Carlisle Collection

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The Carlisle Collection is an American fashion design company founded in 1981 by William Rondina to offer elegant classic clothing and accessories for women by private appointment. Based in New York City, the firm has over 1,000 consultants throughout the United States.

Rondina is a veteran retailer who understood what women in this niche market of affluent professionals and homemakers wanted: quality and value with the attention and guidance lacking in most stores. His twist is the relationship between his sales team and his customers. It is not an "Upstairs, Downstairs" approach, but one of peer to peer. The Carlisle representatives, called consultants, are well-connected socially, draw from their friends and acquaintances, and build a loyal following. The word-of-mouth network is so powerful that Carlisle advertises only in Town & Country magazine.

Each piece of the wardrobe coordinates; and, the consultant reviews her records of everything that has been purchased in the past to guide future combinations or new looks that can be created by extending what is already in the client's wardrobe. Attention is also paid to limiting the sales of new items in each market so that customers will not be at a dinner with someone else with the same design.

The company's offices are located in mid-town Manhattan. They were designed by Robert Denning of Denning & Fourcade.

Carlisle sells a designer scarf each season for which all of the money goes directly to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Since 1998, the program has raised over $1,300,000.

Posted sales in 2001 were $150-million.