LOCAL LUXURIES: Private Label by Genavieve

A 10-YEAR-OLD PINECREST shop run by a local mom of three has just expanded into a two-story space perfect for her custom clothing and luxury consignment business. No need to drive into Coral Gables or downtown to shop the luxury stores—buyers can now hop around the corner from The Falls for a curated experience at Private Label by Genavieve, where Genavieve Paige Villar knows her customers better because she pays attention to what they like.

“I love luxury. Women love luxury. The majority of people now, with Instagram, only wear things one time. So they like to resell it or it just sits in their closet,” Villar tells AQUA Pinecrest.

Villar’s most common customers are moms and daughters searching for a dress and matching shoes to attend a wedding or gala. “I’m trying to focus on bringing things on consignment that look like they were never used or even still have the tags on them,” she says. Brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, and Louboutin adorn the shelves.

Customers are sure to find something designer with Relové, her new consignment-focused business that shares the new showroom. Still, one of the highlights of shopping at Private Label is designing with the owner. Her custom dresses have gone viral on Instagram, and repeat customers love her creativity. They know Private Label as the bohemian boutique across The Falls, now moved to a grand showroom just off US 1.

Customers may be surprised when they see her designs and find out Villar does not have a traditional fashion background—it would be hard to tell scrolling through the Private Label Instagram page. Villar is more of an inspired creative who taught herself how to put women’s clothing together.

“I didn’t go to fashion school. I don’t know how to draw. It’s just something that I started doing. I started playing with fabrics,” she explains. Even though her designs are highly original, “fashion is all remaking the same designs over and over, and changing different aspects of the design,” she says.

“What made me a designer is being creative with taking inspiration from other styles, and making it a style that looks good for the woman that’s wearing it today.”

For example, a traditional designer will hand-draw their ideas. Villar takes a modern approach, asking her potential clients to bring in photos for different pieces of the outfit and putting it together with them in-house. Customers buy from her as a person, not a brand, and that makes it more personal. They come in with inspiration screenshots and even voice notes explaining their vision.

STARTING EARLY 

Private Label by Genavieve started out a decade ago in a 200-square-foot shop. Before that, Villar was dreaming of fashion while working in an emergency room—a job she couldn’t see herself doing for the rest of her life. “I just couldn’t picture my whole life being like that, and I don’t do well with someone giving me direction and orders.” Being bossed around by doctors is difficult, but so is being a business owner. “The next morning, there could be a disaster waiting to happen at any moment, but I feel like I was made for that, versus someone telling me what to do.” However, Villar is still glad that she went the medical school route. “I’m happy I went that way because I became a young mom, a young wife, and I feel like you could still do those things when you’re going to medical school.” But when running the business, “this is who I am.”

Villar had a vision when she was 20, selling women’s clothing from the beginning and having three boys in the meantime; said boys are now three years, two years, and six months old. So many parts of her life began at a young age, allowing her to work out the kinks before she turned 29 and expanded the shop to two stories. Starting wasn’t the hard part. It’s running the business that proves difficult, she says: starting up without a profit, keeping up with expenses and maintaining a store.

“It’s when you start becoming successful, when you start getting clientele, when you start getting inventory,” she said. “The only way you learn is from doing and moving forward, so starting wasn’t hard. It’s just continuing to be in business.”

Villar’s Tip: Do most of the work yourself in the beginning. Starting up the Relové consignment side also helped, eliminating the need to buy more inventory and letting the consignor take a portion of the sale. It began with business partner Melissa Hernandez. Hernandez was a customer at Private Label from its inception, who became a friend and then partner in business. “When I opened my first store in my little 200-square-foot space, she was a client of mine. She’s seen me get married, she’s seen me have my babies.” Hernandez has been a teacher for 27 years, but always desired to work in fashion. Relové was the perfect opportunity.

A NEW OPPORTUNITY 

Still, to this day, the two have to do everything: clean the store, steam clothes, provide customer service, change lightbulbs. When Villar’s not making sure the showroom is in good shape, she’s taking care of her three boys and spending time with her husband, Andrew.

The 200-square-foot space was the first, and 64th Ave. and Bird Road was the second. “I was in that location for about four years doing the same thing, but I expanded and started designing and doing custom clothing.” This new location is her fourth, but her figurative fifth location is Instagram, where the custom clothing business picked up during the pandemic. “Weirdly enough, because you would think people are not going to events, why would they custom-make something? But they still did because they liked the idea of designing something themselves.”

This new location has all the welcoming vibes of the previous locations, with a special second floor dedicated to bridal offerings. “I really want to focus a lot in bridal, and bridesmaids, and the whole idea of saying yes to the dress.” Some dresses are custom, some are pre-loved, but all will have a lower price tag than retail—even if they were never worn. Villar even had a bride with a $10,000 wedding dress as her inspiration, and quoted her $1,200 for a custom dress. “She was like, ‘I love this dress so much it was worth at least $8,000, can we resell it?’” Grateful for the feedback, Villar saw the value that her customers get out of the Private Label experience. The same goes for prom, quinceñeras, and homecoming dresses. With the high visibility of this new location, Villar is excited to welcome new and interested customers.

“People have told me that they feel a new energy. It’s not just a transaction, it’s building a relationship,” she says.

BY MORGAN C. MULLINGS