{"id":157447,"date":"2021-05-26T14:47:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T18:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?p=157447"},"modified":"2021-05-26T14:47:17","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T18:47:17","slug":"jews-of-philly-fashion-david-schwartz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/jews-of-philly-fashion-david-schwartz\/","title":{"rendered":"Jews of Philly Fashion: David Schwartz"},"content":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s the newest edition of Jews of Philly Fashion, introducing you to the Chosen few who dress our city. They might mix wool and linen, but they\u2019ve got some strong opinions on mixing stripes with florals. In this space, we\u2019ll talk to designers, sellers, buyers, influencers, models and more. This week, we spoke to David Schwartz.<\/i><\/p>\n
For more than 90 years, Sophy Curson has been one of the premier women\u2019s boutiques in Philadelphia, a Rittenhouse Square mainstay that\u2019s weathered every imaginable storm.<\/p>\n
And for more than 30 of those years, David Schwartz has helped steer the ship, starting as a summer hire in inventory to doing, in his words, \u201ceverything.\u201d (Technically speaking, he\u2019s vice president, while his mother, Susan, niece of the store\u2019s namesake, is president.)<\/p>\n
Schwartz, 54, believes that for all of the incursions that online shopping has made into his family\u2019s business, there\u2019s simply nothing to replace the care of a knowledgeable sales associate speaking with you in person.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they don\u2019t talk about in direct-to-consumer and instant buying on Instagram is that in the end, you really have to try the piece on, especially with dresses like I sell,\u201d Schwartz said.<\/p>\n
Schwartz, a graduate of William Penn Charter School and Kenyon College, first joined the family business in 1988. He\u2019d previously worked some summers between school, but it wasn\u2019t until that year that Schwartz joined his mother at the store.<\/p>\n
He loved what he found there, the chance to help the women of Philadelphia find something they felt would set them apart. Even though the store has passed down through generations, with tastes for this or that rising and falling with the seasons, there is a sensibility shared among the family members that have run the store, Schwartz believes. It\u2019s not just color or style or material \u2014 though Schwartz does believe that his purchases would please his long-gone elders \u2014 but a shared sense for what it is that their customers want. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPhiladelphia women, the Main Line women, they know what they like. They don\u2019t need to be trendy,\u201d Schwartz said. \u201cThey love pretty clothes. Everyone asked me, how have I succeeded? I say, \u2018If I put pretty clothes in the window, people come in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n