{off the runwa y }
Starting small
Designers: Cathy Chung, Katerina Herodotou Business: Treasury, Ouroboros Specialty: Vintage clothing
W
illowy models drawn in black ink gaze up from sketches spread across a
table inside Treasury (http://shoptrea-
sury.com/), the 14th Street boutique owned by Cathy Chung, 32, and Kateri- na Herodotou, 26. A few hours before the shop opens on a sweltering Friday morning, Chung is thumbing through drawings of draped tank tops, breezy skirts, dainty-yet-daring tap shorts — the culmination of a dream she has shared with Herodotou since 2007, when the two began selling secondhand clothing and accessories at bars and boutiques under the banner of their now-defunct blog, Listopad. Chung and Herodotou peddled the
treasures they scooped up at thrift stores and estate sales, and cultivated a devoted customer base. In March 2009, they found a permanent home for their hobby in a second-floor space on 14th and T streets NW, opening a year ago after months of renovations. “Starting out with Listopad allowed
us to test the waters with a product, in- stead of a space,” Herodotou says. “It gave us the inspiration and motivation to do a stand-alone retail store.” Megan Barnes, 28, a bartender, has
patronized the boutique since it opened. “They know what’s in style before it be- comes trendy. They think about women and look for solutions to problems.” Before they went to work on their
own line, the vintage aficionados turned to their closets to pinpoint those hard- to-find but essential pieces that would become the basis of their first collec- tion. By early spring, they had enlisted two skilled tailors to take their ideas from sketch pad to store shelves. “I think of D.C. as being always on-
the-go, and these pieces would be great for people like that to be able to get ready quickly,” Chung says. The tailors — Kristen Swenson, 24, and Erin Derge, 27 — set to work
designing a thigh-grazing skirt, a sleeve- less top and blousy, high-waisted shorts. Once Chung and Herodotou signed off on the final looks, the two seamstress- es began making patterns and sewing sample garments in an extra bedroom in Swenson’s apartment. Now, inside the quiet, sunny boutique, Swenson shows off two samples of the miniskirt, one in a summery striped cotton broadcloth and another in a bright turquoise printed silk. The items are simple yet style-con- scious, a collection that could easily mesh into a downtown Urban Outfit- ters. The prices follow suit, ranging from $68 for tops to $92 for a pair of shorts. The line is called Ouroboros, after
an ancient symbol of a serpent swal- lowing its tail. Chung says the symbol represents “a cycle of eternal return and renewal,” and the team relates it to the practice of turning vintage ma- terials into modern garments. The line merges recycled textiles — usually from damaged clothing found in thrift stores — with silk and linen gathered from es- tate sales and vintage fabric suppliers. Herodotou, who recently returned to
the District from Brooklyn to attend law school, predicts that it will be at least a year, maybe two, before she and Chung, a consultant at a retirement planning company in the District, can focus full time on running their business. “Opening a small business has been a great learning experience — there are
22 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | August 22, 2010
“
It’s worth it at the end of the day, like anything where your dream is involved.”
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