Fashion
Sister Act - Ashley and Jessica Weaver
Fashion Merchandising Graduates
Tickle Trunk and Weaver Agencies - Vancouver, BC
They say you never forget your first love. For Blanche Macdonald Fashion Merchandising Grads, sisters Ashley and Jessica Weaver, fashion has always made their hearts thump wildly. So when they recently opened their fashion agencies Tickle Trunk and Weaver Agencies in Vancouver, it was the beginning of a stylish love affair.
But it was not always so. At one time, Ashley and Jessica were both living in different parts of the province flirting with other careers. Ashley worked as a support worker for people with disabilities and Jessica was off at university. But during a school break, the two sisters just knew it was time to rekindle their passion for fashion and make it a career. So why the Blanche Macdonald Centre?
"Blanche Macdonald has a great reputation in the industry and a good success rate. That's why we chose to go there. We wanted to go somewhere where the faculty was knowledgeable and where we could grow as fashionistas! The entire faculty was inspiring. They all have a genuine love for fashion and want to see everyone succeed," says Jessica.
This sister act attended the Blanche Macdonald Centre's Fashion Merchandising Program together and had a lot of fun learning about the fashion industry and about each other in the process.
In the beginning they helped each other with the assignments and projects but their work resembled each other's too much. So they started doing their homework in separate rooms. At the end of the night they would always come out of their rooms with similar projects, ideas, likes and dislikes. Total fashion DNA.
"There would be some things that Jessica understood better and vice versa so we really helped each other along in the course. Instructor Ruth Barichello really stands out for us. Her love of wholesaling and method of teaching spoke to both of us," Ashley says.
They jumped right in after graduating and opened two wholesale agencies, Tickle Trunk, their hip kids division and Weaver Agencies, representing some of the hottest lines for fashionphiles of every age. And just like their classes at Blanche Macdonald, they still maintain their close, sisterly bond in business.
"We are a partnership. We feed off each other's strengths and weaknesses. If one of us doesn't understand something, it's important we teach one another. We both know the fundamentals of our business and everything is split 50/50," the Weavers say.
Tickle Trunk was born from countless childhood memories and the desire to have fun with kid's fashion. They currently rep Smitten Baby, the stylishly empowering line of clothing for the whole family that combines positive messages and original art; Ooh La La Mama, recently featured in US Weekly, Life & Style and OK Magazine and a favorite of celeb Jamie Pressley and rock star parents Slash and Perla Hudson for their little ones; and Dream Baby, a line of cute onesies and tees for the rock star baby adorned with Swarovski crystals. Paris Hilton bought Sweet Dream Tee's cute onesies for Nicole Ritchie's little bundle of joy, Harlow.
Weaver Agencies, their adult division, reps star-powered lines like Freedom of Choice, a great fitting L.A. denim line seen recently between the pages of The New York Post, Glamour, Life & Style, Elle, Lucky, WWD and Zink and and on celebrities like Kathryn Heigl, Nelly Furtado, Kate Hudson, Eva Longoria, Jessica Simpson and Reese Witherspoon.
Other names on the Weaver roster include Los Angeles-based uber-surfer Robbie Rench, whose belts, bags and dog collars have made fans of rockers Dave Navarro, D’Amato, Tommy Lee, Madonna and Velvet Revolver; Dream Tees, a label whose tattoo-inspired, Swarovski crystal-accented designs have been seen in Fashion and People magazines as well as in the closets of Jada Pinkett Smith, Gwenyth Paltrow Jessica Alba and Paris Hilton; even Vancouverite Shereen De Rousseau’s eponymous jewelry collection, which is loved by Carmen Electra and magazines En Route and Flare for combining vintage coins with modern glamour.
Despite their high voltage lines, Ashley and Jessica Weaver remain grounded and determined to make Tickle Trunk and Weaver Agencies a huge success in the business they love.
"We went to Blanche Macdonald with a goal. We wanted to gain knowledge of all aspects of fashion, because in the end they all work together in some way or another. The biggest challenge we face is perseverance. It takes time to build a brand and sometimes you have to knock down doors and hear no a lot, but you can't ever take that as a final answer. You have to make sure you sell something you love and believe in. Otherwise, you won't be able to sell it.
Blanche Macdonald gave us the confidence to start our own agency. We had a dream and could not have made it a reality without the knowledge we acquired at BMC," say the Weaver sisters.
