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April 23, 2005
Local infant-wear designer shinesPublicity is paying offByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Jennifer Hughes was a performing arts major in college, so talking live on national TV likely won't give her stage fright. But Hughes is anxious to make a good impression when she appears May 8 on the early morning talk show "Today, Weekend Edition." She'll be featured with her patented line of baby clothing on a Mother's Day segment about "mom inventors." "What I want it to do is validate the product enough for the largest retail stores to take an interest," said Hughes, 38, creator of the infant-wear label Stylease. "We're in 170 specialty stores and boutiques in 38 states, which is great, but I want department stores." Since launching the line of one-piece rompers designed to look like multi-piece outfits in March 2003, Hughes frequently has been in the media spotlight. She was featured in Parents magazine and Entrepreneur and is included in the 2005 online media guide "The Best Products Media Guide for Baby and Beyond." She made her first live TV appearance in March on Los Angeles' popular "KTLA Morning Show." "It was fun. I had never done live TV like that before," she said. "They stick a (earphone) in your ear so you can hear the producer and (others) talking. You have to pretend that you're not hearing them, but they're prompting you. It's a real skill." This time around, she'll be featured with four other moms, all designers of infant products. Besides demonstrating her clothing line, she'll talk about how she started in business and her experiences bringing the line to market from an idea. The show airs locally at 8 a.m. on NBC affiliate TV 7&4. Hughes developed her company, Liloebe - named after daughters Lilli, 3 and Phoebe, 6 - after learning that nobody else sold easy-to-manage, one-piece baby outfits with the fashionable layered look of children's separates. The clothing, with names like OhWahoo!, Mackinac Island and Deer Camp, has snaps in strategic places for easy diaper changes and no-fuss dressing from the bottom up. The line for infants from 3 to 24 months is carried locally by Dandelion in downtown Traverse City. It is also sold on Hughes' Web site, www.stylease.com. Outfits retail for around $24. Although the company is based in her 500-square-foot home office in Traverse City, Hughes said her out-of-town promotional appearances are paying off. The company is still not in the black, but it experienced a 490 percent increase in sales between 2003 and 2004 and became self-sufficient last year. "I'm very pleased with the growth considering I don't have an on-site sales and marketing person," she said. "It's just me."
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Record-Eagle/Lara Neel
