Designing Sisters in Business

WHEN SISTERS such as the Sukhahutas (left) team up in business, they soundly break the mold of the conventional family store. These collaborations use the complex bonds in sisterhood as their creative fodder, so it is no surprise that many sister-business ventures take the form of fashion and design.

In My Sister’s Clothes: Fashion Collaboration
British sisters Sienna and Savannah Miller are the brains behind the clothing line Twenty8Twelve. The Millers (below) say that their shared design sensibility has come naturally since they were children. Sienna is an actress and contemporary style icon; Savannah started knitting on sharpened pencils at age of 8.

Twenty8Twelve attracts a wide-ranging clientele that has been known to include Reese Witherspoon—whose own personal style is heavily influenced by another sister act, stylist twins Clare and Nina Hallworth, who have also worked with Isabella Rosellini, Anne Archer, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Cameron Diaz, among other clients. Vogue recently cited an anecdote about the Hallworth-Witherspoon collaboration.

On the website of six-year-old clothing design company Sretsis (“sisters” spelled backwards), Thai designer Pim Sukhahuta explains that she was inspired by “childhood play like knitting Barbie outfits and role-playing a stylist for sibling fashion shoots.” While Pim designs the clothing, her older sister, Kly, runs the business aspects of the company, and younger sister Matina designs accessories for Sretsis, collaborating with her own jewelry label Matina Amanita.

Incredible hand-stitched gowns, dripping “with the sort of sophistication expected from Paris not Pasadena” is the signature look from Rodarte.  Laura and Kate Mulleavy (left) created Rodarte in 2005, when they traveled from California to New York with 30 handmade paper dolls, each delivered with a paper armoire containing seven paper Rodarte dresses. This was the sisters’ first marketing endeavor—they are self taught in every aspect of the business. The label is named after Laura and Kate’s mother, whose maiden name was Rodarte.

Also drawing inspiration from maternal forces, fashion label House of Dagmar is named for the late grandmother of the three founders (Swedish sisters Kristina Tjäder, Karin Söderlind and Sofia Malm). Kristina, Karin and Sofia (below) were brought together by their love of fashion, and by their desire to convey their grandmother’s style—feminine and chic—through their own creative measures. Much like the sisters of Sretsis, the talents behind Dagmar divvy up their work. Kristina and Sofia focus on designing the clothing, while Karin stays behind the scenes as the label’s main press contact.

If offroad bike gear is missing from your closet, there’s Damzl, a line of for-women-only motorcycle clothing founded in 2005 by Heather and Holly Birdwell. The company survived the tragedy of Holly’s biking death to go on, honoring her memory with its success.

The Family Jewels
Los Angeles-based sisters Gina Catan-Eckstein and Ivette Catan-Helfend started Linx & More a decade ago, and have brought the Italian-style charm bracelet to popularity as a result. They’re been profiled in People and elsewhere along the way.

Elizabeth and Kathryn Fortunato are the twin sisters behind the Lizzie Fortunato Jewels. Shaped by their paternal grandmother’s immaculate needlework and their maternal grandmother’s flawless style, the sisters began their business in 2002 when they were attending Duke University together. Like other sister designers, the Fortunato twins draw design elements from the playfulness of childhood; recent work includes a summer camp-inspired collection.

After a cross-country road trip combing flea markets for vintage jewelry, Satu and Celeste Greenberg moved from North Carolina to New York and began Tuleste Market.  Their label is heavily influenced by art deco design. While committed to producing quality pieces, the Greenberg sisters are also committed to keeping their price points under $200.–Anastasia Smith

When Design’s Not the Thing
While sister entrepreneurs might have found the most fame in the design world, sisters everywhere have left no stone unturned. Among bakeries alone, there is the Twisted Sister Bakery in Chicago; Twin Sisters Bakery in San Antonio; The Southern Sisters Bakers & Confectioners out of Charleston, South Carolina; Sweets Devine in Redford, Michigan (left, from the Detroit Free Press); and the Sweet Sisters Bakery in Nampa, Idaho, to name a few. Fully Loaded Tea is a quite hip tea company run by sisters Katy and Olga out of their hometown Vancouver, Canada. Two Laotian sisters (top) run a smash-hit bubble tea restaurant called Bobalicious, out of Boston, Massachusetts. After fleeing their country in the mid 80s, two Ethiopian sisters from a family of 10 opened Mesob, traditional Ethiopian cuisine in Montclair, New Jersey. In Parkersburg, West Virginia, two sisters have even opened a grave cleaning and adornment company (for people who cannot regularly visit a loved-one’s grave) called The Caretaker’s Daughter. Know about other sisters in business? Please add yours in the comments.

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