Woman-owned Kollekcio Boutique Offers European Style at Reasonable Prices

 

A friend of mine introduced me to her friends’ boutique, Kollekcio, in Old Town Tustin and it was love at first sight!  I have always loved European clothing but not always liked the prices!  But the owner, Viktoria Gallegos, was able to negotiate great deals and has brought gorgeous clothes to us ladies in Southern California!  I love her taste in fashion and I think every girl needs a pretty dress or two hanging in their closet ready to be worn out on the town.

We tried on some of our favorite dresses and outfits.  You can really feel the quality of the materials and one of the things I love so much about European clothing are the little additions they add to their clothing.  Like the Daisy Dress hanging above has 3/4 quarter sleeves which just add a little something something to the look.

 

Here are some of my favorite styles!  This Black/Gray A-Line dress is great for a holiday party or night out! I plan to wear this one for my birthday next month.  Not sure what I’m doing yet but plan to wear it regardless.  A girl needs to get dresses up once in awhile don’t you agree?

 

And who doesn’t love plaids!  This red checkered dress has so much going for it – from the mock turtleneck, front pockets to interesting cut on the hips it’s a steal for under $100. The UGHI line has some very affordable outfits. But hurry as she offers a limited amount.  I like that you’ll probably not see another person wearing your outfit!  That’s always a bonus.

 

And if you are looking for a stylish faux fur vest, you need to check out the gorgeous ones she offers online and in the store.  I’m eyeing that black one!

 

Loving the daisies on this sweet dress.  The material has a metallic feel to it and fits in perfectly with all the metals we are seeing this season.

 

This would be great at a holiday party or night on the town with the girls!

 

We had a chance to interview Viktoria about her new shop.  Here is what she says about starting up a new business and why she chose these stylish brands.

 

 

Stay tuned local friends – we’ll be hosting a Grand Opening Party the second week of the new year.  If you’re local you’ll need to stop by for some drinks, appetizers, enjoy the hair and nail bar and be entered for some door prizes!

 

She also offers local delivery!  Be sure to check out her gorgeous boutique if you are local or online.  Have fun shopping friends!

 

Tell us a bit about the process of opening up your boutique Kollekcio (and what does the name mean)?

 

Wow, the process! Well, it wasn’t easy. My first boutique and I knew nothing about selling clothes or bags and fashion accessories. I even read online that selling clothes is not for the faint-hearted. I thought they were kidding. How hard can it be, I figured. Well, they weren’t kidding.

 

First of all, the way it started is that I wanted to do a wholesale clothing and accessories business. I bought up clothes, but haven’t done anything. My husband said to start a boutique. He felt more comfortable with a retail store, because he knows nothing about wholesale. I felt comfortable about wholesale but just never got it going. I guess I needed a physical location to work from instead of just being on the computer at home. It was him pushing me that got me going.

 

I decided to look for a space, which was quite frustrating itself. I found this location and thought, I love the Old Town feel. I wanted some charm and some feel and easy parking. I didn’t want to put the store on PCH. I almost did, but couldn’t park. It took me 15 minutes to park and then another 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot. It was horrible. I like comfort. I want to offer comfort. I didn’t want people get frustrated just to park. I hate going to the mall because of the parking and all the walking. I like just going to the store I like, get what I need and get out easily. I also didn’t want to put it in a strip mall or shopping center. That is just not charming. Maybe for a laundromat, but I didn’t want that for my boutique. So, this location is pretty good. I wish there were more charming areas with good parking. Maybe there are, I just don’t know about them…

 

As I said earlier, I have background in wholesale. I used to have a jewelry company 100 years ago. I designed, imported, made handcrafted silver and beaded jewelry. I was even invited to the Grammys, but back then my situation didn’t allow me to go. I shut down that company after my New York sales rep disappeared with my samples. Just too much was going on at that time and I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. I wanted to start this boutique under that same company name but my domain name was bought up, so I had to come up with another one. After brain storming I came up with Kollekcio. I still hope it was a good decision, because it is a Hungarian word, so not sure how difficult it is for Americans to remember. I also have to put a lot of effort into search engine optimization to come up above all the Hungarian websites.

 

 

Have you always liked fashion?  Is your background in fashion?

 

I have no background in fashion. I have background in almost everything else, though.  I just know what I like. I am also a girl, so I really love pretty things. I grew up in Hungary and being so close to Italy, we had a lot of boutiques with Italian clothing. I always loved Italian clothes. I remember when I just barely started working at the hospital in Hungary, (my very first job radiology tech), the hospital organized an Italian trip which I signed up for. The trip was awesome. The architecture is gorgeous there. Venice is awesome. People there are very friendly. You could buy really nice silver and gold jewelry, clothes and leather products there.  That is the quality I am used to. I almost started carrying a French designer’s clothing, but I did days of research on the products, because I had a feeling they were not made in France and found out that they were all made in China. I passed on that offer to carry their products. I was really sad because the designs were nice, but my boutique is for 100% European products and I don’t want to worry about quality.

 

Tell us more about the European brands you selected to feature in your boutique.  What is it you like about these brands?

 

I have mostly Italian company’s products in the boutique. These brands are well known in Italy, but not here. I wanted to offer new styles and brands at affordable prices. I started out with a handful of brands, but planning on adding news ones every season. It takes time to find these hidden gems in Italy. It takes a lot of research and communication.

 

Right now I carry Paola Davioli, who mostly focuses on tops for women. I also carry Carmen Milano (I love their clothes by the way) with comfortable clothing for women of all ages. Tiziano SantAndrea is one of the higher end ones. Because of the deal I have with this company, I am able to offer these clothes at about 50% lower than they are selling in Italy, making them more affordable. You can get a $600 dress with 100% Mink fur collar deco for $300 at Kollekcio.

 

A very unique line is Sarti. They offer hand-painted 100% silk dresses with matching scarves. These dresses are truly unique and just gorgeous. These dresses make heads turn. Because these dresses are made to order and make them individually, I am able to get these in any size.

 

I offer both branded and un-branded leather handbags and some interesting fashion bags as well. I own a few of them myself. They are just really cool.

 

I also import super stylish casual and semi-casual clothes from Russia. They are well known there, but not here. I wear these clothes most of the time. These clothes are totally my style. They will start sewing me larger sizes starting next year.

 

You can find 100% cashmere and 100% silk scarves and also cashmere and silk blends along with gorgeous fashion scarves. My very first sale was actually one of these scarves.

 

I also carry faux fur vests and scarves. Faux fur is very fashionable right now. Pairing a faux fur vest with a turtleneck and blue or black jeans, just looks awesome with high heels or boots. They are a lot of fun.

 

I also have leather women’s shoes and ankle boots to go with these dresses and outfits. These shoes are made in a small artisan factory in Italy. Italy is full of small shops, but it’s hard to find them unless you have connections. They have very strong traditions and many of them still don’t speak English, which makes business difficult.

 

I am constantly looking for new companies and will be adding new brands and styles over the next year.

 

 

Any news you want to share with our lovely dandelion moms?

 

There are plans for different events in the future and also a really good rewards program is in the plans! I am also always open to ideas as well!

 

I am also able to offer same day deliveries to some cities. It’s perfect for those who want something ASAP but cannot come by to get it. Here is the list of the cities where same day delivery is available. https://kollekcio.com/pages/local-delivery

 

Be sure to stop by this holiday season!

Kollekcio is located in the historic Jamestown Village Center in Tustin next to the miniature Church building.

Kollekcio Boutique

482 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92780

949.278.0842

 

 

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Today’s post is sponsored by Kollekcio but all opinions are our own.

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