Departments - Mary Norton

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TM
SUMMER 2010
OUR 11TH YEAR
inside the charleston home
of hollywood’s favorite accessory designer
mary norton
Plus:
Charleston's Most
INFLUENTIAL
Home + Design Professionals 2010
www.CharlestonHomeAndDesign.com
Charleston Home + Design • Summer 2010 • 1
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A beautiful realization
CHARLESTON HOME + DESIGN
Su m mer 2010
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Shop Talk
27
Find out what’s happening in Charleston's home + design industry.
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Take note! We offer suggestions on things to do, see,
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trends
Window of Opportunity
41
Seize your chance to add shade and style to your home with
some of the hottest window treatments on the market.
project files
As Good As New
Who says you can't teach an old cabinet new tricks?
Chris and Dale Hostetler of Hostetler Custom Cabinetry
repurpose the existing cabinetry in a Kiawah Island
home and pair it with new custom commissioned cabinetry
for a look that is both chic and sustainable.
51
Built to Last
Laurie and Peter Karb forge a lasting friendship with
builder Bill Douglas of Design Builders, Inc. when they
enlist him to construct their custom home in the Poplar
Grove subdivision of Ravenel.
BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED
FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS.
Trends, p. 37
Invite a world of possibilities home
with the combination of natural
STONE"ELGARDPAVERSAND&IRE-AGIC
'RILLS/UTDOORKITCHENSPATIOS
WOODFIREDOVENSINVITINGFIREPITS
and fireplaces all say “Welcome” to
the “New” Heart of Your Home.
project files, p. 51
Pictured on Cover:
Cover Photo By:
Mary Norton, photographed
in her home in May 2010
Michael Costa,
Creative Director
Hardscapes
Driveways, Walks & Pool Decks
.ATURAL3TONEs"ELGARD®0AVERSs&IRE-AGIC'RILLS
"Working with the Norton family was a blast," exclaims Editor-in-Chief
Julie Sprankles. "They all have such infectious positive energy; I found
myself laughing frequently throughout the interview at Mary and Joe's
playful banter, Micah and Reilly's silly exchanges with each other, and the
way Bella—the family's beloved pomeranian mix—ruled the roost."
Fulfill your dreams with a visit to our
showroom and stoneyard conveniently
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843-557-1225
Clockwise from left: Micah, Joe,
Reilly, Mary, and their dog Bella
20 • Charleston Home + Design • Summer 2010
™
www.FIELDSTONECENTER.com
3066 Maybank Hwy
Johns Island
Up to Speed
how a lowcountry woman
found her fate in fashion
once upon
a dream
by JULIE SPRANKLES • photography by MICHAEL COSTA
Unusual pieces of art can be found throughout the
Norton home from Mary’s travels, interests, and
collecting as pictured here in the dining room.
Crafted on her dining room table and signed with a Sharpie, the first handbag Mary
Norton created marked the designer's foray into the fashion world. Today, some of
Hollywood's most stylish stars saunter down the red carpet carrying Mary Norton
clutches. Alas, this fairytale transformation has seen its fair share of bumps along
the road to happily ever after. We caught up with the glam guru to discuss her ragsto-riches journey...and why faith and family are her favorite accessories.
I
8
n 1998, you were a stay at home mom with two young girls,
and you simply enjoyed making handbags for friends in
your spare time. Shortly after your second daughter was
born, you were diagnosed with lupus. With so much on
your plate, where did you find the courage to turn your
handbag hobby into a career?
I wasn’t thinking I was going to turn it into something—I just couldn’t
get this dream out of my head. In the dream, I was in a field of flowers
under this beautiful big tree, and I was actually weaving the flowers
into handbags. And that dream just would not get out of my head.
Fast forward 13 years, I’ve now learned to trust those dreams and
instincts and listen to those feelings. If there is something like that
that just won’t leave me, then I am supposed to do that. It is a gift
from God. Whatever it is…if the thought keeps nagging me, I better
do it. It is meant to be.
