modest fashion

Artistic impulse blooms at Cedarhurst coffee house

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A chocolate and coffee shop in Cedarhurst was transformed to accommodate the launch of an online fashion business last week.

After store hours, the lights were dimmed, candles lit, and a smorgasbord of cult-favorites from the establishment, Café Chocolat, at 556 Central Ave., were set out.

Shelves that typically displayed chocolate gifts now carried bags, sunglasses, and jewelry. 

Founders of the online boutique, BaèChicly, are Orthodox women, busy mothers with their hands full who are seeking to exploit social media in their journey to become savvy entrepreneurs. One of them is Sorah Krohn, wife of Café Chocolat owner Yosaif Krohn.

 “When you have a creative side you have to use it,” said Sorah Krohn, graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology. She assembled a fashion line post-graduation, but the demands of raising a family pressed her time and it was never launched. Now, as a mother of three, she has returned to the fashion and professional world.

“People think that when you get married and have kids that life stops, but life doesn’t end it’s just the beginning,” she said.

“We love being mothers and being creative, and social media has enabled us to do both,” added Krohn’s business partner, Gila Segal.

A close friend of the Krohns, Naomi Abehsera, commented that “a woman can have a family and a career — one does not contradict the other, in fact they complement each other.”

In the case of the Krohns, they have structured their lives to allow for both of their businesses to succeed. “We want to build an empire — with chocolate, music, and fashion,” Yosaif Krohn said. It all begins with the launch of BaèChicly at Café Chocolat.

The Krohns recognized that the customer base at Cafe Chocolat is the same “target audience” for the eclectic and expressionistic style of BaèChicly. The Williamsburg-esque establishment’s clientele ranges from reserved coffee connoisseurs to hipsters looking for an “out of town” experience in the busy center of town.

“I want to make sure that when someone walks in, they not only receive a terrific product but become obsessed with the aromas, my employees, and what my business stands for,” Yosaif Krohn said.

A clientele created through social media has different expectations, he pointed out. “I want people to believe in my brand, and they’ll want to know who the person behind it,” Sorah Krohn said.

Guests were outspoken about the significance of startups like BaèChicly. Steven Wise, a music producer and long-time Café Chocolat customer, said, “I think they’re expanding the horizon about how Orthodox women are perceived.”

Others discussed the importance of encouraging creative expression at any stage of one’s life.

“People equate Orthodoxy with having a lot of kids and being boring, but it doesn’t have to be that way if you maintain your individuality,” Sorah  Krohn said.