Fashion Designer Jay McCarroll Uses Philadelphia to Build his "Colony"

Before he won the first season of Project Runway and was swept off to New York City, Jay McCarroll called Philadelphia home. He moved back two years ago, and has made the city a part of his newly launched online apparel boutique, The Colony (www.jaymccarroll.com). All of McCarroll's custom pieces in his online boutique, such as the "I Came to America With No Money and a Pineapple" tee shirt, were produced by a manufacturer in North Philadelphia. McCarroll, and co-creator of The Colony, Dave Larkins, thought it was important to not only keep the production of their apparel in their own country, but also wanted to keep it in their own city. "Philadelphia used to be an apparel production hub back in the 60's and 70's, but due to the cheap overseas production, all you see now are abandoned warehouses. We want to avoid that as much as possible. There are some still some really awesome production facilities here and we got lucky and found one," said McCarroll.

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) May 27, 2009 -- Not only is McCarroll using Philadelphia for production, he is using it for photography. Many of the shots seen on The Colony's website (www.jaymccarroll.com), and on their facebook page, were taken against various walls in North Philadelphia. "I've always wanted to do that," said McCarroll, "there is such beauty within this city if you just slow down for a second and look."

Launching The Colony is McCarroll's next step in giving his fans what they want, custom apparel. "It took a long time to get here," said co-creator Dave Larkins, "we didn't want to give up creative control, and let someone else call the shots. That's a hard route to choose in the fashion industry because it's so fragmented and competitive. But we're at a place now where we can start to give people more of what they want."

The Colony online boutique includes McCarroll's own label, plus other handpicked designers. McCarroll describes The Colony as "a beehive where ideas are thunk up and super cute products by super talented artists and designers are available. The Colony will also run 'Free Schtuff Fridays" on their facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/The-Colony-by-Jay-McCarroll/80149998762?ref=ts) during the summer, giving away products or custom Jay McCarroll creations to their fans.

McCarroll says The Colony will grow organically, by frequently adding items to his own label, selecting new designers to include, and by building strong relationships with their customers.    

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release contact Michelle at sales(at)jaymccarroll.com, or visit www.jaymccarroll.com.

About The Colony by Jay McCarroll:
The Colony by Jay McCarroll is an online retail boutique featuring Jay McCarroll's label, and other handpicked designers. The Colony includes Women's and Mens apparel, totes, hats, jewelry, sunglasses, and one-of-a-kind items.

Contact:
Michelle Larkins, Director of Public Relations
The Colony by Jay McCarroll
610-937-3389 or sales(at)jaymccarroll.com
http://www.jaymccarroll.com

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