New York--Retail icon Tiffany & Co. is branching out into another corner of the retail marketplace--this time, through a Southern designer who got her start at Barneys New York. New York--Retail icon Tiffany & Co. is branching out into another corner of the retail marketplace--this time, through a Southern designer who got her start at Barneys New York. With Tiffanys financial and strategic assistance, designer Temple St. Clair will open two boutiques in September and November, respectively. The announcement comes roughly five months after Tiffany officials told investors it planned to roll out a second retail concept in the fall, outside the Tiffany & Co. brand. In December 2002, Tiffany invested $4 million in Temple St. Clair through a subsidiary called East Pond Holdings, pledging an additional $9 million would follow. While Tiffany spokeswoman Linda Buckley declined to reveal what percentage of the company Tiffany now owns, reports have indicated that it is a majority. "We have been watching Temple's business for a long time, and believe there are opportunities for her to grow the business into a retail as well as wholesale operation, which is something we can provide her help with through investments and consulting," Buckley said. "We believe there are interesting, underdeveloped opportunities in the jewelry industry to which Tiffany can bring expertise and contribute to growing those ventures." Temple St. Clair's first boutique is scheduled to open at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Sept. 18. The second will appear at a shopping mall in Short Hills, N.J., in mid-November. A divergence from what Buckley called Tiffanys "classic American" design aesthetic, Temple's pieces incorporate more yellow gold and semiprecious gemstones and retail from $500 to $35,000. Her pieces were first shown at Barneys in 1987, and have since been picked up by retailers including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Fred Segal. "Temple's business is a separate business--she will have her own store look, and her stores will be completely independent from Tiffany from the point of view of the consumer," said Buckley.