Identical twins Elizabeth Rosbottom and Katherine Rosbottom started their feminine label, Jumelle Collection, with a passion for gorgeous fabrics, a love of color, and a vision for a luxe, intimate shopping experience that feels positively Parisian.
What were you doing before Jumelle?
Katherine Rosbottom: I sold luxury real estate for 15 years, so I have experience with high-end clientele, doing large transactions, and running a business from a marketing standpoint.
Elizabeth Rosbottom: I’ve been in the apparel industry for 20 years; I designed for Marchesa, J.Crew Bridal, and oversaw several brands sold on QVC. I’ve done literally everything, from high end to mass market. My time at QVC taught me how to design for all shapes and sizes, and how to be completely inclusive of everyone, which is what we do at Jumelle. That’s super important to us; anything we design can be made for any shape, any size, for anyone. We think that every woman, no matter what size, is so incredibly beautiful and deserves to wear the most beautiful fabrics and silhouettes.
Katherine: Elizabeth is good at looking at someone’s body type and saying, “This is what’s going to look best on you, this is going to define your best features,” and then she’ll design something, whether you’re a size zero or a size 24, that you’ll feel so incredible wearing. She’s so talented.
How did Jumelle Collection come about?
Elizabeth: I first started designing dresses for Katherine and myself because we couldn’t really find what we wanted out in the marketplace, whether from department stores or the direct-to-consumer brands; we wanted timeless, sophisticated, elegant designs in interesting, beautiful fabrics, with the quality that we were looking for. Whether a casual day dress that we could travel in, dress it up, dress it down, or a gown for charity events or dinners, I just started making all our clothes. We travel a lot, so we were wearing our dresses on airplanes, in line at the airport, out at events, and people were always stopping us—literally, in the airport security line, even! People would say, “Excuse me, are you twins? Oh, my God, I love your dresses. Where’d you get them?”
Elizabeth Rosbottom and Katherine Rosbottom
What led you to turn this from a passion project to a full-fledged business?
Katherine: It happened organically, we were in Paris at Bar Les Ambassadeurs, which is our favorite bar in the entire world. We were both wearing our Antibes dress—this is our best seller—and having a drink, talking about how we’d been stopped so many times over the past several days in Paris by people asking about our clothes, whether it was at dinner, getting macarons at Ladurée, everywhere we went, and discussed how we needed to make our own brand. And while we were having this conversation, somebody came over and said, “Are you twins? Where did you get your dresses?” And we were like, “Okay, we need to do this.” Jumelle means twins in French, so we chose that as our name.
Did you ever think you’d work together?
Katherine: Yes! As kids, we never played with baby dolls. All we wanted to do was play “business,” sitting at little desks next to each other, with our own calculators.
I think we always knew that at some point in our lives we’d do something together. We also had a big cheerleading business! Cheerleading is super important in the South. We coached high school squads in Louisiana, where we grew up, helping them get to nationals and win all the awards. We had a babysitting business at some point, too.
Who handles what?
Elizabeth: I oversee design. At our atelier in the Garment District, we make our patterns, drape everything, do beading and handiwork, and then we meet with our clients at our downtown Jumelle L’Appartement, overlooking the harbor.
Katherine: I oversee the business side—marketing, sales, all things financial.
What’s your design process like?
Elizabeth: My design process is built on fabrics. We travel a lot, too, so I’m always looking at how other cultures are using colors and textures, but it’s really about the fabrics. As soon as I see a fabric, I’m like, “Oh, my God, I know what we’re doing with this,” and I know, and I can’t wait to make it. I can literally, like, see it in my mind, how it’s going to look, how it’s going to flow. You can’t use every fabric for every silhouette. I have an excellent knowledge of fabrication and how to use it, how it will look in a certain silhouette, and what’s appropriate for your body type. I’m inspired by vintage Dior 1940s and ’50s silhouettes—timeless, classic, elegant, with perfect tailoring.
Tell us about this gorgeous Jumelle L’Appartement space.
Elizabeth: It’s an ode to European shopping, where everything is private and intimate; the space is decorated to sort of mirror the dresses, so it’s feminine, happy, positive. It’s not just buying a luxury dress. It’s not just having a custom gown made. We offer a luxury-driven, exciting experience here that nobody offers in the United States. Someone can come in, have privacy, feel comfortable, be able to sit and relax and look around, and dream up something beautiful. You can choose a sketch and we customize from there; I’ll know which silhouettes a fabric will look best in. I’ll say, “Okay, let me help guide you. This fabric is gonna look best in these silhouettes.” Clients get to be involved in the design process.
Besides custom work, your collection pieces are all made to order. Why?
Katherine: We think that that’s the way luxury fashion is moving. People are sick of trends. They’re sick of fast fashion, all that kind of stuff. Certain women want a beautiful, quality, luxury item; they want a dress to wear for years. We don’t believe you buy a dress, wear it once, and that’s it. Our dresses are meant to stand the test of time and be worn for years and years. We believe in quality over quantity, and so does our client.
How might Jumelle Collection expand?
Katherine: There are all sorts of big dreams! We’re hoping to one day launch a beach club collection and call it Jumelle La Plage. But we’re building quietly, just keeping our heads down, working, and creating beautiful dresses that make women feel beautiful.
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