Speaking of dreams, when a friend came to visit you from Los Angeles
and asked to take a few of your purses back, did you ever fathom you
would see one of your designs on the arm of sitcom star Julia LouisDreyfus (of Seinfeld fame) at the Emmys—a few short days after your
friend hopped a plane with your bags in tow?
Mary Norton
TREE TROUBLES?
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Celebs love Mary! Carrying her clutches,
pictured clockwise from top left: Taraji P.
Henson, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Meryl
Streep and Queen Latifah, Sharon Stone
and Halle Berry, and Carrie Underwood.
Never! He was a colleague from the movie
industry, in which I worked as part of the
crew, so I was thinking the bags might wind
up with our friends who were grips and
cameramen and stuff like that. My friend
called me the day before the Emmys and
said he ran into Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ manager while walking out of a movie theatre
one night, and had asked what she was going to be wearing to the awards show. And
it was actually going to be the last time a
Bob Mackie design was on the red carpet—
it was this bubble gum pink Bob Mackie
[dress]. Julia was planning to carry a Judith
Leiber bag, but my friend took the manager
to his house and showed her my green orchid bag—no label, no nothing! When Julia
ended up carrying the bag, all the paparazzi were asking what brand it was because
she’s wearing this pink gown with a bright
green bag with a bright green orchid on
it…it’s a big juxtaposition. She was like, “I
don’t know…Moo Moo, Moo something?
There’s just a handwritten signature and I
can’t read it!”
How did you decide to dub your brand
Moo Roo?
It’s a combination of the nicknames of my
girls. Micah [now 14] is Moo and Reilly
[now 12] is Roo. We always called the
girls Moo and Roo, so one of our babysitters said, “Why not call your line Moo Roo
for the girls? It would be fun for them to
have something like that.” And, well, it just
worked.
Less than ten years after designing your
first bag, Fashion Group International, Inc.
named you a rising star and Inc. Magazine
pronounced Moo Roo one of the fastest
growing urban businesses in the country.
Soon after, the company relaunched under
the name of Mary Norton, Inc., with boutiques on King Street here in Charleston
and Melrose Place in Los Angeles, California. With such success under the inaugural name, what prompted your decision to
adopt a new moniker for the company?
There is a misconception that many people
have that I got a ton of money when the
investment group came in to my company
but, instead—and this happens with many
companies—I opted to give up 80 percent
of the business to the group that invested
in me so that I could actually grow my business. When I gave up majority stake, I gave
up the right to make some decisions. The
investment group felt it would be a better choice—fancier—to have a designer’s
name on the brand instead of Moo Roo. I
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Mary Norton
thought it was an interesting choice, but I
didn’t have a say anymore. You know, hindsight is always 20/20. At the time, I thought
it wouldn’t be that big of a deal but, when
you change the name and the price points
of the product and the look of the product,
everything changes. It was a mistake, in my
opinion. I think we all made a lot of mistakes at that time. I think Moo Roo had so
much panache; it was just so much fun! I
think all the fun went out when the brand
changed to Mary Norton, including me. I
stopped having fun. There were so many
people giving me direction, I forgot what
my voice was as a designer. And that’s a terrible place to be as a designer—when you
don’t know what your voice is anymore.
Award-winning actress Julie Christie wore
your shoes to the Screen Actors Guild
Awards. Grey’s Anatomy standout Katherine
Heigl was voted best dressed at the Emmys
while carrying one of your clutches. Other
famous fans include Carrie Underwood,
Helen Mirren, Halle Berry, and Queen
Latifah. How does it feel to see such a wide
range of stunning, smart women with your
accessories?
Clearly, celebrities aren’t the only ones who
love your work. You have been featured on
numerous television shows and your purses
and shoes have graced the pages of national
magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and
InStyle. Many designers would head for
New York or Los Angeles at the first sign of
success. What kept you in Charleston?
