new cuff!” Susan Sherman bubbles, thrusting out her wrist to display an achingly intricate gold bracelet. “It’s from Turkey!”
Sherman has just emerged from a room packed full of glittering baubles and luxe fabrics, an oasis of opulence in the drab corporate office building that is serving as the temporary home of St. Louis’ new high-end couture direct-sales accessory line, the S. King Collection.
Wait a minute—direct sales? Like Tupperware and Avon?
Not even close.
Although the direct sales market was once dominated by companies of the “by-housewives, for-housewives” persuasion, those days are but a distasteful memory. The last decade has seen the widespread success of high-end direct-sales apparel companies, including Doncaster, Carlisle and Worth. Overcrowded stores, obnoxiously ubiquitous trends and ever-lengthier work hours drove women into the arms of these vendors, who will cheerily spend a Sunday peddling pashminas in suburbia, mimosas firmly in hand.
In lifting the stigma, these apparel companies revealed a glaring opportunity. Today you might be able to find the perfect dress for that gallery opening without braving the mall parking lot, but what use is it if you don’t have the perfect earrings to go with it? And just where are you supposed to put your lipstick?
That’s where Stacy King, founder of the S. King Collection, and her crew, which includes Sherman, Elaine Burkhardt and Cabanne Schlafly, come in. In her last career incarnations, first as a buyer for Neiman Marcus and later as the president and CEO of BBH/Clear Channel Exhibitions, King traveled around the world, from Russia to Kathmandu. She developed a passion for treasure hunting, reveling in the discovery of every new handmade necklace or delicate scarf, enjoying not only their craftsmanship but also their cultural history.
“It’s valued because of the people who touched it, or thought about it, or were inspired by it,” King says. She was determined to share her cache, but only recently has the Texas native felt comfortable enough in St. Louis—home for the last two years—to take the plunge.
The S. King Collection, a wide array of accessories plucked from artists around the world, will be available at events hosted by carefully selected fashion consultants. Priced between $30 and $3,000, each piece has a story behind it, from the exclusive line by New York furrier Jerry Sorbara to the Sophia necklace, the signature piece that King brought back from Turkey.
“We’re in the grand bazaar in Istanbul,” she recalls. “The lights are out, and we’re taking tweezers, putting stones in place. The guy comes up with his flipped-up magnifying glass and his hands all dirty, and he’s bezeling these stones and putting them on chains. Right next door to the bazaar is the Hagia Sophia, so we call the necklace the Sophia.”
Looking at the delicate gold chain interrupted by dazzling chunks of peridot, tourmaline and citrine—a far cry from its initial haphazard design, which King scrawled on a piece of notebook paper—one is able to glimpse the strength of her vision and determination. “Our dream is to have a thousand reps,” she says. As you peer at the gathered arsenal of sable evening bags, ornate brooches and gobs of glossy gemstones with the deliciously guilty appeal of candy, you realize she just might pull it off.
