Designing woman

Entrepreneur, Jan, 1999 by Elaine W. Teague

Youth is anything but wasted on this twentysomething fashion maven.

Building a successful business poses a formidable challenge at any age. But for entrepreneurs in their early twenties, it may seem all but impossible. Those in need of inspiration need look no further than 22-year-old Toronto-born clothing designer Elle Hamm. Vying for position in the frenzied world of fashion, Hamm, perhaps the personification of today's new age of "girl power," has strategized her way into a niche that's as comfortable as her funky dress styles.

"I haven't seen anything else out there like this," says Hamm of her clothing line. Her Rudwear Inc. designs combine formfitting femininity with an athletic edge and can be worn as either daywear or eveningwear. Commanding her growing business from a corporate suite in Beverly Hills, California, Hamm's Rudwear Collection boasted 1998 sales of $100,000.

Just how did Hamm gain entree into the exclusive arena of fashion design at such a tender age? Very carefully. "A lot of times I don't tell people my age because I don't think they'll take me seriously," she reveals. When it's time for power lunches with the big players, Hamm trades her everyday braids for a more sophisticated "do" and transforms herself into a fellow suit.

But her outer transformation is just the beginning. In dealing with corporate types, "I may not look equal," she says, "but I feel equal."

JUST DO IT

Honing a steely determination from a young age, Hamm earned a reputation for achievement with her high-voltage personality and fundraising sales techniques. "I was competitive in everything I did," she says, "whether it was sports or selling chocolate bars."

When she was in high school, from 1990 to 1994, Hamm put her lifelong hobby to work by sewing clothing for her friends and herself. "[Originally,] I didn't think I'd make a career out of it," she says. "I just really enjoyed sewing." Her friends were so crazy. about her designs, however, that she sensed there was a market for them.

When it was time to bring her business idea to life in 1996, she started with a simple line of accessories to keep fabric costs low. She shopped the line of accessories to several Los Angeles area Marriott Hotel gift shops and boutiques and met with success.

With a warm reception from Marriott, Hamm set her sights on Nordstrom and several smaller companies- and after her initial contact commenced a relentless campaign of follow-up phone calls. "I called and called and called," she says. She was surprised - and thrilled - by the single response she received three weeks after the mailing. It was Nordstrom calling, and with that magic call, Hamm sensed she was on her way.

"I finally got an appointment with the accessories buyer, and I went in and showed her my stuff," she recalls. Hamm gave the buyer prices on the merchandise, but "when she asked me how long it would take to turn around an order of 2,000 pieces, I didn't know."

She asked the buyer if she could get back to her with a :@ time frame, but it was too late to make a favorable impression. After telling Hamm her price points were too high, the buyer showed her the door. "I just couldn't answer [her questions] quickly enough," Hamm admits.

Being forced back to the drawing board wasn't intimidating for this entrepreneur. "You can't take rejection personally," Hamm says. "All I knew was that I wanted to get into Nordstrom. I wanted to get into a major chain. So I just kept my eyes on that vision. I wasn't going to take no for an answer the next time."

From February to April 1997, Hamm regrouped, fine-tuned her goals and researched the market thoroughly. Because she still lived at home with her parents in Irvine, California, Hamm was able to pump every dime she made working at her day job into her budding enterprise, funding her fledgling company with the paychecks she earned as a front desk clerk at the Nikko Hotel in Beverly Hills.

A few months after her failed attempt to sell to Nordstrom, Hamm was determined to try again. She chose a manufacturing contractor she knew could handle the large orders the store would demand. Using her friends as models, Hamm took photographs of her hair scrunchies, scarves and bags and created a bare-bones brochure she photocopied at Kinko's. She mailed Nordstrom her brochure along with a request to show them her latest accessories line.

Within a week, Hamm scored a second appointment - with a different buyer. This time, she told the buyer she'd gone into production. "When she asked me where I had [my designs] manufactured, I could tell her. I also told her my prices were much more competitive," recalls Hamm. Nordstrom gave her a second chance.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Supplying Nordstrom with her line of bags and accessories in June 1997 was a dream come true for the then-20-year-old, but it was only the first leg of her plan. "I knew I didn't want to just do scarves and purses," she says. "I wanted to get into clothing."

Working 40 hours a week at the Nikko Hotel, plus 40 hours a week growing Rudwear, was tough. "I was driving myself crazy," Hamm remembers of returning dozens of Rudwear voice-mail messages during her Nikko lunch hours every day. But she was soon rewarded: "When I pitched my [clothing designs] to Nordstrom [in early 1998], they bit," she says.