Nicacelly Mixes Up the Fashion Biz
“The idea for Nicacelly started organically,” says owner Nicole Markoff. After moving to Oakland, she got a job running the merchandising section Hieroglyphics, an Oakland based hip-hop collective. As a raise, the company provided her with a studio where she could quilt and sew, and she began to cut up and restyle the hip-hop stock t-shirts that weren’t selling to make stylish digs for she and her friends. She realized that “although baby blue and silver weren’t working for guys, they could probably work for girls shirts.” The company was able to sell the shirts as limited editions, they were selling merchandise that wouldn’t have sold in its original form, and she had extra money in her pocket. From there, Nicole began to integrate rich, colorful fabrics from around the world and custom quilted details, providing a truly unique approach to hip-hop gear.

East coast native Nicole Markoff always knew she wanted to get involved in the fashion industry, but an internship at DKNY when she was just 16 showed her the darker side of that world. The contradictions were appalling: one floor was filled with rich white people, starving themselves to look good, and on the next floor down, there were rows and rows of women working in sweatshop conditions just to make ends meet. Another thing that bothered her was the way the clothes were designed and fit for size 2 or size 4 models, when the average woman is between a size 8 and 12. That was enough to persuade her to move on to NYU, where she studied Speaking Visually-Public Crafts and Other Art.

After college, she decided to move to California and break out on her own. She wound up working as a temp, and eventually ended decided to sign-up for the business training program at Women’s Initiative. This experience turned out to be invaluable with regard to her business idea. “One of the most important things that I learned was that no matter how much you love your product,” she says, “you have to know how to market it to really get anywhere.” She also benefited from the bookkeeping, cash flow and projection exercises.

One of the most important tools that Women’s Initiative provided her was the strength and determination to just go for it. “Women’s Initiative allows women to become more self-actualized,” says Nicole. She was the youngest woman in her class, including older women, women with young children or those that faced other challenges, but the lessons they learned applied to each of them. “The holistic approach that Women’s Initiative provided allowed me to take a more holistic approach to my business,” she says. She learned a lot about personal empowerment, time budgeting, and the importance of nurturing herself and her business without pushing too hard.

Her business has really grown in the past few years. Two years ago, she had one or two trunk shows, three accounts and a net profit of about $10,000. She was making all of the clothes by hand, and was able to produce only about ten or fifteen shirts per day on her sewing machine.

Today, Nicacelly has about two trunk shows a month, fifteen accounts and as of late October, has just signed a contract with a sales rep in New York. She has outsourced the production to five different companies, and now has more time to focus on marketing and other aspects of the company. Her profits this year have been about $20,000, but with these latest developments she expects sales to triple.

Nicole supports the idea of making a product that is fair for everyone, from the thread weaver all the way to the consumer. She uses quality products and makes sure that the people producing them work in fair conditions and receive honest pay.

Since starting Nicacelly, Nicole has been constantly moving toward achieving her dream of being able to combine fine art, crafts and business. With the help of Women’s Initiative, she has created something out of nothing and has realized that she has the power to change her life and make her dreams come true. “The rewards come daily,” she says.

At this point, Nicole likens her experience to that of Charlie standing outside of the Chocolate Factory, golden ticket in hand. She can feel the magic all around her, but knows that she hasn’t even started to explore all of the secrets of the factory. Nothing can stop her and all of the exciting opportunities that lie ahead!

- Karman Ratliff

photo courtesy of Matthew Reamer.