I love it here! I wasn’t born here; I moved
here by choice as an adult from Los Angeles, so I wanted to be here. As a designer, I
always felt I’d get eaten up by New York and
would lose my voice. I get nervous when I
go there and look at everyone’s designs.
When I come back here, I don’t know what
anybody’s doing so ignorance is bliss. And
I love the people here. Once, after moving
here from LA, my car broke down. After a
few minutes, three people who knew me
had stopped to help. Nobody visits in the
west—they don’t just drop by…nobody
does that. I love how people just drop by
here, and enjoy the art of conversation. No
matter what, I still feel like I’m in a foreign
place here because I’ll never truly be an
insider since I’m not from here. My girls
constantly rub it in too—“You’re not a Grits
(girl raised in the south)!” I’m not a true
Charlestonian, even though I want to be. I
guess I just love the gentle way of life and
gentle people here. Plus, I am never warm;
I’m always cold. Even in August, I wear a
cardigan, so Charleston weather works
wonders for me.
"[The interior design ] was all me,
just cobbling it all together. It’s
just a comfortable family home."
Like so many Americans, you suffered a serious setback at the hands of the recession.
Fitting actresses and getting things ready
for awards is a job unto itself! It gave me so
much appreciation in fitting women—not
just actresses—but when I work with real
women as well. I always call that transition
going from the red carpet to the sisal rug! I
want to make every woman feel special and
to help them have their red carpet moment.
I worked with a producer once in the movie
business and he always said, “Treat the stars
like crew and the crew like stars.” I always
felt that held true in the handbag business
as well. The stars always appreciate being
treated like normal women, and the normal
women are equally appreciative of being
treated like stars. I’m fortunate to still have
celebrity fans that support me. I swear, Carrie Underwood drags old stuff out of her
closet for me to keep me in business! I still
make bags for her on my little fold-out table
in my makeshift office. Most actresses get
paid to carry bags on the red carpets, and
I’ve never paid anyone to carry anything.
They do it to support me; that doesn’t hold
true for many designers.
The wrought iron bed in the master bedroom was the couple’s wedding gift to
each other in 1993.
"Joe commissioned my favorite local artist, David Boatwright,
to paint this Lowcountry-Moo-Roo-Odalesque for me one year
for my birthday," explains Mary. "I just love her!"
Mary Norton
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In the summer of 2009, the fashion world
shed a tear when the doors of Mary Norton
Inc. closed. What is your secret for handling
the situation with such grace?
I don’t know if I handled it with so much
grace. I am just lucky I have my kids and
my husband Joe—they were troopers. And
I’m lucky I have faith. I’m not sure without
great faith if I could have handled it with any
dignity whatsoever! You know, it was very
hard and I’m sure a lot of people do this,
particularly entrepreneurs who build their
business up from scratch: I had wrapped up
far too much of my own identity into my
business. It had surpassed me, become everything to me. Admittedly, I had become
really off-balance in my life. So, it knocked
me from behind my knees. And perhaps I
looked graceful to some, but I wasn’t really graceful. I was knocked down…and
not just financially. Personally, it knocked
me down to the core. It was devastating because I had let it become me. It was a time
of really deep soul-searching about who I
really was and about the fact that it should
not have defined me. When that happens,
you have to take a deep look at yourself
and say, Okay, it’s not my worth. When you
let 13 years go by—and even more for me
because, prior to that, even the film business had defined me—it is a pretty brutal
(pictured clockwise) Mary, Joe, Micah (14) and Reilly (12) enjoy a family moment in
the Norton kitchen.
reckoning when you try to figure out who
you are without it.
You also currently have your home on the
market…is this another byproduct of the
harsh economic environment we currently
live in?
Sure…and also a choice. In not letting
the big picture consume us and making a
choice to downsize life a little bit. In choosing to travel and spend more time with the
kids instead of having the ‘big’ everything.
