TORONTO — Canadian coat designer Bojana Sentaler had always heard how the “Kate effect” could transform new brands into international bestsellers overnight. Even so, she couldn’t believe it when it happened to her last September after Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, then on a royal tour of Canada with her family, was spotted in the Yukon wearing a coat from Sentaler’s brand and the photograph went viral.
“I’d never experienced anything like this before,” said Sentaler, 32, the founder of the high-end outerwear brand made with alpaca from the Peruvian Andes. “I saw the first tweet of the duchess wearing our wrap coat with our brand’s signature ribbed sleeve, thinking it was a joke. Then the calls from around the world flooded our Toronto showroom.”
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Barely 24 hours later Sentaler’s soft, luxurious wrap coat in gull gray, which retails for $920, sold out online, with the duchess’ pick — originally ordered for her by her stylist, Natasha Archer — going on back order for December, then March and ultimately April 2017.
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Now that “Kate effect” is putting Sentaler one step closer to realizing a dream in 2017, particularly as she heads to New York this month for market week to negotiate with major U.S. retailers interested in carrying her warm, lightweight, yet feminine coats.
“We do have some very important meetings set up in New York. It’s all part of a bigger strategy to turn Sentaler into a major global fashion label within the next five years,” said the Belgrade-born designer, who launched her brand in 2009 to fill a market gap for women’s coats that were both functional and fashionable.
Instead of rolling out Sentaler flagships, global expansion through established retailers is the brand’s first priority.
“Right now we sell internationally with our online shop, so we already have a large presence in the U.S. But the goal now is to have our coats physically in stores and give our U.S. customers the chance to buy in person. We hope to accomplish this for fall 2017 or fall 2018,” Sentaler said.
The Sentaler brand, which releases one collection a year, is currently sold in Canada through retailers like Holt Renfrew, Hudson’s Bay, Nordstrom and other high-end boutiques across the country.
Beyond laying the groundwork for its desired U.S. expansion, Sentaler is determined to see itself firmly ensconced in major fashion capitals like London, Paris, Shanghai and Dubai within the next five years.
“Capturing the market in these key cities is vital. But I believe we can do it because of a combination of things that makes us unique,” said Sentaler, whose brand might never have existed had it not been for a chance meeting in Dubai in 2008 with Karl Lagerfeld, who urged the designer to give up her job in marketing and media and “go for it.”
“We are one of the only brands made with 100 percent Peruvian alpaca. Right now there is a huge demand for it,” said Sentaler.
The brand’s coats, priced between $700 and $1,600, have also earned a loyal following for their minimal silhouettes, their fit, vibrant colors and fabric quality. That fan base includes actress Meghan Markle (who is also Prince Harry’s new girlfriend), and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s Prime Minister.
Finally, Sentaler ships worldwide for free. It also offers first-time returns and exchanges at no cost to customers.
“We thought about this for a long time because doing this is so costly on our end,” said Sentaler, who holds a business degree from York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto. “But there’s a huge benefit to free shipping,” she added. “People feel they can shop with us risk-free. When you commit to all that it gives consumers confidence.”