NEXTonSCENE with Polychrome!

Jaclyn Zukerman
Mar 7, 2017
5 min read

We had the fabulous pleasure of connecting with serialpreneur, Thea Perez! Recently, fashion guru Thea started her own on-trend surface patterns for the apparel, textiles, and gift markets.

NEXTonSCENE today we get to showcase to you a little bit more about Polychrome and Thea's background!

Tell us a little about your background, how did you fall into the world of fashion?

"Even in my earliest childhood memories, I identified with being an artist. By 5th grade, I was sure that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I was groomed to go to Rhode Island School of Design by every art teacher that was kind enough to take an interest in me. When I got there, I felt like I was finallly where I belonged - this was my tribe! I earned a BFA in Apparel Design from RISD, and have been lucky enough to be invited back to teach and for crits in the Apparel Department. After school, I climbed the ranks at several companies working as a designer with an emphasis on knit garments, print development, and embellishment design. Later, I struck out on my own as a consultant and freelancer for a variety of clients in the apparel, home, gift, and even pet markets. Recently, I have launched a new venture, Polychrome, to serve the fashion, home and lifestyles industries in a slightly different way."

Now lets discuss your newest business venture Polychrome! What is it?

"Polychrome is a collaborative of artists who develop on-trend surface patterns for the apparel, textiles, and gift markets. We sell the original artwork and trend reports through our online marketplace (www.polychrome.design) so our busy clients can shop for what they need anywhere and any time. Our website also provides trend insights and inspiration for our subscribers and clients."

How did this business venture come about? Who are your target clientele?

"There are a few reasons I could cite, but really there are two primary reasons: I started to feel a yearning to belong to a design group with a common goal. I also felt there was an opportunity to provide more value to customers in the print pattern market." "The personal reason took a long time to develop. I had been pretty happy working on a variety of different projects for a variety of different clients through my freelance business, which is still operating by the way, BUT over the years the business had started to become a bit more isolating and I really missed the feeling of working as part of a design team. That collaboration can be very inspiring and I wanted it back. The second reason is more opportunistic. Having been in the purchasing role for original print pattern artwork before, I realized that there were some key things that were missing that could make the clients' jobs SO much easier, and most print studios were just not delivering yet. This is a pretty saturated market; there are so many talented print artists out there and lots of studios to represent them, so we need to stand out with service as well as great looking prints. No matter how much a customer might love the print they purchase from a vendor, 90% of the time it will get tweaked by the customer before they print it on their product. It is a given that we will provide beautiful original prints, but we also want to make that editing part of the clients' process easy. Our print artwork is truly in repeat and it is layered in a logical and organized way so clients can quickly get the tweaks done. If a client does not have the time or manpower to execute the edits they need, my team is also available for custom work from editing an existing print to creating a special order one for the client."

"As you have probably figured out, Polychrome is targeting industries that manufacture goods which need to have pattern printed on them. We are not a direct to consumer business as our artwork is designed specifically to be mass produced on a wide range of products. Our ideal clients would be the design decision makers in the apparel, home and gift industries: Design Directors, Senior Designers and VP's of Design or Merchandising. Because of the exclusivity that the apparel industry demands, our prints are available for purchase with a copyright transfer, although we are also open to licensing deals."

What inspires the patterns and designs?

"Each season I project and develop 4 trends (for about 16 per year). The trends are based largely on research in the fashion and art worlds, but are also influenced by what is happening culturally and socially. Our team designs within these trends and the color palettes and motifs projected for them. The wonderful thing about this is that although we have so many different artists working with their own perspective and aesthetic, there is a sense of continuity in the overall collection of prints within a trend theme. Also, a client who buys a print in a theme can find other complimentary prints using the same palette and harmonious motifs in our collection.: "These content-rich trend reports are available for clients to purchase. One of the best deals in the industry is that the first spread of each trend report, the Mood Board, which sets the tone for that theme, is available for free download to all of our subscribers. That benefit coupled with the weekly newsletters on everything from microtrends to exhibits and other inspiring cultural events make subscribing a no-brainer, particularly if you are in the product design field."

What are the goals of polychrome?

"Naturally, we want to expand our reach and grow our customer base like any fledgling business. I am hoping that we get more subscribers to our mailing list so we can continue to inspire and delight more and more creative people with our weekly insights. Internally, though, I hope to open a larger studio where some of my more local artists can gather whenever they are also feeling a little isolated and want to work side by side. My hope is that the studio can also be used to hold seminars and webinars that the more far-flung members of our global team can join in on. Eventually, I would love to offer informational webinars and learning experiences for our clients as well. "

What do you see is in season for the spring ?

For Spring/Summer 2017 we are projecting 4 strong trend groups:

Cuban Revolution - celebrates the vibrant palette and culture of Cuba. Bold color, classic hothouse floral motifs, tropical palms, pineapples, and birds. Lots of print mixing, even to the point of clashing - the key is to mix scales of prints. Tailored suiting, nipped in waists, body-con sheaths, full printed trousers, bustier tops. Statement sunglasses.
Kalahari - has beautiful earthy tones and gorgeous geometric and tribal patterns. Lots of block printing. Loose flowing simple silhouettes, crop top T's, head wraps, piles of beaded jewelry and carved bangles, hoop earrings
Fine Romance - is very romantic in feel. Watercolor floral prints. Cosmetic powder-puff palette. Layers of chiffon, sheer filmy dresses and blouses. Bows, ribbons and tulle. Pearls, lockets, delicate chokers. Printed jackets and crochet fine-gauge cardigans
Sultana - is very exotic. A rich spiced palette punctuated with brights. Patterns evoke tile work and calligraphy; lots of paisleys and boho looks too. Embroidered kaftans, Loose fluid pant, full length sheath, drawcord paper bag waist printed shorts with distressed super soft T's, printed jumpsuit. Beaded and embroidered accessories.