Sheri Turnbow, the entrepreneur behind Bespoke Southerly, joins me in episode 18 to talk about how she built the women’s made-to-order special occasion brand to provide women with the personalized experience, quality finishes, and investment pieces that they’ll want to wear to countless events.
Sheri Turnbow is the Founder of Bespoke Southerly, a collection of customizable cocktail and special occasion wear that enables women to co-create their apparel by choosing the colors and details they want, like adding pockets, trims and hem length in one-inch increments. Women can personalize timeless silhouettes to truly reflect their individual style.
Although she began her career in fashion and retail, prior to launching Bespoke Southerly Sheri worked at leading non-profit organizations partnering with corporations including Apple, Coca-Cola, Disney and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., raising millions of dollars for wildlife conservation and sustainable business solutions.
Never one to follow the trends, but with the knowledge of what looks good on her, Sheri invests in quality pieces that she can cherish season after season. Through Bespoke Southerly, she wants to give all women access to beautifully-made luxury apparel, made to order (and eventually made to measure) just for them, to elevate the online shopping experience, allow personalization for every item in their closet, and inspire confidence in their appearance. Bespoke Southerly is made to order in the USA by domestic artisans and manufacturers that take pride in their work. And, made to order apparel is more environmentally friendly which speaks to Sheri’s previous work in sustainability and was important for the brand, which produces less waste in manufacturing.
In addition to designing and running the day to day of the business for Bespoke Southerly, she enjoys trying new recipes on the weekends, hiking, riding horses, and couch time with her husband and two cats while enjoying a classic or newly released film.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How Sheri modeled Bespoke Southerly after the way men’s suiting is customizable
- How Sheri worked her network to find the right people to help her start her first collection
- Why Sheri considers herself an entrepreneur and business person more than a designer
- Why a made on demand manufacturing model made sense for Sheri’s values and business
- What Sheri wished she had known when she was finding her team and factory
- How Sheri stays grounded as an entrepreneur and keeps herself from burning out
- What Sheri’s creative process looks like
- Sheri’s take on the future of formal fashion after covid
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
- Bespoke Southerly website
- Bespoke Southerly email
- Bespoke Southerly on Instagram
- Sheri on LinkedIn
- Queen of Raw deadstock textiles
- SCORE mentorship connections through the SBA
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