Fashion forward

Oceansider Holly Xerri has a background in advertising and marketing. But she's recently taken on a new venture — fashion. Over the past two years, Xerri has been working on Camibands, a fashion accessory she created and designed on her own.

Xerri describes Camibands as “wardrobe extenders.” The lace bands, which come in a variety of colors, can be worn as shirt extenders (when worn on the waist), as faux camisoles, or over swimsuit bottoms for extra coverage. “Basically the idea stemmed from a pair of yoga pants

that I owned,” Xerri explained, adding that the pants had a comfortable fold-down layer extending from the waistband. Xerri thought it would be a great idea to have a removable stretch lace band that could be paired with any pair of pants or leggings, as a fashionable and practical cover-up accessory.

When Xerri presented the idea to her daughters, Alexa, 18, and Jackie, 13, her older daughter expressed skepticism that her mother would actually bring the idea to fruition. But that pushed Xerri even more: "I really wanted to teach both about following through," Xerri said.

She quickly got to work making her own sample sizes. Xerri said she would visit local department stores and ask women to try the product on so she could get accurate measurements for each size band. With the help of a local tailor, Xerri was able to put together samples of her products to send to manufacturers.

With the help of her family, she also got to work building a website. Before she retired, Xerri owned a direct-mail advertising business. She said her experience designing ads and coupons served her well, but she admits she needed help getting her ideas online. Xerri worked with her daughter Jackie to design a drawing for her website to show the different ways to wear the Camiband. Jackie also directed and produced the video that appears on the site, using her older sister and her friends as models for the product. Xerri's husband, Ray, helped with the web site and online marketing, including researching ways to get search engines to recognize the site.

So far, Xerri said, business is very good. She's shipped Camibands all over the world, from as nearby as New York to as far away as Australia. And she said she's receiving positive feedback from her customers, many of whom have asked her to expand the line to include extra large sizes. "It's basically for every age group from 13 to 70," Xerri said, adding that she's excited about expanding the line in the near future. You can visit www.camibands.com to learn more about Xerri and Camibands.