Caroline Kennedy's Five-City Book Launch Tour

Caroline Kennedy came to San Antonio for a five-city launch tour promoting her new poetry anthology, She Walks in Beauty, A Woman’s Journey Through Poems. Titled after Lord Byron’s famous poem, the anthology includes works from other greats of English literature, such as Edna St. Vincent Millay, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Amy Lowell and more. However, proudly featured alongside those greats are selections from the Alamo City’s own greats: Barbara Ras, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sandra Cisneros, and Rosemary Catacalos.

I had the humbling opportunity to attend Kennedy’s San Antonio tour, and appreciated not only reading stories from local women writers, but that San Antonio was representin’ with the likes of Caroline Kennedy. I fought the urge to raise my hand and announce that I too, am part of the local women writers scene. Who knows, maybe Kennedy’s next edition will include an installment, of my notorious “Chick-Lit.” Until then, I enjoyed reading the work of my predecessors and hopefully you will too. The idea for the anthology came to Kennedy on her 50th birthday, when friends sent her poems to commemorate the occasion. Inspired to celebrate the stages of a woman’s life, Kennedy divided the anthology into several sections, from Falling in Love, to Marriage, Work and Motherhood.

Barbara Ras’ Secret Lives describes a risqué journey mothers may embark on together. These mothers “that smear peanut butter on bread” are the ones who are “talking about their bodies and what they did with them in Portugal, Hawaii, the coast of France, it’s better than cards, it’s anatomy and geography…” A personal favorite, Naomi Shihab Nye’s My Friend’s Divorce is a rhythmic story about her friend’s garden, representing a fresh start. In Little Clown, My Heart, Sandra Cisneros captures the emotional tantrums that come with romantic love through the youthful voice the author is famous for (“Spangled again and lopsided, Handstands and Peking pirouettes”). And Rosemary Catacalos’ Crocheted Bag, featured in the chapter on “Beauty, Clothes, and Things of This World,” reminded me of Gertrude Stein’s high modernism.

However, perhaps the dearest passage of the entire anthology wasn’t a poem, but a few sentences written by Kennedy herself: “Collecting these poems reminded me that when I was younger, I thought my task was to forge ahead and succeed as an individual. But growing older has helped me realize that our success lies in our relationships—with the family we are born into, the friends we make, the people we fall in love with, and the children we have.”

Caroline Kennedy has written and edited seven books on constitutional law, American history, politics, and poetry. None have included contributions from local writer and Gal about the Globe, Desiree Prieto, but I’m sure her next one will.

A Visit with International Fashion Line, ‘Niche,’ Created in San Antonio, Texas

Turkish-born designer, Nilgun Derman, and her daughter, Ayse Derman, are the proud owners of Niche, a modern women’s clothing line carried in high-end boutiques and departments stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. In 500-800 stores at any given time, and in almost every state in the U.S., Niche happens to be headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, in an industrial area near the airport, or what I like to call, “Little Industry,” as it’s full of discreet warehouses and studios. However, Niche’s success is anything but little, and you can find the line at Dillard’s La Cantera— in the bridge section with Eileen Fisher—or at Julian Gold on McCullough.

Over 25 years ago, Nilgun Derman began the company with an art-to-wear line of hand-painted garments—influenced from her other passion. She holds a master’s degree in industrial design, and originally made furniture, which she believes inspired her to move toward clothing. “The concept of furniture and industrial design resonates in the work because our pieces are structural and architectural,” Nilgun explains. “But they are comfortable and yet elegant.” Nilgun began designing painted clothing because of its popularity in the late 80s and early 90s, but eventually the clothing evolved into a more ready-to-wear line. The feminine collections, aimed at the 30-and-up demographic, includes wearable separates, casual but sleek and fitted-jerseys, knits, cotton and plaid.

While the line is created in San Antonio, it’s primarily produced in central Texas, and Niche is proud to have kept it completely “Made in the U.S.” According to Ayse Derman, the company’s Creative Director and a University of Texas at Austin Business Alum, creating the clothing close to home has also helped Niche carve out their own niche in such a competitive market. “A decade ago it seemed very enticing to take production overseas. A lot of companies did it, like Ralph Lauren, and even the boutique brands moved overseas because the production costs so much less.” Ayse continues, “but we were stubborn and kept it here, and now there a lot of problems with overseas production. We can flip over something in three weeks, whereas overseas production cannot be flexible with deliveries and that’s where clothing companies can experience problems.”

Niche can join the “Fashion for a Cause” crowd, as managing their production close to home means they don’t overproduce. Ayse explains that they don’t make anything until receiving orders, and believe it or not, it’s easier that way. “We don’t have to project,” Ayse says, “we do our production based on the response. We don’t end up with extra inventory or clothing.” Ayse ensures that a percentage of the line is brand new and innovative, and a percentage of the line is tweaked. “We have history on the women’s body, as we have a little core group of clothes that have stayed the same for ten years. Soft separate groups, styles that consistently are best sellers.” The company also fulfills special custom orders, for weddings and other occasions.

Niche produces a couple fashion shows a year for the fall and spring break, which includes 110 bodies, styles, and two smaller breaks, one for holiday and one for resort, like early spring, which features crews. In addition, they attend the big tradeshows in the U.S. I had a chance to check out the Fall 2011 line and adore their black and white jersey dresses and scarves, as well as their brown striped separates, as brown is making a comeback in fashion. If you really want to know more about them, go shopping. As Ayse explains, “the pieces will tell you the whole story.”

Sidenote: While Niche’s studio is closed to the public and their line can only be found in select boutiques and department stores, their involvement in the community is immense: they mentor UIW interns, have hired UIW graduates, and also make fabric donations to the International Academy of Design and Technology.