THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 21, 1995 TAG: 9506200080
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
THEY'RE DOING IT for their 8-month-old son, Dakota, and for the three other children they plan to have.
Jerry Timm, a successful model and former soap actor, and his wife, dress designer Patricia Bernal, hope to wrap up their fast-paced lives in New York and bring their talents and business to the Beach full time because they like the city's family atmosphere.
Right now, they commute between their Oceanfront clothing business, St. Tropez, and their New York dress manufacturing company, Patricia Bernal Designs, every weekend.
They opened St. Tropez four months ago at 25th Street and Pacific Avenue. The clothing boutique features dresses designed exclusively by Bernal, whose designs also grace the racks in such department stores as Nordstroms.
Bernal is known for her flowing, often sexy, dress creations. The store holds a variety of dresses in different lengths, fabrics and colors. Bernal specializes in creating unusual necklines and backs.
Her creations range in price from $60 up to $150. The couple deliberately set the price no higher than $150 because they knew they were dealing with a different market than New York.
And, they were unsure how the designs would be accepted by the local shoppers.
They were pleasantly surprised to find that the Virginia Beach market is much more adaptable than they first thought.
``This area needed something young and contemporary, especially dresses at a good price,'' said Bernal, 29. ``At first we thought that ladies here were a little more conservative, but we've found out that they just needed an outlet.''
Every two weeks, the couple brings in four new designs by Bernal that equal 200 more dresses in different colors and sizes to stock the store.
One thing they say has helped to sell the clothing is that Bernal is often working in the store herself.
``People love to see and meet the designer,'' said Timm, who works equally with his wife in the business. ``They like to talk about the materials used and why she did this or that to a dress.''
Although the store offers mostly dresses, Bernal has also designed and does sell some linen suits, wrap skirts, T-shirts, pajama pants and a line of aerobic wear.
In her New York City studio, just blocks away from the garment district, Bernal has some 1,000 dress patterns already created. She began her dress wholesale business two years ago after her graduation from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
She first approached stores in Miami and New York about selling her creations. The business skyrocketed from there and her designs were offered to stores in the wholesale market.
When Bernal met Timm two years ago, the two decided to weed out the wholesale end of Bernal's dress designs. They were tired of worrying about whether fabric would arrive on time, or whether a customer would pay on time.
Timm, who formerly played the character Gil Prescott on a CBN soap opera, has owned a house at the North End for the past 12 years. He bought the house to fix up and sell when he first joined the CBN show.
Prior to his stint there, Timm had worked on ``General Hospital'' and ``Days of Our Lives.'' When he was offered a contract to work with CBN, he said he wasn't crazy about the idea of ``leaving Hollywood'' but it was an offer he felt he couldn't refuse.
Since that time, and since he met Bernal, a Colombia native, he's limited himself to modeling jobs, including a commercial for Fruit & Fiber Cereal and Norelco shavers.
The couple, having vacationed in Virginia Beach, decided that this was the place they wanted to raise their young family and also branch out into the retail business.
They hope to have another clothing store opened in Norfolk sometime within the next year and as far as the manufacturing business goes, they want to manufacture only for their stores and not as wholesalers.
``Everything has turned out just perfect,'' said Bernal, who is expecting the couple's second child in February. ``We love it - the area and the retail business. It's a great place to bring up the kids.'' MEMO: St. Tropez is at 301 25th St. on the corner of Pacific Avenue and 25th
Street. The phone number is 428-0303. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Jerry Timm, his wife, Patricia Bernal, and their son, Dakota, hope
to move to the Beach full time to be near Bernal's clothing
business, St. Tropez.
Photo
A New York model wears one of Patricia Bernal's dress designs.
by CNB