There’s not that much time left with them.
We don’t need this much space; we don’t
need to take up this much space. As much as
we love it and it really is great fun, the kids
are only going to occupy this space with us
for a few more years. Once Micah starts
driving, she’s not going to be here. I mean, I
get it, I see all of my friends’ kids starting to
drive and spending all their spare time else-
“When It Comes to Heating and Air, Let My Family Take Care of Yours”
where. That’s only a year away for Micah,
and Reilly is shortly behind. So we thought
about it and decided instead of being saddled with a big house, we would rather
travel and go have adventures with the
kids. This whole experience really taught us
a big lesson, and I don’t think we’re alone.
We reprioritized our lives and realized we’d
rather spend our money and time in other
ways. A house is just a place, but we can
make home anywhere.
Let’s talk about your home for a minute…
the architecture is fantastic! Did you have
the home custom built or did you move into
an existing home?
No, we’re only the third owners of this
house. The first family was the Fox family,
who owns Fox Music. They had it built specifically for them, and lived in it until their
kids left home. It was one of the first resi-
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The pool area was added by the Norton family and designed by famed landscape artist
Robert Chestnut. The Norton home sits on one of the largest lots in Country Club One.
dential projects ever completed by Charleston architect "Jimmy" Liollio [founder of
Liollio Architecture on James Island]. The
second owners lived here without any children. We haven’t really even done that much
to it since we moved in. Partially because I
love the architecture of it…it’s just so neat.
And there really wasn’t that much to do.
It’s clear you love this house! It is so full of
character and warmth. Did you hire an interior designer to help you shape the style
inside or did you style it yourself?
Oh no, this was all me, just cobbling it all
together. It probably needs an interior designer…it probably needs work! It’s just a
comfortable family home. I would love to
work with an interior designer; I think it
is so fun to collaborate with other people.
Muffie Faith [principal interior designer
and owner of prominent local company
Elizabeth Stuart Design] is a great friend
and, listen, I would love to work with Muffie. Her style is incredible! I think we could
do major damage!
Mother, designer, wife, entrepreneur (or
“mom”preneur as you were so dubbed by
Katie Couric!)…how on Earth do you balance it all, and how does your home reflect
your myriad roles?
Well, I hope never to make the mistake of
being off-balance again. I think it cost the
kids, and Joe too. They ended up paying the
price for me being a workaholic. Honestly,
having such wonderful people in my life is
a huge part of what makes doing all these
things possible. And, as trite as it sounds,
I think you have to take time for yourself.
I didn’t do that before. I let my business
"I want to make every woman
feel special and to help them
have their red carpet moment."
consume me. But, in losing everything, I
rediscovered me…and that’s something I’ll
never lose again.
It is easy to see that family is your number
one priority. What are your favorite ways
to unwind with each other—at home or on
vacation?
Movies! We’re big movie fans…we have a
sickness! And we stay pretty busy following the girls’ sports: Micah swims, cheers,
and plays basketball; Reilly dances and
plays basketball and volleyball. We’re pretty
much at their beck-and-call. Joe runs Liberty Taproom in Mt. Pleasant, so he stays
busy doing that. It’s almost like we have an
understood agreement that one of us seems
to always be working a lot. Thank God we’re
people who are okay with being apart—
we’ll probably drive each other crazy when
we retire. Other than that, we really love to
travel and go camping.
Although your daughters keep you busy,
they aren’t the only children occupying your
time these days. Can you tell us about the
charity that you founded?
For 14 years, I have been making bags with
children at MUSC Children’s Hospital with
leftover scraps from Moo Roo. In 2009, I
Mary Norton
"In losing
everything, I
rediscovered
me…and that’s
something I’ll
never lose again ."
