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Friday 18 March 2016

Getting Personal with PK


Being a boutique has definite benefits: We can stock what we want. We can stay open as long as we want. We can dress our walls however we want.

But by far the best benefit is how well we get to know our customers. And the ones who get to know us learn quickly that we’re so much more than a women’s clothing store in Manulife Centre. 

Since we opened in 1989, women have asked us to be their personal stylists. They’ve given us control of their closets, and we’ve given them confidence in their look season by season, year by year and, for some, decade by decade. 



Beautiful Blue. Works for any event.
Anja Gockel Germany



Personal styling — The Big Thing. 

It’s not about us.

We’ve tried personal shopping services all over the world, and it’s shocking how many try to push their style instead of working with their customers’ styles. Or worse, they’ll take the lazy route by showing their customers what the celebs-du-jour are doing and recommend they emulate that.

Neither of these approaches works for us.

Instead, we spend the time really getting to know our customers — and not just their styles.

If they need clothes for work, it’s not enough to know what they do. We want to know what they aspire to be so we can style them for the jobs they want.

 If they want event wear that draws a crowd, what kind of crowd are they looking to draw? What do they want to say without saying? And what do they want people to remember most?

Most customers aren’t used to questioning like this, but the goal’s quite simple really: when we’re in Paris, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Munich or Venice on a shopping trip, we want to have the most complete picture possible. This way, if we see something perfect, we can snap it up before one of the thousands of fashion buyers gets to it first.



Aldo Martins Barcelona



Personal styling — The Little Big Things

It’s about fit, both in the experience and in the look.

The former starts with the Petra team. Most of us have owned boutiques: we know what customers look for and our expertise and commitment to the job is unparalleled. When customers get paired with a Petra personal style consultant, they don’t have to wonder.

The Petra Karthaus experience extends beyond the ladies we’re styling. There’s a cozy spot in the back for the men to relax while we do our thing, complete with  champagne, a big-screen TV, comfy lounge chairs and an unobstructed view of how gorgeous their women are.

As for the clothes, we have long-standing relationships with custom tailors, seamstresses, and some of the finest European jewellery makers that let us send you home with the perfectly hemmed and accessorized outfits. 




Van Laack and Gardeur Germany



Personal styling — The Final Thing

Personal style is a team effort.  We’ll encourage you to tell us what you like, but more than that, we’ll ask you to tell us what you don’t like or what doesn’t work, even if we thought it would. 

We’ll ask you if anything’s changed in your life since we saw you last, and we hope you’ll feel comfortable telling us. And we’ll apologize in advance for sending you an email in the middle of the 
night with a picture of something perfect we find for you in a tiny atelier in Venice or at Fashion Week in Paris. It’s just that if you take us on as your personal stylists, we’ll never stop looking out for you. 



Schneiders Austria and Caroline Biss Belgium
 


Schneiders Austria

Schneiders Austria

Anja Gockel Germany

Aldo Martins Barcelona and Gardeur Germany