Smak Talk

Abby Kessler and Katie Loftus, best friends and boutique owners, talk business and reworked vintage pieces.

There’s a place where the walls are hot pink, the tables are covered with lacy panties and handbags, and the gilt mirrors show your greatest desires. The walk-in closet of your dreams, this place is Smak Parlour, a boutique located at Second and Market Streets in Philadelphia.

Abby Kessler and Katie Loftus, who have been best friends since they were 15, are the owners of Smak Parlour. Since bonding over the application of black eyeliner, the two have developed a shared aesthetic.

This aesthetic translates into the “fun rock ‘n roll, retro, girly, glam, 80s, pin-up, vintage-inspired styles” they design and stock in the store.

When designing, Kessler and Loftus draw inspiration from each other. “We love looking back at different eras of fashion and getting inspired! We love bouncing ideas off each other,” they say.

Their favorite pieces on sale now are the Smak Parlour embellished vintage tees (pictured in our “That’s So Raven” fashion editorial). These pieces “have our hearts at the moment,” Kessler and Loftus say. “They are all different and, well, just plan cool. Many are wide and boxy and look awesome with Many Belles Down fitted knit skirts.”

These are the very styles the Drexel-educated ladies created when they started their wholesale clothing line SMAK by Abby & Katie in the early 2000s.

Educated in design and merchandising at Drexel University and after a year in New York City working in the fashion industry, Philadelphia-area natives Kessler and Loftus decided to open their own boutique in which to sell SMAK by Abby & Katie.

They derived the name Smak Parlour from the name of their line, which they loved because it has many connotations and is “playful and fun,” and the sewing parlor where they created their pieces. “We were making ‘Smak’ in the ‘Parlour’ and so it became!” they recall.

Without any assets, the ladies financed their business with credit cards. This move, they say, “absolutely” scared them but “it was our only choice if we wanted our dream to come true.” And they handled it beautifully, paying off their debts in three years with manageable monthly payments.

For the first four years, they exclusively sold pieces from their own line. They have since expanded and added indie designers to the mix. Kessler and Loftus explain, “We buy what we want to wear when looking for new designers and hope other people will want it too!” 

Apparently they do, as it has been six years since these best friends opened Smak Parlour. “It’s absolutely a dream come true to work together,” Kessler and Loftus agree. 

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This piece appeared in the second issue of M.L.T.S. Magazine, a publication I started. The issue launched on September 5 and this piece appeared in the Most Stylish section.