Shabby Chic is Back! How Rachel Ashwell Stitched Her Company Back Together

Don't expect the phrase "shabby chic" to disappear any time soon. The term was coined 20 years ago when Rachel Ashwell opened her first Shabby Chic boutique in Santa Monica, California. Shabby Chic was not just a brand -- the phrase came to define a particular sensibility and aesthetic: White denim slipcovers and vintage furniture, cottage rose prints and sparkly chandeliers. It was an effortless mix of laidback California and English country styles -- and people loved it.

In the two decades since she first opened her shop, Ashwell's brand grew from one store filled with her own flea market finds to fifteen stores around the country, a line of Shabby Chic branded home goods at Target, five decorating books -- and about $20 million in sales annually. Then, unexpectedly, Ashwell's company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last January.

At the time, Ashwell wrote on her blog, "Business has been hard for a while, but the notion that my beloved company would become as broken as it has was never a consideration for me." She blamed the company's problems on rapid expansion. However, Ashwell told her fans it was "an opportunity to try to restructure and save Shabby Chic."

Then a remarkable thing happened.

As Ashwell was liquidating the contents of her stores and preparing for the end of Shabby Chic, another investor partner stepped in. Shabby Chic was given a second chance. The new business model for the brand will include a line of lower-price upholstered pieces to be sold at stores across the country (Shabby Chic once had 250 wholesale customers who also sold the brand's wares in their stores).



Shabby Chic will also open three new stores -- one in Manhattan, one in Santa Monica (in the original location) and one in London, which will open early next year. The new stores are being called "Shabby Chic Couture," signifying the higher price tags that items will carry in the new stores. These more expensive goods will be of a higher quality, as Ashwell wrote in her blog recently, "Most of the products in the store are manufactured by local craftsmen enabling us to offer custom options and paying close attention to every quality and detail."

On September 12, the Santa Monica store re-opened, which was soon followed by the New York store's opening. Last Thursday night, New York celebrated the opening of the SoHo Shabby Chic Couture store and the launch of her new book, Shabby Chic Interiors (Cico Books). For those worried about the future of her low-priced Simply Shabby Chic line at Target, the New York party was hosted by the mass retailer, which seems to suggest that her line of goods for Target will live on.

For a full time line of the Shabby Chic brand, check out this chart from The New York Times.