Name:
Roberta Freymann
Company:
Roberta Roller Rabbit
Contact info:
website: www.robertarollerrabbit.com
How many years have you been in business in NYC?
Since 2003, although the first exclusive RRR store did not open until 2006 (on the Upper East Side).
How did you get your start and what was your initial inspiration?
The Roberta Roller Rabbit story began with a discarded scrap of fabric found in India. It featured a mythical rabbit, which I converted into the legend of Roberta Roller Rabbit...to entertain and clothe the many children in my life! This then became the inspiration for a unique range of enchanting hand block prints.
We started the brand in 2003, around the artisanal hand block print tradition native to India, from where our name originates, and with exotic, travel-inspired patterns infused with breathtaking colors and sophisticated styles. Since then, the brand has evolved into a global lifestyle phenomenon - offering everything from wardrobe essentials to accessories and home furnishings.
What do you feel differentiates you from others in your field?
There are brands that offer a lifestyle proposition, others that do block printing, some that have travel-inspired wares… we have all these things, but what truly makes us unique is our constant goal of bringing happiness to our clients. Our customers often tell us that when they shop at RRR they immediately feel happier… the colors, the prints, our unique style, gives them a joyful feeling that makes them feel both exotic and special.
What do you feel gives you longevity in this big city with so many options?
I credit it primarily to the wonderful relationship between the brand and our customers. We have always remained loyal to our exotic, travel-inspired world of colorful prints and our customers have continued to express their interest for more RRR in their lives; be it new prints every season or in diverse product types to fit their complete lifestyles!
How do you positively impact your clientele?
We listen to them, we get to know them, we help fulfill the needs of their entire families… and at the same time we offer them that dose of exoticism to erase the occasional drab of city life.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Traveling the work in search of inspiration. Meeting our customers and often finding that inspiration also right at home. Interacting with the many artisans we work with all over the world. Seeing the photos our clients constantly send us of their little kids wearing and loving their RRR.
What is your favorite secret NYC spot?
The West 79th Street Boat Basin. I love the urban water front. We spend so much time looking inwards towards the city during our perpetually busy days, that sometimes we forget we’re just jam packed on this tiny island... and that you can get on a boat and sail away on any given day.
How do you benefit mamas?
We are there for their every need, be in themselves, their kids, their homes, and even sometimes the men in their lives. We help them out when they need a great gift or when they just need a cheerful accent to their life. And in every instance we are affordable, we are comfortable, we are original.
What is the most memorable feedback a client has given you?
That I made her feel pretty and special. It sounds very simple, but it’s a privilege that not everybody has, to make someone feel good about themselves just by doing what you love to do.
Pay it forward and name your top colleagues in the same field or related field:
Oh so many people, Dries Van Notten in fashion, Phillip Thomas my decorator, MAHNAZ ISPAHANI, purveyor of all things vintage, etc.
What is the best advice anyone's ever given you? Or what is your "mantra" / words to live by?
“A touch of white up to the face” was said to me by my mentor Bill Blass. I always keep this in mind.
As moms, the day can escape us, what is your best time-saving trick?
Only do what you love