Emily- Designer for Dismantled Fashions

Emily is a young fashion designer who hails from Virginia in the USA, she runs the label Dismantled Fashions. Her designs are best described as vintage with an edge. Her favourite music lately comes from Elvis, Social Distortion, The Cramps, Koffin Kats and Mad Sin. For Emily, she says that being a subcultural girl means 'Being myself, being allowed to go against the norm, but not be different just to be different, you know? I really hate when girls are subcultural just to be subcultural, and limit themselves to one thing. You don't have to be just a psycho, or a punk. Be whatever! I think to me, it's loving everything fucked up and different, but being true to everything you like, even if it isn't your specific "scene".' This is something I think that a lot of subcultural girls learn when they are growing up, it is part of evolving.



Emily started Dismantled Fashions officially in 2004. She says that prior to this she had been making and selling simple stuff on eBay for a while without a name or a purpose. Emily says that she started doing this because 'it was harder to find that kind of cool unique clothes then, so I made them for myself. Then I figured why not sell them? I loved making them.' This sort of DIY attitude runs hand in hand with the punk rock aesthetic.



The designs of Dismantled Fashions are said to be inspired by vintage lines and styles as well as music. Personally, the fashion designers Emily looks up to are Betsy Johnson, Vivenne Westwood and Isaac Mizrahi, whilst her target consumer market are psychobilly and rockabilly girls who mainly come from California. Her designs can be bought by everyone though, as she sells most of her clothing on ebay, as well as her website and via a local store called Jezabel's Rock and Roll Sideshow.



What does Emily ultimately want to achieve from her work with Dismantled Fashions? Well, she doesn't know that part yet! Mainly, she wants to keep making things that people like and see where it goes. People are certain to keep liking her clothes, especially with the following attitude: 'I think what people love about me is that I'll do anything you think up. And that I'll do any of my styles in any fabric/color. It's awesome customiziation!' Having someone that is willing to please their customers is sure to help sell a product, if you ask me.




Any of you girls out there who want to start up your own label, Emily has this message of advice for you: 'Get your name out! You just have to advertise a lot. Livejournal and Myspace are really good. Do link exchanges, make relationships with other people and their companies, etc. If you have a product, it'll sell itself. Just make sure people know you exist!'



You can check out Emily's designs here: http://www.myspace.com/dismantledfashions




Article written by Sally Kingsley