Alumni Stories

Young Alumni Story

Abby H. Kessler
BS 2001 Design & Merchandising
Katherine E. Loftus
BS 2001 Design & Merchandising.

Abby Kessler and Katherine Loftus are the proprietors of Smak Parlour, located in Old City, Philadelphia. The shop features their Abby + Kate designs, described in a recent feature by The Philadelphia Inquirer as having "the girly edge of Betsey Johnson and wearability of American Apparel."

At Drexel, Abby and Kate developed Smak, a wholesale business selling clothes to about 15 stores, including Charlie Porter in Old City and Rescue 138 in New York. After graduating in 2001, they moved to Manhattan, where Kate worked for a men's shirt company and Abby in a denim showroom.

In 2002, they returned to Philadelphia and created their own line of shirts, which sold successfully from Washington, D.C. through New York.

After an extensive search for a location, Abby and Kate opened Smak Parlour in 2004 with $50,000 in credit card charges. They enlisted the help of their families to remodel the shop. In less than three months, they were up-and-running with 800 pieces, each handmade by a staff of seamstresses.

The store was an instant sensation. Out of the 30 jackets they opened with, only four remained after just two weeks. Two years later, Smak Parlour sales had increased 40 percent with a 15 percent increase every quarter.

Smak Parlour has been featured in numerous publications, including City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, Style, Lucky, Cosmo Girl, Bust and Teen Vogue.

Alumni Story

Emanuel Kelly
BS 1971 Architecture

Emanuel Kelly's 30-year architectural career is defined by outstanding service to society that embraces service to the community, service to the profession, the education of future architects and a sustained commitment to preserving and revitalizing communities.

While a student in the City Planning and Urban Design program at Harvard in 1972, he volunteered for the Roxbury Action Program and was responsible for designing a revitalization plan for historic John Eliot Square and the restoration of the Dillaway Thomas House. In Baltimore in the mid-1980s, he contributed to the City's burgeoning revitalization as a member of the Design Advisory Panel for the Department of Housing and Community Development, reviewing and critiquing projects proposed for downtown, the Inner Harbor and city neighborhoods.

Camden, N.J. Mayor Randy Primus selected Mr. Kelly to serve on the City's first Architectural Review Board, where he played a key role in developing the Urban Design Guidelines for the Camden waterfront that have become the City's planning framework for the highly successful early phase of the project.

As a member of the Bureau for Historic Preservation Board of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Mr. Kelly evaluated and nominated 240 historic districts and properties to the National Register. He led the initiative to place the Paul Robeson House in West Philadelphia on the National Register and helped mount a successful campaign to save Richard Neutra's Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg National Military Park.

In 2002, Philadelphia Mayor John Street recognized Mr. Kelly for his contributions as an architect to the City's urban center and neighborhoods. He received the Minority Enterprise Development Committee's Pioneer Award in 2002 and in 1992, he became the first African American to serve as president of AIA Philadelphia.

Mr. Kelly's office was responsible for the rehabilitation of an entire block of historic Italianate apartment buildings for affordable housing in West Philadelphia. The award-winning Regent Terrace is featured in Design for Living, Good Neighbors: Affordable Family Housing by Michael Pyatok FAIA as a successful case study in both preservation and affordable housing.