Victoria MacKenzie-Childs

Victoria MacKenzie-Childs (August 23, 1948) is a ceramic artist who along with her husband Richard founded the luxury home goods firm MacKenzie-Childs in 1983. A beacon of Madison Avenue in New York City in the 1990s, their "chic boutique" showcased their distinctly whimsical style that the New York Post once described as "Mary Poppins meets Alice in Wonderland." They sold the company in 2001 to pursue other ventures. Victoria is the mother of organic textile designer Heather Chaplet.

Biography

Born in San Francisco, Victoria received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University in 1970, and from 1970 to 1974 continued her studies at Boston Museum of Fine Arts while teaching at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. From 1976 to 1983 - the year MacKenzie-Childs was founded - she worked as a freelance clothing and costume designer.

Victoria was a member of the class of '77 at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Before considering enrolling to Alfred, she learned pottery pioneer Wayne Higby was headed to Alfred to teach. Determined to work with him, the school became her prime prospect. Higby eventually became her teacher and mentor, and both she and Richard received their MFA with him. Decades later, Higby said in a court document: "They each are the 'real thing'". In 2017 Victoria and Richard delivered Alfred University's 181st commencement address. In his introduction, Alfred President Mark Zupan referenced the duo's "artist's magic touch" and their "unsurpassed influence on the work of today’s artists and designer brands."

Following graduate school, Victoria and Richard moved to Stoke Gabriel in Devon, England, where they worked for a small pottery store and taught art at South Devon College. They also designed and made clothing for stage and street wear.

In 1994 Victoria and Richard received the regional Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

Victoria and Richard at their upstate Aurora farmhouse, the "original flagship store", in 1998

The Original MacKenzie-Childs

Victoria and Richard's initial focus was on high-end, hand-crafted majolica dinnerware and glassware, and as they became more established in the 1990s, they expanded to include linens, lamps, tassels, trims, and imaginative household furnishings by experimenting with old abandoned furniture they rebuilt, upholstered and painted. At the height of their popularity, aside from their flagship Madison Avenue store that opened in 1993, top retailers like Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus established exclusive MacKenzie-Childs shops within their stores. The brand appeared for sale in more than 150 upscale speciality retailers throughout the United States.

The notable outfit Bunch Auctions once described their lavish style: "From side chairs with backrests of landscape painted fish, to a rattan floor lamp with a thistle fringed shade resting on a quartet of white ceramic rabbits, to an aptly named 'ridiculous bench' with reversible cushion and gilt detail."

After selling their company in 2001, Richard and Victoria launched Richard and Victoria Emprise under which they continue to create and sell their nascent designs."

Yankee Ferry

Mackenzie-Child's home and studio, Yankee Ferry, in 2019

In 2003 Victoria and Richard bought the last remaining Ellis Island ferryboat, Yankee Ferry, and since then have worked to turn it into a home and floating studio along with their two Dachshunds, Mr. Brown and Pinky. First built in Philadelphia in 1907, the 150-foot steel-hulled boat carried immigrants from Ellis Island to their new lives in America. The United States Navy commissioned it during World War I and World War II to be a patrol boat, at one time it guarded the Boston Harbor, and it was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1992. Since its purchase, its first docking was in Hoboken, then Red Hook, then Tribeca, and as of 2024 is docked in Staten Island.

Yankee Ferry living room, 2019

A year after purchasing the boat, Victoria told The Free Library: "It's so much more exciting and energizing to be sharing our work with the world in this more industrial way now."

Court Filings

In 2000, amidst planning a second store that was to open on the iconic Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and set to feature a climbing wall with their famous teacups as footholds, the MacKenzie Childs brand was forced to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following financial difficulties. In 2001 it was purchased and restructured by American Girl founder Pleasant Rowland. Rowland offered Victoria and Richard a $10 million contingent upon agreeing to a non-compete clause. They refused to sign the agreement which gave up all rights to the MacKenzie-Childs name. In 2006, Rowland sued Victoria and Richard for starting a new business using "Victoria and Richard," as, supposedly, every part of their name had been sold off in the bankruptcy proceedings. The founders countersued Rowland for attaching their name to designs they didn't create. In 2008, Rowland sold the company to Lee Feldman and Howard Cohen, partners at the Twin Lakes Capital equity firm based in New York. MacKenzie-Childs products are still signed "MacKenzie Childs."

YouTube Channel

In 2020, Victoria launched a YouTube channel to give fans a rare peek into life on the ferry, offering personal accounts of everything from the story behind her rainbow-hued hairstyle to candid confessionals about the ongoing ordeals of the company and their undeterred drive to continue working.