Winnie & Kat

Winnie & Kat began in 2012 in Malibu, California. Founder and CEO Diane Prince named it after two important women in her life: her mother, Winnie, and her cousin Cathy, known as Kat. She said their memories shaped the values she wanted the company to run on: integrity, class, style and strength. The stated mission was to help women “live a passionate life through fashion entrepreneurship.”

Prince came to the company with a background in temporary staffing and business management. Her founder page said she co-founded her first company at 27, held a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MFA from UCLA, where she taught French. On her later Our Story page she wrote that Winnie & Kat grew out of a hard time in her own life, and that she wanted women to know they could make it on their own. She called the idea “Successes through Dresses.”

“I had the idea of Winnie & Kat because it would allow me to combine my entrepreneurial spirit with my enthusiasm of empowering women.”

Diane Prince Johnston, founder and CEO — Winnie & Kat website (winnieandkat.com), 2013

By early 2013 the website was recruiting sellers for what it called a “ground-floor opportunity,” and a Founders' Club for early sellers was open until September 2013. Its address was a mailbox on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, and the site said it was a member of the Direct Selling Association and followed its Code of Ethics. In early 2015 the website was redesigned around the slogan “Live your dream life with style.”

Winnie & Kat sold comfortable casual clothing for women. The original Direct Sales Aid profile described it as flattering, stylish, cozy loungewear and pajamas; by 2013 the range had grown into everyday separates the company called “made in the U.S.A. comfy casual wear.”

• Tops: tees, tanks, henleys and high-low long-sleeve tees, many in Supima cotton.
• Layers: drapey cardigans such as “The Traveler” and wrap pieces such as “Wrap Me Up.”
• Bottoms: slouchy “Skinnie Winnie” leggings and harem pants.
• Dresses: shift dresses and printed wrap-style dresses.

Collections came out in named seasonal groups, including Ramblin' Rose and California Dreamin'. Colors in the 2013 starter kit had names like Twilight, Moonlight, Hibiscus and Piña Colada. The big selling point was where the clothes were made. Production was managed by a small group of vendors in downtown Los Angeles, and the blog ran a “Who Makes Your Clothes?” series about them. One 2015 post profiled Ray, a Los Angeles production manager who had made Winnie & Kat clothing since the pre-launch collection in 2012.

Sellers were called Independent Stylists. Early material also used the name StyleMaker. Stylists held in-home trunk shows, where guests tried on the line, and also sold one-on-one and through a personal Winnie & Kat website. Hostesses earned free and discounted clothing when their party qualified, and the company offered hostess coaching to help parties go well.

Starter Kit

In 2013 a new Stylist joined with a $199 Starter Kit. It held business supplies, a personal website and $302 worth of clothing samples at retail. By 2015 there were three ways in: the $199 Starter Kit, a larger Business Builder kit at $649, and a $99 option called W&K Your Way. The original profile noted that new Stylists also got 50% off personal purchases in their first two weeks.

Pay

The October 2014 compensation plan paid Stylists 25% commission on their retail sales, rising to 28% at $3,000 and 30% at $5,000 in monthly personal sales. Stylists who sponsored others could earn a Fast Start bonus and percentages on their team's sales across three levels. Higher titles ran from Stylist through Group Manager, Director and Dream Leader, with an extra 2% override for Group Managers and generation bonuses for leaders. The plan set out its own earnings examples; no income disclosure statement turned up in archived copies of the site.

Diane Prince announced the end in a blog post titled “Closing Winnie & Kat, opening new doors,” dated July 14, 2015. She wrote that the company had grown a team of women across the United States in three years. She did not give a reason for the closure.

“Now it’s time for the next evolution of our sisterhood, as Winnie & Kat must come to an end.”

Diane Prince, founder and CEO — Winnie & Kat blog (winnieandkat.com), July 14, 2015

The same post said the website would stay open through Thursday, July 16, 2015 for final purchases, with some items marked down by as much as 75% and all sales final. Many Independent Stylists moved to La Senorita Jolie (LSJ), a direct sales clothing and jewelry company run by founder and CEO Jennifer Dixon. Prince joined LSJ to lead her team and to work on product development, marketing and social media. The industry site Business for Home reported the change as Winnie & Kat closing and merging with La Senorita Jolie.

Neither brand is running today. The Winnie & Kat site showed the closing post through late 2015, then went offline; by October 2016 the winnieandkat.com address was being used by an unrelated website. La Senorita Jolie's site was still trading in January 2022, but by August 2022 its domain was listed for sale. Winnie & Kat clothing is no longer sold new anywhere, and any pieces that turn up now are second-hand.