Lady LUX

Scarves can transform an outfit, taking it from drab to fab in an instant. But where do you find that perfect scarf? Head to Chic Tweak, a one-stop online shop that brings together a range of trendy scarves and other accessories.

“A scarf is the best way to tweak your style. And that’s really what a scarf has become. You can wear a plain outfit and tweak your style,” Bindya Lulla, the brains behind Chic Tweak, declared.

With 10 different collections offered at a range of price points, the site truly has something for all. Lulla makes a point to keep the scarves as interesting as possible.

“I don’t think women are looking for the basic in a scarf anymore,” she declared. “We try to keep our site pretty, bright, fun, colorful and just a fun way to change up your look or style. They can go from day to evening, evening to day, either way … We want our customers to be able to come on our site and find any kind of scarf, any kind of price point.”

Fashionistas on a budget can uncover gems for $20 while those looking for a luxe item can discover high-end options.

In search of a fashion career, Lulla landed at the Fashion Institute of Technology, graduating with a degree in accessories design. After a stint at Kate Spade, where she witnessed the emerging company become the respected brand it is today, and not knowing what she wanted to do, Lulla decided to nurture a business of her own.

In 1997, she launched a small handbag label, exclusively crafted in New York. Soon, her designs were picked up by renowned stores such as Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus. After a boutique approached her about importing Indian shawls, Lulla tackled shawl design and quickly decided to concentrate on the shawls – particularly embroidered and printed styles. Leaving bags in the dust, she chose to focus on scarves and launched ChicTweak.com in 2011. She has never looked back.

“I was thinking about it, and I thought scarves have become such an important part of a woman’s wardrobe. Especially the last two years with the recession,” Lulla said. “Accessories are an easy, not-too-expensive way to update your wardrobe. And I thought, why not include my competition? And there is nothing like that online. And Chic Tweak just came to me.”

Finding no aggregate scarf destination, she decided to fill the hole in the marketplace.

Lulla designs them, she wears them every day, and, yes, she loves them. “Even if it is a gray day, I wear something bright and it changes everything. It’s about having fun with your look and changing it up whenever you want to and however you want to,” she explained.

Picking the items is easy: Lulla and her team like to go with the trends. In addition to Lulla’s two collections, Chic Tweak also offers favorites such as Chan Luu, Love Quotes, Theodora & Callum and Tilo.

“The trends are very, very important,” she said. “It is what we feel is trendy that season. We group it into categories. Animal prints are important, we do a lot of painterly prints … We try to have a range of everything, a little bit of everything and obviously the basics as well. We’re trying to find a way to everybody, every customer. A young customer, an old customer, everybody across the board.”

Lulla finds personal inspiration for her designs from traveling, whether shopping the vintage stores of Paris or checking out the streets of India.

“I really get ideas from everywhere,” the designer disclosed. “Anything that is full of color. We are really, really known for our color … Sometimes I don’t even know. I am walking down the street, and I see something and I think ‘oh, that would be cute on a scarf.’ So it can come from really anywhere.”

Attention has been paid to the details. The site is designed to optimize the visual showcase of the scarves and offers a section on how to tie a scarf.

“So many people come to us and say ‘how do you wear this scarf?’ There’s so many different fun ways to wear a scarf nowadays. You don’t have to do the basic ‘tie it around your neck’ anymore … It is really how you feel about it and how you want to wear it,” Lulla maintained.

Chic Tweak also offers a special section called “Chic of the Week,” which features an accessory chosen for its chicness by the design team.

The company is expecting a number of new Spring additions over the next four to six weeks.

“It’s going to be really interesting,” the designer declared. “We are really excited for Spring. We needed to get some kinks out in the beginning. We are still learning so much. It is an interesting business the online business, but we are having some fun with it.”

Lulla has big plans for the site’s future. Scarves, after all, aren’t the only thing that can tweak your style. Chic Tweak is open to experimenting with many different product categories.

“We are trying to take the idea of tweaking your style to a whole new level and hopefully there are so many accessories that can tweak your style. We are hoping to include more of that,” she said.

Experience the site at www.chictweak.com.

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Fashion / Features