BeachChic: Attractive Apparel
Florida natives Liz and Jane make waves in the casual-clothing biz.
by Taylor Bruce
photography by Karim Shamsi-Basha
It all started for them on a slow, hot afternoon in a Florida garage. Two
blond, cheery young women sat around with a stack of white T-shirts and an
idea. Liz Bennett and Jane Bennett, sisters-in-law and sisters in spirit, shaped
sponges into simple animal forms, banded up the folded shirts, and stirred
a bucket of dye. They wore their soft, colorful creations out the next day.
"We weren't die-hard 'let's start a business' people," says
Jane, who at the time hoped to pursue interior design. Liz, then a twenty-one-year-old
who had recently finished college, chimes in, "We just didn't know
many people in Panama City," where they were newcomers. "We did
it solely to fill up an afternoon of time." Their efforts that day have
since filled up the better part of twenty years, as Liz and Jane?s garage
project expanded into Liz and Jane Clothes, one of Northwest Florida?s
most thriving garment ventures.
"In the beginning," Liz says, "it was all about timing." One
week after that day spent in the garage, Liz and Jane found their first client
when they met a Grayton Beach storeowner who spotted the designers/models in
her Zoo Gallery store and raved about their shirts?relaxed, beachy, and
handmade. A year later, a manufacturer in Georgia picked up their designs;
and a couple of years later, Liz and Jane supplied Disney World with a women's
line that captures the Florida feeling, spun into thread. "Living in
Panama City is like a permanent vacation," Liz says. "When I moved
here, I knew right away I was not a city girl." Their fashions fit easily
on a beachcombing morning or for a margarita sunset.
Years have passed, but customers stay loyal by shopping in stores from Pensacola
to Tallahassee, and through some major department store catalogs such as Macy's
and Nordstrom. "We went from three thousand pieces in a year to delivering
thirty thousand pieces a month," says Liz's husband and business
manager Mike Bennett, who sold his beach rental business and funneled the equity
to boost the fashion company. In their warehouse across the street from the
beach, the namesake pair watch women stroll by in their apparel. "I know
our ladies inside and outside and upside down," Liz says. "They
are playful and free-flowing. And they love the beach."
Liz and Jane Clothes continues to mature just as it was born?as an old-fashioned
family business. Having grown since the early days, the two families now total
nine Bennetts, kids and husbands included?and all pitch in where needed.
Returning to her interior-design roots, Jane plans a Liz and Jane home decor
venture. Mike keeps up with the growing staff, and Liz's sister, who
moved to Panama City from California this year, is the feature model for all
the latest collections. A new generation is even entering the mix. Liz, mom
to three artsy girls, brings the trio along on her design days.
"We have three hundred new designs a year," she says. "The
changes are as little as color and as big as fabric for the major shows in
New York, Atlanta, and Dallas. And Rylee, my oldest, is a better designer than
her mom."