KENNETT SQUARE—Kris Perrone, owner of Fab & Boujee Boutique on State Street in Kennett Square, has a passion for trending fashion and helping women of all ages look and feel great. “It’s all about building confidence through fashion,” she says.
A former healthcare administrator who also has deep fashion and retail experience, Kris enjoys hand-picking the store’s seasonal collections with her daughter Gia, a fashion major at Immaculata College. “People appreciate that it’s not just a shop for young people,” she says. “Women of all ages can find items that look great and are age appropriate.” Customers from teenagers to those in their seventies find really fun pieces, she says, from Fab & Boujee’s wide selection of tops, dresses, jewelry, bags and jeans.
Kris loves people style and her beautiful approach and personal touch make shopping feel more like chatting with a trusted girlfriend – an old fashioned approach to customer service that is a dying art. “I was trained to know what will flatter someone’s body shape, size and color, and bring other options and choices for people to try,” she says. “Nine times out of ten, the item a person falls in love with is something they haven’t seen or think would look good on them.” Her goal is to help people feel comfortable and love what they wear, and she has honed these skills over many years. She worked at Merry-Go-Round, a trendy women’s fashion company, through high school and college before starting her career as an RN.
From healthcare to fashion
Kris had earned her MBA and was working as a licensed healthcare administrator when she began working toward a career change. “I knew I wanted something more fun – to be in a business that’s happy,” she says. In 2017, she started a pop-up boutique on weekends, selling mostly accessories.
As she developed her business, her brand, and a customer base that loved the kind of fun, flattering, well-curated style that would become Fab & Boujee’s signature, Kris began formulating a plan for the boutique.
In September 2018, she left healthcare and opened the first brick and mortar location of Fab & Boujee Boutique in Hockessin. In response to customer requests, she gradually expanded her line from bags and jewelry and some outerwear to carry clothes as well. “Because the location was a bit hidden, I knew the store had to be a destination,” she says, “and I went on to do a lot of pop-up events as well.”
In the spring of 2020, when Kris looked at the space at 106 West State Street in Kennett Square where Ashley Austin had been, she knew it would be perfect for Fab & Boujee. “Kennett was on my radar because it’s such a nice community and has good foot traffic,” she says. She also knew the existing boutiques and was convinced she would bring something different to add even more variety to this award-winning shopping area. City festivals, Switch On the Square Christmas decorations and events like Third Thursdays bring life, she says. She remembers the spirit of community reflected in the photos of the 2020 Kennett High School seniors that Kennett Collaborative had placed in the storefront before it opened — and the first floor in front of the store.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen — moving the business in the middle of COVID was either the craziest and worst idea or the best — but it worked,” she says with a smile. “People in Hockessin shop in Kennett Square anyway. From the moment we opened here on September 1, 2020, the business really took off.” At its new Kennett location, Fab & Boujee became a “full-service” boutique carrying shoes, gifts, candles and more in addition to its signature line of clothing and accessories.
Kris has complemented and added to the vibrancy of the city by working with KARMA and becoming part of the community. She has hosted special shopping events and collaborations with other dealers, including Niamma Mayo of Studio Sophisticated Bling. Grain Craft Bar + Kitchen recently created a special Third Thursday signature cocktail called the “Fab & Boozy.”
For this week’s sidewalk sale, July 29-31, “Everything in the store will be on sale at various discounts,” says Kris. The popular Fab & Boujee “dot” sale will be back, with different colored dots corresponding to different percentage discounts.
Bringing accessible fashion to Kennett Square
Curating a collection for the store a season in advance requires thinking differently, and Kris enjoys traveling with Gian to shows in Atlanta, New York and elsewhere. “I got to see the quality of the fabrics, the size and the colors,” says Kris. She has a keen eye for fashion and follows the big fashion houses and the trends that will trickle down to the general public next season.
Fashion designers comb the world in search of new colors and influences, and while fashion at its highest levels can be isolating, “Designers transform high-end designs into items that everyday people will find attractive and want wear them,” says Kris. As supply chain issues continue to plague the industry, she looks forward to traveling to the shows this year and ordering great new parts for the customers she knows and loves.
Pantone’s color of the year for 2022 is purple – Very Peri. “People are going to love it or hate it,” Kris says with a smile. She also notes that trendy fashion colors appear next year in interior design – for example in accent pieces. The fact that last year’s tie-dye and more muted colors have given way to more vibrant colors, Kris says, reflects a cultural trend toward embracing a new landscape and new perspectives in these transformative times. Peri is very symbolic, she says, of our collective emergence from isolation and desire to explore and create. And what about animal prints? “They’re still in,” she says, “they’re like a neutral.”
The relationship between online presence and sales and social media is complicated, says Kris. While a relatively small percentage of Fab & Boujee’s revenue comes directly from online sales, “You have to do it. Customers see something online and go in to try it.” Kris is grateful to be able to work in partnership with Gia, who also runs the store’s active social media and Instagram accounts. “After graduation, Gia aspires to gain merchandising and buying experience at a larger chain store before returning to take over the store – so I can retire,” Kris says, smiling.
