Herb Rhedrick had a winding journey to his creation of Herbin Co. After graduating with a chemical engineering degree, he took a trip to Paris that changed his life. There, he learned about the market for hats and accessories and decided to bring this business to the States, creating Herbin Co. A few years later, Herb has his own flagship store location in Phipps Plaza.
Why were accessories the game you wanted to play?
I mean, I look at accessories as, like, the secret sauce to your wardrobe. It’s like the fastest way to elevate your style and just transform your wardrobe without having to buy a whole new closet. It’s in the details. That’s what I like about accessories.
How did you end up getting a store in Phipps Plaza?
You ever hear the old adage that luck is where opportunity meets preparation? It was just one of those moments. We did a pop-up last year in Lenox, actually. There was actually a couple of people that worked for Simon Malls that literally had been watching my brand online for about two years. And they gave us the opportunity for a pop up, after that we had a lot of people come back and requesting the brand. So when they had a new opportunity for a space that kind of fit, they reached out to us. So it wasn’t something that, we were beating down the door for. It was truly just the grace of God on that. So, yeah, yeah, that was an amazing opportunity and, you know, we’re just attacking it right now.
What were some challenges you faced along the way?
One of the challenges is one most [B]lack businesses can relate to, which is capital. That’s been a hard thing. We are a bootstrap company. I’ve funded this out of my pocket since its inception. [A]nd then just general awareness. Building out a luxury brand is hard because you kind of have to stick to your guns. Like, it can be intimidating, when you’re first starting out with certain price points. But you have to make sure that you communicate the value that you’re bringing to the buyer, you know, building a product that fits their need and just kind of growing from there.
Tell us about the Dessert collection
So I like to tell the story of my grandmother. You know, I would say the analogy of you could bring the world’s greatest pastry chef, and they put a peach cobbler on the table. If my grandmother puts hers, I’m slapping theirs off the table. We try to tell these moments of joy, unity, inspiration about, like, just our experience. And I’m like, if that’s luxury to me, why should not portray it as such? So I built it into. We picked five top desserts that felt a little warm on that. We chose peach cobbler, apple pie, red velvet cake, German chocolate cake. And what I’m missing, missing one. I believe it’s tiramisu.
