We recently connected with Ashley Vermillion Webb and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

My first big client came in through our doors right when we opened back in 2005. She was looking for a gown to wear to her daughter’s debutante ball and we worked hard to dress her for the entire weekend. She later told me her husband asked her “Where did you get your gown for the ball? Where did you find your outfit for our date night? Where did you find that dress for the luncheon?” When she told him it was all from Vermillion, he told her “to throw everything else in your closet away. You should only shop at Vermillion from now on.” It is one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received and she’s still a client 20 years later and just as chic as ever!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I worked at Razooks, a high-end designer boutique, and recognized Raleigh’s potential to support a luxury fashion store. Knowing I wanted to open my own boutique, I launched Vermillion in March 2005 with the goal of creating a high end fashion experience. Since then, it has remained a leading destination for women’s luxury fashion in Raleigh and the surrounding areas.

I am so proud of how we have scaled Vermillion but stayed true to who we are as a business. We want to make sure that every person who walks through the door find something wonderful to wear while providing them with the most friendly and knowledgeable service possible.

Vermillion stocks a highly edited mix of designer and contemporary labels including Chloé, Balenciaga, Toteme, Khaite, Irene Neuwirth, Dries Van Noten, The Row, Brent Neale, La Double J, Nili Lotan & more.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We had just moved into this gorgeous new space designed by architect Patrick Hobgood of Hobgood Architect and interior designer Martha Schneider of La Maison on March 1st, 2020 when the world literally stopped. We had to close down during Covid and I was chatting with friends about what I could do to help sustain my business and staff since there seemed to be no end in sight. I mentioned that I’d always been fascinated by the QVC model – it’s a multi-billion-dollar business! What can we do to emulate that while we were closed during the day.. so my team and I decided to go all in on social and e-commerce. I would make videos daily on Instagram about my business, our products and the story of how Vermillion came to be. We made it extremely easy to shop online and offered additional services to make shopping seamless from afar!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We are so lucky to have clients involved in many different fields – food, design, tech, art, philanthropy – and we love to host events that bring that together through fashion. These shared experiences help build a stronger, unified community that resonates with our clients and designers beyond fashion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vermillionstyle.com
• Instagram: @vermillionstyle
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Robert Wagner of R Wagner Photography