It is a very sad day for Cape Town ladies. Natalie Becker has sold her label Frock and closed up shop on Kloof Street. I am delighted for Natalie as she stops for a moment to refresh her creativity and relax a bit. But all the ladies who have shopped Frock for the past few years are left wondering where they are going to get their pretty, beautifully made, girlie but trendy clothes from now on.
Natalie, who is wearing a beautiful soft blouse and shorts from her last collection above, is such a talent in Cape Town design. We all hope that she emerges next year reenergised and ready to try something new — something that can replace the great gap that we are going to now have in our wardrobe staples, season after season.
I chatted to Natalie last week and she spoke about how her Frock experience has been incredibly rewarding. Many of us have gone on this journey with her as she sharpened her design skills over the years — particularly in tailoring over the past year. But with great personal development comes great stress and the constant need to bring out something new every few weeks, takes its toll on a designer who places such importance on getting the fit absolutely right for her ladies.
With an absolute commitment to her core customers, Natalie needs to step back from the mass market she has built up, and rethink how she wants to bring her designs to us in the future.
With several of my favourite wardrobe pieces by Frock, I know that I can't wait to see what Natalie comes up with next. With an ability to lengthen my legs and flatter my waistline, I need a supplier of this sort of design — desperately! I am sure we all do.
Wishing Natalie all the best, I promise to let you all know as soon as Natalie comes up with her next venture.