A twist of fate resulted in her doing a two-month internship at a Cape Town-based online magazine, in September 2006. During this time she became smitten with Cape Town fashion and bought eight dresses within the two months. For her, the dresses were something quite different from what she saw in Switzerland. “Over there, everyone seems to be unaccustomed to wearing feminine garments and if you want something really special it is usually quite expensive,” she explained.
Her then formative business mind began to tick and although she was about to start her business communications degree, she considered the idea of taking these beautiful dresses to Switzerland to sell.
“The beginning was very difficult, I would see clothes I liked in shops but the store owners would not give me the designers’ contact details – I suppose they were scared I would become their competition. I then emailed as many designers I could and I only received one reply,” she said. “I guess they were skeptical because I was only a student.” However, with enough determination she managed to interest 10 Cape Townian designers and one Johannesburg-based designer and in February 2007 she bought her first load of stock. “Once I knew I wanted sell dresses online I had to work quickly to get my website set up and get my stock at the same time.” In late March 2007, she launched her company, Chocolate-Box.
After her first year of business, she stayed with four of these 11 and took on five new designers. She is presently stocking Tart, I love Leroy, Coppelia, Good Clothing, Scarlett Smith, Missibaba, Chilli Rags and Alexandra Höjer. She is also negotiating to get three more designers on board. …
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Article written by Jennifer Searle
