Silver Servings

Stephanie Beyers of Silver Spoon Clothing is one of my favourite young designers in SA because she's ambitious but with a professionalism that will take her career very far! I fell in love with her cutesy label when I visited her website last year. She lives and works in Port Elizabeth so she's still very much got that country mouse charm about her and her clothing. Silverspoon Clothing will be one the designers at Pulchritude next week. I wanted to find out a little more about her business so I asked her a few questions:

1. What 5 words describe your brand?

Quirky, quaint, dewy-eyed, 'folky', ready-to-wear

2. What is your bread and butter piece? The one that keeps you in business

Definitely the fold cardi, although at first I thought it was really boring... Ive since realised that the simpler the piece, the better the sales.

3. How do you balance being a designer and running a business?

I have days where I feel serious - so those I keep staked for paper work, and days where I feel dreamy - which I reserve for designing... so far handling things like this has worked out well. I managed to see early on that neglecting paper work leads to tears, so I force myself to keep it in tact. I had to make a conscious decision that when I started Silver Spoon I was firstly a business owner, and secondly a designer, so whatever decisions I make I firstly think about how i would benefit Silver Spoon.

4. Does living by the sea influence your aesthetic?

I hardly see the sea! But i think living in a small city does, i grew up on a farm, moved to Plett when I was 12 and then Studied in PE, so I've never really been apart of the hype and fast city life, I have to find inspiration from different places and I don't have much reference to 'who is doing what'. It gets frustrating, but I think its been a saviour. PE can be loads of fun, but its not constant, so I guess there's less distractions!

5. What do you like the most and the least about your job?

Most:
- Seeing a girl try on a dress/blouse/whatever that we've made and seeing their face light up.
- All the opportunities...
- I LOVE my studio, my seamtresses and working (working in general - I have been told that its a problem...)
Least:
- cutting!
- suppliers running out of fabric...

6. Where do you stock in JHB?

Just - 44 Stanley
Burgandy Fly - Maponya Mall
The Street - Greenside
Dell’icious Clothing - Bryanston