Schriffen clothing line
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Two New York City sisters said goodbye to their high-paying careers in law and banking to start their own fashion brand because they just couldn't take how awful golf wear was for women.
They decided to pour their savings into something that could save all female golfers from fashion hell and Schriffen was born.
We could not play in those clothes Lara Schriffen says about her love/hate relationship with golf. She and her sister, Danielle, loved to swing, but hated the style they were seeing on the golf course, so in 2013 they launched their own line of fashion-forward golf and tennis clothes right here, made right in New York.
Lara says it had to look feminine. It had to be styled. It had to be "if I ran into a really fashionable crowd having lunch on Park Avenue would I be embarrassed to run in front of those people?!"
For Danielle, it had to pass the Derek Jeter test. Would she be embarrassed if she was invited to a tournament and he was there?
Their first collection was all about streamlined, sophisticated looks. Lara says they wear a lot of black and white, so their first collection was just that: black and white. They kept it simple: black dress, white dress, very formfitting.
That sophisticated collection of clothing, a major investment on their part, to launch a business all on their own. Lara says, conservatively, it takes a 5-figure investment to run production for a new fashion brand. And by 5 figures, she means $50,000 and up. Danielle says they started buying $50,000 worth of fabric, because they really believed they could make money with their brand.
They took a leap of faith because they believed in it. Last year, that leap of faith caught Forbes' attention.
This year, they branched out into menswear and separates. And this summer, they're doing a custom graffiti print inspired by the Williamsburg Bridge, which they previewed for us at the golf simulator at Chelsea Piers. Danielle says they hired a local artist who does custom prints and worked with her for at least 6 months because they wanted something that had never been seen in the marketplace.
And that's what it's all about for the Schriffen Sisters, putting out athletic wear that you're not seeing anywhere else in the marketplace.
Next up? They plan to branch out into other sports. They're not saying which ones, only that they're sports in definite need of some Schriffen love.
They'd also love to get their clothes on Jessica Alba, Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, and Nicole Kidman, all great celeb golfers who would do Schriffen proud.