I
■WgBS!
L»iWA'j!fti3rj:gg.i.T.y
H
a
I
s
t
o
n
thj,’'^SHION SHOW combining
"’tr
"Oduction of the Haiston de-
*0'" Karastan and the latest
Was held for a packed
((igL of more than 400 home-
in Greenville, S.C.
Waiij **''®^essional . model (above)
the u '*°''''n a runway carpeted in
Kifg Piston “H” design from the
y^®*an collection.
women from the area
tioh models for the presenta-
Of
the carpet samples (at
Fashion Show Combines
Carpets And Ciothes
A packed house of more than 400 Greenville, S.C.,
area homemakers applauded enthusiastically as May
field’s carpet specialty store unveiled Karastan’s new
"Haiston Collection” at a full-scale fashion show com
bining carpets and couture fashions created by the
famed designer.
Frank Mayfield, owner of the specialty store, en
gineered and managed the event in cooperation with
the management of Lillie Rubin, a chain of women's
fashion stores.
The program was presented at Vince Perone’s
restaurant which provided the stage, lighting and live
music for the show followed by lunch.
“We unquestionably could have filled this place
twice,” Mayfield said. "We had over 200 requests for
reservations before we even ran our ad in the Green
ville News. And once the ad ran, we literally had to
turn people away. If we could have anticipated such a
response, we would definitely have scheduled a
second showing.
“The program accomplished its main goal to make
Greenvjlle consumers aware of Haiston, Karastan
and Mayfield’s.
“We normally don’t expect immediate sales. It
usually is something that builds over a season and
longer. But we did close some nice sales on the
Haiston designs within the same week.”
Mayfield was quite optimistic about sales prospects
based on the “quality” of the audience. “These were
not curiousity seekers,” he said. The women were
smartly dressed, obviously fashion-conscious, and one
could tell they represented fairly high income groups.”
The store owner chuckled as he related a conversa
tion with one of the women following the show. “Ex
pect me in your store within the week,” she declared.
'Til want 600 square yards of that beautiful ’Basket-
weave’ carpet from the Haiston collection for my new
home.”
Astounded, Mayfield pointed out, “But Madam, I
believe that’s even more carpet than Haiston used in
his four-story New York townhouse.”
The weil-coiffured and fashionably-dressed woman
calmly replied: “My home is bigger than Halston’s.”
The audience got a view of Halston’s townhouse in
the Karastan film “Haiston at Home” which opened
the program. In the film Haiston takes viewers on a
guided tour of his home which is carpeted throughout
with his designs for Karastan.
Following the film, the three fabrics in the collection
—Suede Look, Basketweave and the Haiston “H”—
were presented to the homemakers. Young women
from the community displayed samples of the car
pets on the stage and a runway built out into the
audience. A commentary described each of the de
signs.
The carpet presentations were alternated with the
couture fashion show conducted by Charles Londick
of Lillie Rubin. It was a full-scale show with more than
50 garments shown by the professional models who
vi/alked, twirled and danced across the stage present
ing everything from sportswear to evening gowns.
All the women attending the show were given a
complimentary gift of Haiston perfume and Haiston
signature scarves were given to the first 200 women
registering at the store.
Mayfield said many people attending the show com
plimented him for staging the event and voiced their
approval of the Karastan film, the carpet collection and
the whole presentation.
One sale was directly related to the fashion show,
he said. A customer purchased the Haiston “H” car
pet for her home, and noted that her name was
“Hughes,” referring to the whimsical comment made
during the show that people whose names begin with
“H” can “tell their friends the carpet was designed
just for them.” The pattern features a subtle motif of
interlocking H’s.
Mayfield said, “I am convinced this is the way to sell
fashion — to build new generations of customers and
to attract the kind of customers who are willing and
able to pay for quality fashion merchandise such as'
Karastan.”
k
A Y
NOVEMBER 7, 1977