Sharlyn Trill’s love of texture might be traced to her youth, when at the age of 5 her mother taught her to knit. She made simple potholders and scarves then, but today, she’s designing affordable fiber works of art for the body through her 2-year-old company, CoVelo Clothing Inc.
In a small warehouse in Denver’s industrial district, she and her five employees are preparing to market her 2007 line and are designing the ’08 line of sweaters, boiled wool jackets and coordinating skirts. Many of this year’s designs have an Asian flair, including the Ming fitted cardigan, with elegant embroidery, bell-shaped sleeves and velvet and button trim.
– Cynthia Pasquale
How did you get your start in fashion design?
It really began on the retail side of things. I was doing marketing for Joseph Magnin in Denver, then moved into management. I fell in love with the visual side of it, and that prompted me to get into product design. I had my own line in the ’80s, mostly home design items, but I had a few handknit sweaters and coordinating jewelry. I worked for another knitwear company and freelanced some designs, then put a group of people together and started CoVelo two years ago.
Where do you get ideas for the lines?
We sell to small boutiques, so they’re looking for something unique and different to set them apart. We use details – lots of embroidery, handmade buttons, beautiful Italian yarns and patterns. A lot of what inspires me is a painting or wallpaper. I look at lots of books and textiles. I look to other fashion designers too. It’s important to see what the trends are. The trick is to apply those trends but still have your own unique influence and style in your collection so people will immediately say, “Oh, that must be a CoVelo.”
What makes your clothing unique?
Our Gallery Collection is very art-oriented. Some of it is made of boiled wool and many have coordinated woven skirts. The poppy jacket started the collection and is very dimensional and artistic. It’s hard to create something that is both. The jacket has sold amazingly well. It was in our ’05 line and will continue to ’07 in a new color. The Bamboo jacket has lots of application. Some of the leaves are stitched down while others are off the jacket. We use lots of silks for embroidery and lots of details. Some are trimmed in fur, some have velvet or other accents. And everything we do has a pattern.
How does a design get from your imagination to the factory?
Initially I put together themes and story boards. I sketch different body shapes and silhouettes and play with different patterns. I used to sketch on life-size graph paper with colored pencils, but designing on the computer has opened up a whole new world. Now my sketches go on the computer and we fine-tune everything – colors, embroidery, etc. – then send the specs and drawings to the factory. We
receive samples of the finished work, then make revisions. Once the items are ready, we’re sent salesman samples. I have six sales reps who sell across the country and in Tokyo. Then we place our order for the season.
What new things can we expect next year?
We’ll have all new styles with wonderful colorways: iced mocha, chocolate and teals and a rich red sunset palette. We’ll use burnout velvets as some accents. And we’re adding items to the skirt category. We’re not as big as we want to be, but we’re on the fast track.
