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Sisters have designs on success Photo by Jim Craven Street signs decorate the Rogue Valley Mall boutique opened by two sisters, including Airin Mitchell, and five fellow clothes designers. The store features clothes by local designers. Mall shop features local couturiers By SARA MURPHY The owners of Designer Alley hope their custom clothes shop will help Southern Oregon couturiers make their way along the long road to success in the fashion industry. Started by sisters Talla Michael and Airin Mitchell, the Rogue Valley Mall boutique specializes in fashions designed by local artisans, as well as stitching custom orders. Making a living off making clothes has been a lifetime dream for Mitchell, 20. She was accepted to design school at age 14, but says she didn't go because she didn't want to work her way up from the bottom of the fashion industry. "What I wanted to do was make my own clothing," she says. "Airin started designing about as soon as she was old enough to pick up a sewing needle," says Michael, 23. Though Michael remembers cutting out paper patterns before she was old enough to attend kindergarten, she didn't plan to design clothes for sale until about six years ago. She was working at a fabric store when the notion hit her. Somebody offered to pay $80 for a stretch-velvet dress she had made for a mannequin at the store. The sisters, who had sewn garments as 4-H club members, teamed up to design their own threads. They sold the fashions at the Siskiyou Artisans Guild boutique in the mall for seven months before opening Designer Alley on Feb. 26. The company has seven members who are co-owners and also serve as the store's employees. Michael is company president. The members share profits and industry secrets, such as where to order labels and swimsuit liners. They say the store is a great opportunity for people hoping to break into the business. "I want this to be a gateway for local people to get into the fashion industry," Michael says. Many of today's top designers had to try for years before their works were seen in a boutique window, she says. Designer Alley features the works of about six designers, including Michael and Mitchell. The sisters specialize in fabrics with lycra, which they fashion into anything from formal wear to bikinis. The shop's showroom features a little something for everybody. One business partner hand-dyes and hems silk garments; another makes comfortable kids' clothes. Michael hopes to get more 4-H sewing club members involved in the shop. She's hired two as seamstresses, while several other teens work in the store as live models on weekends. Soon, she hopes to organize a 4-H fashion show for young designers. Michael says the shop's designers want to make sure their customers feel like a million bucks. Boutiques that offer alterations aren't just for haute couture, she says. "If you come in here and find something and the hem's too long or you need a couple of darts, there's no charge for that." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA