Alive and Wellness | The Boston Globe
Monday, April 20, 2009 at 2:00PM 
Sigrid Olsen made a name with her fashion line, which she sold to Liz Claiborne in 1999. She has recently opened a wellness business centered on yoga, relaxation, and art. (John Blanding/Globe Staff)By Christopher Muther Globe Staff/April 30, 2009
For close to 25 years, North Shore fashion maven Sigrid Olsen ran a line of boutiques under her name, remaining creative director even after selling the company toLiz Claiborne Inc.in 1999. But by January 2008, Claiborne was looking to shed many of the 45 companies it had acquired to deflect sagging revenues. When no buyer stepped forward for the Sigrid Olsen brand, it quickly fell from being one of Claiborne's top-performing names to being closed. With her namesake clothing company now a memory, the 55-year-old Cape Ann resident is starting a new venture: leading retreats that are focused on yoga, relaxation, and art. We recently chatted with Olsen about life after fashion.
Q.Losing the company must have left you feeling a little sad and angry.
A.I felt all of that, but the overriding feeling was freedom. At heart I'm an ambitious entrepreneur. It was fun, riding that wave over all those years and thinking that I was building a future for myself.
Q.I was surprised to hear that you're leading retreats. It seems like the next logical step would be a return to fashion.
A.I had a two-year noncompete clause in my contract, and that prevented me from doing anything with fashion. I was getting pretty antsy. The first thing I did was set up my website (www.sigridolsenart.com) to sell my artwork. That went very well, and I opened my gallery for the summer and had a much better summer than I've ever had before.
Q.Where did the idea of leading wellness retreats enter the picture?
A.I realized one of the things I enjoyed most in my role as a fashion designer was when I went out and worked with the public. I would do fashion shows and then lead question-and-answer sessions, and I had a good rapport with my customers. We had also designed our stores to create a soothing experience. I thought maybe I could give people the experience without selling them the product. I'm capturing my design philosophy and my lifestyle philosophy, and making that the product. I'm building a lifestyle brand with this wellness component.
Q.Do you think that you will eventually return to fashion?
A.Clothing is only a piece of what I'd like to do. I'd like to combine fashion with publishing and artwork, home furnishings, and then the retreats. I love the whole hospitality angle. It's hard right now with the economy the way that it is, but I do think that when things settle down, small, hands-on, personalized, experiential products will do well. I'd like to brand a hotel to reflect my design aesthetic as well as my wellness philosophy and then sell the clothes in a boutique there. If there was a way to put that together, that would make me very happy.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
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