Conversations with the Inspiring Remy Schaefer Stressenger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Remy Schaefer Stressenger.

Remy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always loved fashion and style. In fact, when I was younger my mother gave me a clothing allowance because I didn’t like the clothes she bought for me. It’s so great now to think back to how much a pair of jeans cost and how I managed my budget to afford the pieces I “had to have.”

I had always sketched designs but it wasn’t until 2012 when I finally brought a sketch to life in fabric. It was my REMY Shawl and remains the signature piece of my line. Once I had the design for the shawl I headed to NYC to source the fabric and found beautiful, colorful herringbone tweeds and then decided to add leather trim in different colors. Since I buy end bolts from designers, the shawl colors are limited in quantity keeping them fresh and unique for customers.

I started selling the shawl at trunk shows and loved meeting new people while helping them choose a color combination for their shawl. When an opportunity was presented to open a shop on Nantucket in 2016, I jumped and dove into designing more clothing. The shop is open during the summer season and a few other special weekends on Nantucket. One of my favorite aspects of owning a store is meeting everyone who comes into the shop and showing them my favorite pieces. By searching out other new designers, I’ve rounded out the store inventory making it fun to put together complete looks.

When I’m not on Nantucket, I look for locations to pop-up for short periods of time to test new markets. I’m working to expand at a pace where we don’t lose our personal touch. I have been so grateful for so much support and advice from friends and family. It really does take a village for us all to succeed especially single parents.
Stay tuned for lots of new ideas, designs and even a new blog concept that will be announced soon.

Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think anything truly worth doing, especially a new business, can be accomplished without some struggles and challenges but that is where we learn so much and grow.

One of the major struggles for me in my business is getting my designs made exactly how I envision them. Each step has the potential to run smoothly or create a headache. Getting my samples made is more time consuming then it should be, I’ve had entire lines sewn at the manufacturer with such poor quality that I wouldn’t sell them (a huge waste of money and time).

Creating the right relationships is so important but managing them is even more important. Standing up for your self and your vision and not accepting anything that doesn’t meet your standards or vision can create issues with your chain of service providers.
Ask questions and trust your gut.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into REMY Creations story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a designer and shop owner specializing in limited runs so that my line stays fresh, unique and exciting. The REMY shawl and Petite Jolie dress are two things that I am known for. I am working on a new line featuring denims in various ways. When I see happy customers wearing and posting photos of themselves in my designs, I am so proud. I love seeing my label out in the area and snap a photo each time I see someone carrying one of my bags. One of my goals in my shop is to make customers feel welcome and then beautiful as they try on clothing. I want them to leave my store whether they buy something or not having had a great experience. I don’t have any problem sending someone to another store if they are looking for something specific that we don’t carry because I respect other shop owners and ultimately want the customer to feel valued.

For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
When hasn’t there been a time when women didn’t face challenges?

Conversely, there hasn’t been a better time for women to embrace opportunities because there are a plethora of avenues to take in order to accomplish goals. Whether starting a business, providing a service or climbing corporate ladder women are resourceful to find the various ways to fund an idea or gather information via a quick google search, etc.

I think women are finding more roles in politics and aspiring to positions that provide opportunities to make positive changes in our country and world.

Contact Info:

• Address: REMY
  16 Old South Wharf
  Nantucket, MA 02554
• Website: www.remycreations.com
• Phone: 617-840-5898
• Email: remy@remycreations.com
• Instagram: @remystressenger
• Facebook: REMY Creations
• Twitter: @REMY_rcc

Image Credit:
MinFin Photography

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