Fabulous Fashion, Inspired by Fabulous Women and Men
By Tracy Corrigan
"Fabulous fashion, inspired by fabulous women and men' is our motto," says Leon Jakovics. And he means it. For more than just a motto, it is exactly what led him and life partner Julio A Beerios, better known as clothing designers Julio Julio, to transition from dancing to design.
Former competitive ballroom dancers themselves, Jackovics and Beerios create women's and men's clothing that can really only be described as works of art.
"When we owned our Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Puerto Rico, we competed with our students at dance competitions," Jackovics says. "Julio started designing on paper ball gowns for our students. We'd help them with colors and fabrics, and then they'd take that to a seamstress. They were turning out great and people were responding very well. We thought... hmmm, this is very interesting."
In 1989, Jakovics and Beerios sold their dance studio and moved to Chicago. "We started doing custom designed women's high heel shoes, " Jackovics says. Advertised in the magazine Towne and Country, one pair of shoes would be covered with 15,000 authentic Austrian crystals and sold for $4,000.
"It took us two weeks, working 9 hours a day, to do one pair of shoes," Jackovics recalls. "And that was in addition to a seven or eight hour day of teaching dance."
They did receive orders for their highly customized shoes, but Jackovics and Beerios quickly found their work was so highly specialized, it was too difficult to maintain. That experience, though, is what encouraged Jackovics and Beerios to move into clothing design.
Armed only with their vision and creativity, Jackovics and Beerios had to find their way in a world that can be cutthroat competitive at best. "We started out refashioning women's business suits," Jackovics says. "Our garments were being made in New York, so that put our whole sale costs through the roof. On top of that, they really didn't understand our concepts and what we wanted to do. That was very frustrating to us.
"People in those days were telling us, 'no, you have to do things this way, or, no, you have to do things that way'," Jackovics says. "We felt very strongly about what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it, and that's when Julio came up with the idea to do practice wear."
Having no formal design or fashion training, Jackovics and Beerios learned by doing. They spent the next two years searching the world for a garment manufacturer who could bring their concepts to life. "We wanted quality fabrics and production without sending our overhead through the roof like before." Jackovics says.
"We finally found what we were looking for in a garment manufacturer," Jackovics says. "We tell them what we want and how we want it done, and they deliver. Sometimes Julio will have to do a prototype of his design so they understand what we want. A lot of what we ask them to do has never been done before."
Returning to the world that launched them, Jackovics and Beerios produced and showed their first Julio Julio line of clothing in 2001 at a dance competition in Milwaukee, Wis.
"We really didn't know what to expect," says Jackovics. "We did three comps that year - Milwaukee, USBSC and Atlanta. We were selling skirts, tops and jackets, and at each comp, we did better than the one before."
Having found their niche market, the pair decided that rather than open a specialized boutique store to which their clients had to go, they would take their designs to their clients. Jackovics and Beerios went from doing 3 comps in their launch year, to 45 dance comps in 2002.
"It was nuts, we were selling out of everything," Jackovics says. "By our third year, we cut back on the number of shows to 30. Now, we typically do 26 to 28 shows per year."
From dresses, skirts, blouses and evening gowns to suede and fur coats and wraps, the Julio Julio line gradually developed and expanded into a bounty of unique creations.
As an example, Jackovics and Beerios updated the leather for this year's coats. "The leather has a more masculine feel to it," Jackovics explains. "But then we add fur trim to the collar, cuffs and front to keep it feminine. It's a really great contrast that our customers love."
In addition to their unique blends of fabrics and colors, Beerios hand paints the garments once they have been produced. All original, no two pieces are ever alike.
"The ladies who buy from us are really the ones who inspire us on how and where to expand," Jackovics says. "We stay with classic looks, and update them - reinvent them - but everything we sell is unique and original."
In 2005, the Julio Julio line expanded to include men's fashion. "The guys at the comps kept asking where Julio and I got the clothes we were wearing," Jackovics says. "They were store bought, but very difficult to find. So we decided to try a men's line."
Launched this past February the Julio Julio men's line was so successful, it nearly sold out of stock at its debut show. The line contains shirts, silk blazers and fur coats. This fall, the line will expand to include men's leather jackets and blazers.
The latest addition to the Julio Julio line is women's handbags. "Again, we took a classic handbag look, like Luis Vitton, and put our own spin to that concept," Jackovics says. "The main part of the purse is made of cow napa leather, the straps are made of lamb, and the trim is done in fish skin."
Fish skin?
"Yes, fish skin," Jackovics says. "It actually has the look of snake skin, but fish skin is unique." And the women love it.
"We first started out with the straps and handles on our bags in a turquoise color, but our ladies told us they'd prefer red," Jacovics says. "So we listened, and they were right. The red and tan suit the bag to perfection."
Covered with the now familiar Julio Julio signature, the Julio Julio line of purses and handbags are not available in stores. Anywhere. "We're already getting orders," Jackovics says.
"From the very beginning, we wanted to do our designs our way," Beerios says. Jackovics nods in agreement, and adds, "We stay true to ourselves, and to the fabrics and colors we love. We listen to our customers. And that's when we started to succeed."
For more information about Julio Julio, visit them on the web at www.juliojulio.com, or by email at leonj1050@earthlink.net.