(top) Family photos line the celadon hallway between the
home's living spaces and bedrooms. (bottom right) In Mary's
office, sketches of purses and shoes the designer is currently
working on adorn a large corkboard behind her desk. (bottom
left) Funky fixtures, colorful toss pillows, and persimmon-hued
wall paint punch up the character in the light-filled living room.
Lived-in leather furniture paired with
unexpected accents—like the oversized
stained glass chandelier—give the family
a comfy
eclectic
vibe.
86 •room
Charleston
Home
+ Design
• Summer 2010
Mary Norton
had the opportunity to throw a benefit luncheon for the MUSC Children’s Hospital
during Charleston Fashion Week held by the
publishers of Charleston Magazine. I asked
my friend [and Vegas legend] Wayne Newton to come, which he graciously did. We
sold out the 300 person luncheon that year
and were able to raise $75,000 auctioning
off the bags made by the kids at the hospital.
We called the event Catwalk for Kids™. In
August of that year, about two weeks after
I first learned about the company going under, I was at my daughter’s swim meet when
a little girl came up to me and asked if I remembered her. As it turns out, she had been
one of the cancer patients I’d worked with.
She told me making
the bags with me
had changed her
whole hospital stay
and marked the day
she started fighting.
I knew then I had to
move forward with
Catwalk for Kids.™
This year, Edwin McCain came to help out
and celebs like Carrie
Underwood, Stephen
Colbert, and Taylor
Swift created bags to
auction off, while famous clothing designer Carmen Marc Valvo did a couture show.
We raised $250,000.
You know, after the
company closed, design doors just kept
slamming in my face. I prayed and happened
to read a scripture verse about casting your
net on the other side…so I started casting
nets for Catwalk. Every door flew open so I
knew it was meant to be.
their homes…don’t worry, you can repaint
if you don’t like it. My advice, though, would
be to incorporate color in the accessories;
don’t make it the background. It’s almost
the same idea I use when creating my bags.
I like to design them so they are the pop of
color to an otherwise neutral outfit. Also, get
opinions! And don’t be afraid of criticism.
My teenage daughters are a great sounding
board—they are my toughest critics. It is my
belief that if you can get a teenage girl to like
something, you can get anyone to like it! If
you are going to start a business venture, I
would tell you to do research…make sure
there is a market for your product. But, most
importantly, have confidence in yourself. Be
courageous.
"I worked with a
producer once in
the movie business
and he al ways
said, 'Treat the
stars like crew
and the crew like
stars.' I al ways
felt that held true
in the handbag
business as well ."
You don’t have formal training as an accessory designer, and you have been extremely
successful with that venture. You don’t have
any formal training in interior design, yet
your home is the ideal mix of fashion and
comfort. I imagine you’ve always had an inclination for the arts, but what advice would
you give to other women out there who are
considering tackling a new creative endeavor?
As far as the home goes, don’t be afraid of
color! People are so shy about using color in
Now, there is one more
question I have to ask,
which many style-savvy
women are waiting with
bated breath to hear the
answer to: What can we
expect to see from you
next?
Well, first of all, I will
be starting something
very
exciting
in
television in October.
I can’t reveal any
details just yet, but stay
tuned to the website,
marynorton.com, for
an announcement very
soon! There are also
big things in the works
for Catwalk for Kids™,
especially since the Wharton School of
Business has now joined me to help make
my dreams for the charity come true. I have
faith other sponsors will come as well. As
of right now, Catwalk for Kids™ is slated to
go national, beginning with benefits at Los
Angeles Fashion Week, Nashville Fashion
Week, and New York Fashion Week in
2011—and Charleston Fashion Week, of
course! I just feel so blessed to have come
out on the other side of everything that
went wrong last year. Now, for the first time
in a long time, I’m much more peaceful and
balanced, and ready for the next chapter…
whatever that may be. v
Mary's home is listed with Weesie Newton of
Carriage Properties. For more information, call
Weesie at (843) 266-8000.

Departments - Mary Norton

Transcription

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