Dorie Smith and Emelyn Northway, the owners of Of Mercer, met at Wharton Business School, where they both attended an event dressed in the same black dress. The coincidence sparked not only a strong friendship, but a business partnership. The two women began discussing how difficult it was to find clothes that were affordable, office-appropriate, and fashionable as a businesswoman. Neither of them could drop hundreds of dollars on a new dress, but the cheaper brands often did not offer good quality garments. Dorie and Emelyn decided to be the answer to their own problem.
In 2013, they opened Of Mercer, which is named after a thirteenth century English word referring to cloth specialists. They added the “Of” because they enjoyed the idea of themselves and their customers being part of a collective, of being “Women of Mercer.” Though they knew what they wanted in a work dress, neither woman had any sort of training in fashion, so they called on Aja Singer to join the team. Aja is a Parsons School of Design graduate with a specialty in tailoring. She was exactly what Of Mercer needed. As Dorie told me, “Tailored dresses are very tricky and not that sexy when it comes to design,” meaning it would be hard to find someone with the right skill and drive. Aja designed outfits based on Emelyn and Dorie’s knowledge of office life. Dorie pointed out, “That intel is something designers usually never have.” She joked that the first time Aja stepped into a proper office space after designing many dresses for Of Mercer, she exclaimed, “Oh, so this is what it’s like.”
When I spoke to Dorie, she was wearing a bright yellow wrap-dress that had been re-engineered for the work place. She demonstrated how the top of the dress produced a high neckline after it was secured in place, as opposed to the sloping V-neck that most wrap-dresses create. I was pleased to learn that the dresses are produced in New York City. I also appreciated that most of the designs are made of material that does not wrinkle and that many pieces are reversible or have multiple uses. On display when we stopped in was a new reversible “jardigan,” their word for an item of clothing that is both a jacket and a cardigan. In general, the patterns and colors tend to be on the muted side, since Dorie and Emelyn recognize that women often like to wear things twice a week to the office without people noticing, but there are a few brighter tones and stand-out fabrics. In the spring of 2016, the store was just about to put out pants in both straight-leg and cigarette styles for the first time.
The 21st Street store is Of Mercer’s first introduction to brick and mortar, and they are excited to use the space to its full potential. They have plans to host panels and dinner parties, since they can create one large room by opening the large, reflective sliding door at the back of the space that leads to their office. The space can hold up to sixty people seated or seventy-five standing. In addition to using the store for a variety of events, Dorie and Emelyn are looking to expand to other urban areas, including DC, Chicago, Atlanta, and LA. Their online business is already booming and Of Mercer designs have been shipped to thirty-eight states. As Dorie declared, “Working women can’t be ignored.”
