What started off as a final project for fourth-year College student Andrew Burrill has turned into a business venture designing and selling bow ties. Chateau de Beau was started during the spring semester of Burrill’s third year in his costuming class.
“Foxfield was coming and I hadn’t bought a bow tie yet. So, I was like, why don’t I just make my own bow tie?” Burrill said. “I ended up making it, and at Foxfield I had everyone and their brother come up and be like, ‘Oh my God your bow tie is dope! Where did you get that?’ It just kind of started from there.”
This semester, Burrill came up with the name “Chateau de Beau” and turned his creativity into a business.
“When I was doing a brainstorm about it … the first word chateau came to me and [I was] like what is this the house of?” Burrill said. “Then I thought about what represents my bow ties the best and I thought of kind of an antiquated, southern, antebellum but still virtuous. I thought, why not the house of virtue, why not the house of southern aesthetic?”
With the help of his professor and a friend in the Architecture School, Burrill is able to efficiently mass produce bow ties through the use of a Plexiglas stencil.
“It’s like a cookie cutter. A pattern is a cookie cutter, that’s the best way to put it. So the dough is like fabric. You can get fabric like anywhere in the world, as long as you have the cookie cutter, it’s going to give you the same shape,” Burrill said. “One of my friends in the Architecture School took the bow tie and digitized it and then created a laser cut-out stencil, which is Plexiglas, so now I can mass cut fabric with custom Plexiglas pattern.”
Burrill mainly uses high quality American cotton to make his bow ties. However, he can make bow ties out of most material.
“I like to stick to 100 percent American cotton just because I think the quality is a lot better compared to a lot of the different cottons that are imported into America,” Burrill said. “If there’s fabric, I can make a bow tie out of it.”
Burrill is constantly honing his craft. He is currently enrolled in an independent study costuming class that focuses solely on improving bow tie building methods. Marcy Linton, associate professor of costuming technology, said Burrill had no sewing or construction skills prior to taking this class with her.
“The class has directly affected the way he is constructing [the bowties],” Linton said. “I think more than anything I’ve made him more aware of his product.”
For Burrill, these bow ties are an extension of his work as an artist.
“Art is supposed to be a reflection of humanity and the thing is, what is fashion but accessing that humanity,” Burrill said. “I think that [cultivating] a strong footprint with your identity takes statements, and I think that fashion is one of the best vessels of statement that exists in 2016.”
Burrill keeps in touch with the artistic foundation of creating bow ties by the unique combinations of fabrics and constructions he chooses.
“For Andrew, because he’s still solely involved in his own choices, he’s choosing the fabrics … choosing is part of the creative process.” Linton said. “I think the uniqueness is [in] the ribbon and fabric combination.”
Due to high demand, Burrill has had to export some of his sewing.
“I’ve made over 500 just this semester, which is a lot for one individual, especially considering it just started in the spring of last semester,” Burrill said.
Burrill sells the bow ties on Etsy, at the Charlottesville City Market and mainly by word of mouth.
“[I plan to take the business] as far as it will allow me to go,” Burrill said. “I would love to get behind a name brand … I would love to go wherever people want to see Chateau de Beau.”
His clients range from Dean of Students Allen Groves to Hal Turner, the director of Fraternity and Sorority life, to students around Grounds. The adjustable, self-tie bow ties range in size from 9 to 18 inches, which allow for most age groups to wear them.
“You can definitely tell when you see it on you and when you’re wearing it, it looks good and I think that kind of carries over into my own confident personality,” Nicholas Masters, fourth-year College student and Chateau de Beau client, said. “You can tell that whoever made it did an incredibly good job.”
As of right now, Burrill plans on attending the Shenandoah Conservatory and studying performing arts leadership and management in the fall. However, he is willing to follow other pathways.
“I am not opposed to different avenues,” Burrill said. “If I had an investor tomorrow from Wall Street or JP Morgan or Brooks Brothers say, ‘Hey, we want to absorb your brand into my company and I want you to work as a designer’ — okay, give me an offer.”
Eventually, Burrill hopes to expand his brand beyond bow ties.
“I am currently researching other products such as frockets, croakies, girl’s wristbands that have bows on them, chubbies-esque shorts, in that style,” Burrill said. “I need more investors in order to take it to the next level.”
Burrill hopes his bow ties bring about positive change in the way people perceive themselves.
“What I’m most excited for is seeing people’s self-confidence rise because of a piece of clothing,” Burrill said. “I think it’s really powerful, like dress for success, if you’re having a bad day and you don’t know what can cheer you up, putting a bow tie on and feeling proud of yourself can give you that extra vibrancy you need to score a job [or] score a date.”
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