Mother Daughter Team Sews Up Success

Austin, TX, March 07, 2007 --(PR.com)-- It has always been a dream for Terry McCaleb to own a children's clothing boutique, but when she became a widow with two young children to raise, the dream became a distant memory.

So when her youngest daughter, Nikki Hodgkins, became a mom, Terry's long lost vision was resurrected. With an eye for fabrics, and a love for fashion, Terry set out to find unique children’s clothing with a slight edge. Unable to find her dream brands to fill a store, Terry began to think she was back at square one.

Then one day, it struck her. Why not make her own clothing for her granddaughter? Terry asked Nikki to collaborate in this venture, and with a single “Yes!” Ragazza Bella Couture was born.

The two women went to extreme lengths to find eye catching fabrics that showcased every little girl's natural beauty. Their signature piece, appropriately named the “RagBell Jean”, is the panicle of childhood whimsy. The ladies create these one of a kind jeans by throwing caution to the wind with a mix of fabrics all patched onto the jean with antique style frayed edges, chiffon roses, and other creative embellishments.

When Lagan, Nikki’s daughter, immerged wearing the very first pair of RagBell Jeans, on an outing to the mall, the women could not enter a store without being stopped by moms everywhere asking where they could buy them. With such a demand, these designers decided to open their website and sell their jeans.

Since then, the site has expanded to include hand painted t-shirts, fashion forward tops, skirts, other styles of jeans, and accessories. The Spring/Summer 2007 line, which was released in February, contains three collections, “Vintage Vacation”, “Princess and the Pooch” and “Prissy Pirates”. These collections are inspired by the essence of being a little girl who is never afraid to wear jeans with a tiara.

After the launch of their website, the Ragazza Bella brand has caught the attention of the children’s boutique community with interviews from websites such as Boutique Cafe, a site which hosts weekly podcasts featuring designers of children's clothing and topics of interest for fashion-savvy moms.

The girls also reach out to their buyers via their blog, which offers anyone the opportunity to “Ask the Designers” as well as a section in which Terry and Nikki “Tip their tiara” to people who have made an impression on the boutique community.

For additional information on Ragazza Bella Couture, visit the website at www.RBcouture.com and to read the blog, please visit www.RBcouture.blogspot.com.

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