Photo by Bill Bittar
Agathe Ngo Likoba stands inside her boutique on Elizabeth Street.
DERBY — Designer jumpsuits made in Paris are shown off on the mannequins inside the window of Likoba boutique at 25 Elizabeth St.
It’s a new look for downtown Derby, which has been struggling to sustain small mom and pop shops for at least a decade.
The owner, fashion designer Agathe Ngo Likoba, was born in Cameroon, grew up in France, and lived in Westchester County, N.Y. before moving to Shelton.
She launched her first line of high-end jumpsuits in 2016 and opened the boutique on Elizabeth Street in September 2018.
Why open a fashion boutique in Derby?
“People always say, ‘Why Derby?,” Likoba said. “Why not Derby? Women shop everywhere.”
And Likoba is everywhere.
She has immersed herself in the community, organizing events for charity, hosting Tuesday morning workouts on the Derby Green at 9:30 a.m. and inspiring entrepreneurism among area youth through Junior Achievement.
There’s always something happening at the boutique. On July 14, Likoba held a Bastille Day party with a Moulin Rouge theme and prizes.
Click here for the shop’s Facebook page.
She first discovered the potential for jumpsuits to be worn as high fashion when she was a track athlete years ago.
Likoba was shopping at a small boutique in Paris when a denim jumpsuit caught her eye.
“It didn’t look like anything on the hanger, but I kept looking at it and thought, ‘let me try it on,’” Likoba recalled. “It was really close to your body,” she added of the fit. “I loved it. It was a one-piece. I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is such a great idea. Just put it on and go. I wondered why they weren’t designing more of them.”
Photo by Bill Bittar
The store at 25 Elizabeth St. in Derby.
Likoba started out designing jumpsuits costing $6,000 and up with home fittings for wealthy clients, but her store also has a Ready to Wear collection for everyday fashion starting at $99.
The high fashion jumpsuits are made from jacquard and gabardine fabrics and have a belt with a swan buckle made of 24-karat gold.
The swan is Likoba’s logo. It is inspired by her six years of ballet growing up.
“My teacher told me to go to the park and look at the swan. ‘You have to be more feminine,’ I was a tomboy,” Likoba said. “I realized the swan was the lion of the jungle. It’s elegant, powerful and very graceful and calm. It has a femininity.”
Likoba said she wants to move production of her Ready to Wear collection to Connecticut to create jobs here, though she said the High Fashion clothing must continue to be produced in Paris.
Likoba is also passing on her fashion knowledge to young people.
Cheyenne Johnson, 17, a Derby High School student, works as Likoba’s assistant in her store.
“I’m lucky to have her here,” Likoba said. “She’s very good, reliable, hard working and very smart.”
Likoba strives to give her customers the Fifth Avenue shopping experience.
“I wanted it to look like a walk-in closet where you keep all your secrets,” she said of the décor. “You come in and feel at home and sit down on the couch with a cup of coffee or tea.”
Customers try on jumpsuits in a dressing room in the back of the store and receive a black reusable Likoba bag and a garment bag with their purchase.
“I wrap it with a nice ribbon and customers take pictures with their shopping bag,” Likoba said of the outfits. “They feel very special. They feel fancy. This is something I want to offer to our customers. Every customer is special.”
Up next for Likoba — a fashion line for children, for which her 4‑year-old daughter, Angelique, served as a model.
