In 2006, a determined Barbara Beach walked into a Charleston boutique with children’s dresses that she had designed and sewn together. The owner quickly added them to the inventory, and eventually shops from West Ashley to King Street were carrying Barbara Beach Designs for the poshest tots. Women would stare at the carefully crafted dresses and secretly wish the apparel were in adult sizes (this writer is guilty as charged).
The demand for these classic with a modern twist creations was gaining traction across Charleston when Beach was named a Charleston Fashion Week (CFW) Emerging Designer in 2010. This accolade included a fashion show where her small models took the catwalk and charmed a crowd as they represented the first children’s fashion designer to show at CFW, and this broadened her reach outside the Charleston area.
After a 12 year career in children’s fashion, Beach mystified her loyal following when she decided to take Barbara Beach Designs into a completely different direction with the same unwavering determination: watercolors. It did not take long before she was commissioned for pieces in private homes.
Many have wondered, “How does someone go from children’s fashion to watercolors?” The answer is quite simple. Beach designed all of her clothing by first sketching the outline and using watercolors to create the exact colors she envisioned for each design, an effect she could not achieve with colored pencils.
Beach’s intent through painting is to create large scale pieces that one can enjoy framed on the walls of the home, along with small scale cards because “there is just something special these days about receiving a thoughtful letter in the mail.” Beach finds creating the note cards similar to working in fashion when she is selecting paper styles, color ways, and measurements.
Last year she was approached by Charleston’s Hotel Emeline with a request to feature her clothing designs in their retail shop, the Keep Shop. She explained that she was now creating watercolors. After seeing her cards, they felt it a complementary piece to their collection. The sets of cards are one of a kind, and their small size make it easy for travelers to pack the small works of art into a suitcase.
Her subject matter constantly changes as Beach finds inspiration from literally everywhere, whether it be the gardens and homes on the Charleston peninsula or a Liberty of London fabric from one of the childhood dresses sewn by her aunt.
The next time you find yourself strolling the streets of Downtown Charleston, drop by the Keep Shop inside of Hotel Emeline and take a peek at Beach’s latest collection of cards, or feel free to reach out to her via her website at BarbaraBeachDesigns.WordPress.com to discuss the creation of a piece to brighten up your home or office. Or these days, home office. You can also reach her on Instagram at @BarbaraBeachDesigns.
To this very day, people still quietly ask Beach’s closest friends if there is any possibility of her return to children’s fashion. It seems Beach has closed that chapter of her creative career, although, she has recently been sewing dresses for herself while dreaming of possibly returning to the world of fashion, but the next time, possibly adult sized apparel.
Artwork © Barbara Beach, used with permission.
