Vests, doll clothes and more vests.
That’s what Amanda Williamson learned to make at age 7. Her mother had enrolled her in a sewing class just to keep her busy, and she excelled at churning out sleeveless, collarless garments.
“I can make a vest with my eyes closed,” said Atlanta native Williamson, 26.
Crafty as she was, though, she never dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, owning a clothing line (it’s called Ennyluap) or being featured in the July and September 2013 issues of British Vogue. She didn’t think she would watch models strut down catwalks in her designs at one of fashion’s biggest events in New York this fall.
The youngest and only girl of five siblings, a self-described tomboy, started life with more scientific aspirations — to heal human bodies rather than clothe them.
She majored in biology/pre-med at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., with hopes of attending medical school and becoming an anesthesiologist and cancer researcher. Besides working part time at Banana Republic, Williamson didn’t give fashion much thought. At least not until she got the idea to put her sewing skills to work.
She started making uniforms for the university’s majorettes for extra cash, and somewhere between Williamson’s biology exams and dressing the band, the fashion bug took a bite out of her med school plans. Before long, Banana Republic became a lesson in Fashion 101.
“Working in the stock room, I got to inspect the clothes and see how the (fashion) seasons roll in and out,” she said, adding that’s when she began to take note of the classic style of Banana Republic/Gap brand clothing.
At the urging of her then-supervisor, Kendra Leonard, Williamson took her sewing machine from freelancing uniforms to making “real clothes” and building a business. With no initial investors and very little to start, Williamson made the leap.
“I had a car from my mom and $20. A pipe dream, right?”
She used the 20 bucks to buy leftover fabric from the Scrap Exchange, a creative reuse store in Durham. She fashioned the material into a few one-of-a-kind garments for women, which she did without much sketching.
“I just designed what came to me,” she said.
Williamson’s former boss Leonard, now owner of the Art of Style boutique in Raleigh, N.C., offered to sell Williamson’s creations in her store.
“Aug. 18, 2011, after 5 o’clock but before 6,” Williamson fires off with a laugh the date and time that her first piece sold, marking the official launch of Ennyluap (her middle name spelled backward and pronounced in-uh-lope), a full women’s line of dresses, skirts, pants, tops and swimwear.
The inaugural piece, a taupe, white and black striped shirt with a strappy back, embodied the company’s motto: “Timelessly bold.” Taking hints from some of Williamson’s favorite designers — think Ralph Lauren’s comfort and functionality and Betsey Johnson’s use of color — Ennyluap fuses classical with whimsical, playful cuts and lines with practicality.
The formula seems to be working and at a pace that has surprised even Williamson.
In just two years, she has gone from hand-crafting small-scale runs with discounted materials to creating custom designs for celebrities, such as singer Elle Varner, to appearing at Atlanta International Fashion Week and now preparing to present Ennyluap’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. The latter seemed like a far-fetched journey a few months ago.
“It’s a big deal just to be invited” to fashion week, Williamson said, but getting there was not easy or cheap. She put out calls for donations and corporate sponsors and soon grabbed the attention of the cut-crystal producer Preciosa, now the title sponsor of her fashion week shows. The two companies plan to collaborate on a crystal-enhanced fashion collection in the near feature.
Saturday, though, Williamson will be riding a whirlwind of model fittings, blog and press interviews and show rehearsals.
The collection will show Sunday at the Helen Mills Center and the Empire Rooftop at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
“I’m excited,” Williamson said of her pending shows, “and ready to get it over with.”
She hopes her New York fashion week debut will provide the exposure to land Ennyluap in more boutiques and department stores and launch Ennyluap Royale, a high-end line. She also wants to venture into menswear with a line called Unit 206.
It may even include vests.
For more information on Ennyluap, see www.ennyluap.com. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City runs through Sept. 12.
