Sartorial Stars: William Rondina, Founder, CEO and Chairman of The Connaught Group

William Rondina, Founder, CEO and Chairman of The Connaught Group

Prior to the era of online flash sales, social commerce and mobile shopping apps, the scope of sales channels for apparel and accessories products was far narrower.  The longest running has been the wholesale model, in which goods are sold to department and specialty stores. Other brands historically chose a vertical retail model, selling goods directly through their own stores.  In the past twenty years, however, many brands began to combine these two modes of selling in order to maximize profits.  Now that there are a bevy of bricks-and-mortar and digital distribution options, many companies are trying to determine what combination of channels best suits their reputations and their balance sheets.

One fashion innovator who has found major success outside traditional sales distribution models is William Rondina, Founder, CEO and Chairman of The Connaught Group. Rondina first studied at the Sorbonne and at Parsons, and worked at Ben Zuckerman and Christian Dior, before founding The Connaught Group in 1981. The Connaught Group is a parent company, consisting of three brands: Carlisle Collection, Per Se and Etcetera. Carlisle Collection, which “produces couture dresses, suits, separates, and accessories with a sense of classic style that is modern yet appropriate for any professional or social occasion” was the company’s debut collection. In 2000, Rondina launched Etcetera, “Connaught’s chic everyday lifestyle brand for women on the go”.  In 2005, Per Se, a collection of bold, modern standout pieces was introduced. All three brands are known for luxurious fabrics, flattering silhouettes, and an attention to detail.

Carlisle Collection Fall 2011

Etcetera Fall 2011

Per Se Fall 2011

The Connaught Group uses a direct sales model; the Carlisle Collection and Per Se lines are sold through their lavish showrooms in New York City and in Greenwich, Connecticut as well as through a network of dedicated trained Wardrobe Consultants. Etcetera is sold purely via Wardrobe Consultants.  In 1981, Rondina began with an 85-piece collection and 100 Wardrobe Consultants. Today, Carlisle Collection alone has four 400-piece collections each year, and over 1500 Wardrobe Consultants.

The Connaught Group’s Wardrobe Consultants are fashion-savvy women all over the country who have set up home-based trunk show businesses and work one-on-one with members of their client bases. Wardrobe Consultants are first trained at “Carlisle University”, which “immerses new Consultants in client relationships, sales and marketing skills and administrative support.”  Consultants develop strong relationships with their clients, and help to outfit them head-to-toe. Clients tend to be women who are short on shopping time, but are in need of beautiful, high-quality pieces for every aspect of their busy lifestyles.

The Connaught Group’s approach to selling is unique; their clients are given a shopping opportunity that is personal, genteel, fun and timesaving. The company’s Wardrobe Consultants are given an exciting entrepreneurial chance to grow a home business. In this day and age of more, cheaper, faster, it’s truly encouraging to see a company that’s got such a holistic model, and one that’s dedicated to both their clients and their employees.

William Rondina, who resides in both NYC and in Bridgewater, CT, is as passionate about philanthropy as he is his business. He’s a major supporter of the Metropolitan Opera, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Botanical Gardens and Literacy Partners.  Thirteen years ago, in 1997, Rondina had an idea; approached his field of sellers across the country and asked which philanthropic cause did they most want Carlisle to support. The response was loud and clear: the fight against breast cancer.  Each year since 1998, Carlisle’s design team creates a new Fabric of Hope scarf which is made available to their clients from August through November, with sales supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s® ongoing research to find a cure for the disease.  Each Fabric of Hope scarf is designed with a unique pattern and a corner bearing the pink ribbon symbolic of breast cancer awareness.  With 100% of the donations going directly to Komen for the Cure, this Fabric of Hope collaboration has raised more than $1.9 million for the cause.

Fabric of Hope 2011/2012 Scarf

Thank you to Mr. Rondina, who was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions I asked him about the history of his business, his strategies, his design inspirations and his philanthropic efforts.

TP: What influences did you have growing up that made you go into the fashion business?

WR: My mother and father were very good friends with a man named John Doyle Bishop. He was the owner of the Carriage Trade Shop, which was “the store” that dressed all of Seattle’s wealthy elite at the time. The quality of every item, not to mention the store’s interior design and customer service were out of this world.  As a young boy, I would go in there just to visit and soak it all in.  I knew that this was something I could do just as well, if not better!

TP: Did you study fashion?  Where?

WR: I attended the University of Washington and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris before honing my skills at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. John Doyle Bishop was in Manhattan at the time and he helped me get my first job as a design assistant at the prestigious Seventh Avenue firm of Ben Zuckerman.  After that, I went to work at Christian Dior NY, which was still owned by Dior Paris at that time.

After eight years of paying my dues and learning my craft, I was ready to do something fresh that reflected both my own design aesthetic and commitment to personalized client service. To this end, I operated my design studio from 1973 until 1980, when I founded the Carlisle Collection.  In past years, I built upon this line with the introduction of our expanded Per Se Collection.  We are now offering both lines nationwide through showrooms and trunk shows.

TP: How long have you been in the fashion business?

WR: By 1965, I was fully immersed in the fashion business and working away in New York City.

TP: Tell us a bit about the Connaught Group:

WR: We are a company all about women and for women from what we provide to what we give back.

I would describe us as the ultimate marriage between high-end women’s couture clothing and a personalized wardrobing service.

I created The Connaught Group to be the parent company to our clothing lines for women, which now include the Carlisle Collection, Per Se and Etcetera.   Because of our extensive reach and relationships around the world, we can put the very best into creating our designs without eliminating even the smallest detail.  Our customized service is designed to please each of our clients and ensure that they have a wardrobe that truly works with their lifestyle.  I am very proud of this combination and the effort we make to delight each client.

We’re also about giving back.  To date, we have raised almost $2 million for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. We wanted our philanthropic efforts to be something we all felt proud of. So in 1997 we polled all of our sellers to determine which organization we should give to.  Across the board, women said they wanted to do something for breast cancer and that remains true today.  Now, each year, our designers create a signature Carlisle scarf that is given to our clients when they donate $125 to the Susan B. Komen Foundation through our Fabric of Hope program. 100% of the donation goes directly to the Susan B. Komen Foundation.

TP: What would you consider The Connaught Group’s design aesthetic?

WR: For us, it starts with sending our designers all over the world to explore design ideas and trends – because, in the end, it’s the fabrics they find or create that inspire us most!  We are unabashed “fabric snobs” and, to this end, we seek out the very best textiles from fabric mills in Italy, France and England.  Each of our collections is stylistically distinct.  This enables us to offer a variety of styles that meet the needs of many women while allowing them to diversify their wardrobes.

True elegance is all about being stylish with staying power – that’s our design mantra.

TP: Who is your typical customer?

WR: Our clients are stylish women who appreciate beautiful clothing and customized service. We are not for sport shoppers – we’re really helping to style people.  They get a service that is tempered to them uniquely.  In their 1 ½ hour visit at our showroom, they are the only person that matters. It’s all about helping that one woman find her style and a wardrobe she call pull from with absolute confidence.

TP: Who are some designers that have influenced your work, and how?

WR: The Carlisle and Per Se design teams come up with their own looks based on a variety of inspirations each season.

Each of our designers has experience working at the top design houses, including: Christian Dior, Burberry, Albert Nipon, Mary Ann Restivo, Carmelo Pomodoro, Episode, Ellen Tracy, Anne Klein and Tahari.  When you are a designer, you learn the basics and then build upon that foundation with each collection you create.

Ultimately, our designers work collaboratively to create each collection, offering clients the best of their collective talents!

On a personal front, the other design houses I truly admire and appreciate are:

Chanel, because they are able to reach women at so many levels.  And, they do it so well – from their accessories and clothes to their shoes.

However, for me personally — when I think of which designer is a true standout as having most influenced my work and focus on quality, I say Oscar de la Renta.

TP: Each of Connaught’s brands clearly has its own identity, yet it sounds like both the teams and customers overlap.  How do you differentiate each of those brands?

WR: Every season, we forecast the top trends and styles for our clients and reflect these in the collections we create.  For example, with the upcoming Per Se Holiday collection, we are all about glamour.  Women are drawn to shop from the line that matches their lifestyle and many of our clients shop from all three of our lines.

Carlisle is all about classic elegance with a modern twist for the accomplished woman who needs to look amazing but doesn’t have the time to shop all day.  She comes to us and we build her wardrobe often using pieces from Carlisle and Per Se to fit her weekday to weekend needs.

With Per Se, each piece is a standout.  It’s a line that is for a modern confident woman.  A woman who knows what she likes and isn’t afraid to mix it up, someone that is excited about melding the traditional with the trendy.

Carlisle and Per Se are available through our wardrobe consultants across the country as well as through our NYC and Greenwich, CT showrooms.

Etcetera is our chic everyday lifestyle brand and it is sold exclusively through an amazing group of independent wardrobe consultants across the country.   This line has a fun spirit to it and allows women to shop for their casual as well as business attire at a highly competitive price point.

TP: What is your favorite part of your job?

WR: Product, product, product – I am so proud of what we put together every season and the price point we are able to offer women.  At the end of the day, I am a product person and I am involved in the review and approval of every collection because it’s what I love.

Our clients get glowing remarks about what they wear from our collections and it keeps them coming back. What’s more, seamstresses across America tell our clients that they can’t believe how well our clothes are made.  And that is one of the best compliments of all!

TP: What’s next for the Connaught Group? Will some form of e-commerce ever come into the equation?

WR: E-commerce is the road to the future for most businesses because consumers are busy and once they are familiar with your brand they want to know they can access it.  We’re working on this for our business and for empowering our personalized wardrobe consultants to be able to offer their clients.  In our world we love the ability to serve women one-on-one, face-to-face as well as the ability to walk a woman through the collection online and help her shop smart this way.

The personalized element still remains key, it’s something you rarely encounter today in stores or online.

Keep your eyes open for www.carlisleboutique.com it’s a place that women will want to know about!