Homegrown fashion.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

Lily Maxfield and Shanti Birmingham, both 17, were recently seen scouring the racks of a downtown Eugene clothing store, in search of one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories.

"We don't want to look like everybody else," Maxfield said.

"I love original stuff that you can't find anywhere else," Birmingham added. "Stuff that is unique, that makes a statement."

As far as what that statement is, it all depends on where you shop. These days, especially if you're looking for something truly original this fall fashion season, there are more shops than ever offering their own homegrown designs.

Rachel Schultz, owner of Colette Jewelry Bar & Boutique, 780 Blair Blvd., expects texture will be a big selling point this fall and winter.

"Everything is very luxurious and girly," says Schultz, 30. "Super luxe and super girly."

Colette offers plenty of cool-weather texture.

But it's more than just a shop.

It's also a workshop.

In the back of this Whitaker neighborhood store, you'll find sewing machines and jewelry making stations, which remind you that the stuff you buy here was not designed by some New York fashion guru.

Schultz calls her store a "one-stop style shop," and 90 percent of the clothing and accessories are designed and made locally. There are cotton shrugs by a one-woman company called Out of Line and stylish fleece tops for women by another solo outfit called Sweet Skins.

In the back of the store sits the jewelry bar - an enormous case housing works by Schultz and Mari Lee, another local designer. Elsewhere, there are baby clothes and body scents, greeting cards and original pieces of artwork.

When Schultz signed the lease on her 2,400-square-foot retail space - which used to house Foolscap Books - she wasn't sure how she was going to fill the room. But, she says, the designers showed her the way.

"We all felt like we wanted to take our (design) businesses out of our homes," she says. "It was perfect timing."

Colette is named after a French author who pushed new boundaries for women, and that's exactly what Schultz says she would like to do. She bases much of her business philosophy on the writings of Paul Hawken, a proponent of corporate reform and environmentally sustainable business practices who co-founded Smith & Hawken garden stores. Schultz believes that as petroleum reserves dwindle, businesses will have to become more self-reliant.

Along with the environmental and economic advantages of buying locally made goods, there are also practical reasons for shopping at a store such as Colette, she says.

"It's more personal when you shop here," Schultz explains. "You can see something that you like, but you don't see the color you want or the size or maybe it's not exactly what you need. We can make that happen."

Recycled finery

At Deluxe, a second-hand clothing store at 1331 Willamette St. that also offers original designs, owner/designer Dagua Webb Nelson is buying all the cowboy boots she can find this fall season.

"Especially old ones," she says.

Along with boots, Nelson, 34, is selling lots of boutique jeans and women's skirts made from recycled jeans. She can make two women's skirts out of one pair of used "old-man jeans." Tunics and "secretary blouses" with painted decorations are also very popular.

`(Women are wearing) anything that's kind of ornate and seems kind of fine and feminine," Nelson says, "and they're pairing that stuff with old jeans."

Deluxe offers what Nelson terms "redesigns," which include her recycled jean skirts, hand-painted blouses and other once-used items that have been made new again. There are cotton baby shirts stenciled with slogans and stars, and used jeans that have been "over-dyed" with purple and other colors.

In the accessories department, there are belts made from old ties, handbags made from old skirts and jewelry made from Hawaiian kokui nuts.

"I don't want to shoot myself in the foot," Nelson says, "But you can make a lot of these things yourself."

Nelson designs most of the original creations in her store and the clothes are stitched right in the shop. A quartet of sewing machines sit idly in the corner before a massive red curtain made out of thrift-store upholstery fabric.

The space was once occupied by Dave's Pie Shop, but the room, with its red walls and giant paper lanterns, has been completely repurposed - much like the clothing on the racks.

A good portion of Nelson's business is still second-hand clothing. By subsidizing her own burgeoning design business with used threads, she can ease into the world of original fashion.

"I'd like to have my own clothing company," she says. "But I'm in no hurry."

T-shirts always in

No matter what people are buying this fall, Peter Lin can always count on an old standby:

"One thing that sells all the time is T-shirts," says Lin, 31, the owner of Android, 1016 Willamette St.

Lin's store specializes in second-hand T-shirts stenciled with original designs. Some of his creations are crude - he offers a women's tank top emblazoned with the word "vagina" - while other designs are more refined.

One of his most popular stencils is a female power icon created out of a raised fist and the familiar Venus symbol.

Using spray paint and silk screens, Lin applies his icons to used shirts (he prefers the term recycled), and turns plain tees from Old Navy and other mall retailers into gritty fashion statements.

"Most of our stuff is urban," Lin says. "But we have all kinds of different styles."

Leather bracelets made of old belts are another popular original at Android, along with military-style belts made of spent bullet shells.

Military-inspired clothing is a favorite of Lin's. He got his start in the fashion business in Portland selling military duds to a Japanese supplier. He worked at the Red Light vintage clothing store in Portland before moving to Eugene.

"In Portland, there are so many shops opening up, so why not try here?" says Lin, who teamed up with his wife, Rachel Bergeson, and business partner, Joseph Bernhard, to open the store in the spring of 2004.

Android, which is housed in a space that used to be Harlequin Beads, is splashed with black paint and decorated with neon beer signs. Lin sometimes keeps his mini Doberman pinscher, Queen Latifah, strapped to his back while working.

Because Android is located next to the McDonald Theater, the clothing store occasionally attracts a big-name rock star. The members of the punk band Social Distortion reportedly bought up most of the leather biker jackets in the store earlier this year. Lin promises to have more jackets with snaps and zippers in stock this fall and winter.

"That's one thing that didn't catch on last year that's going to be big (this year)," he says.

Cowboy boots are another big seller at Android, along with 1980s-style ski jackets and "anything that you'd see on `That '70s Show.' '

Go your own way

University of Oregon senior Annie Hinkes is seeing an underground trend on campus.

Students making their own clothing.

"I think it's really cool when people decide to go outside the box and create something (themselves)," says Hinkes, 21, adding that some people look for clothing they know were created locally and not in a sweat shop environment.

Hinkes, an art major specializing in jewelry design, is one of those students who is channeling her creativity into clothing and accessories.

Last spring, she and a group of friends set up shop at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival, selling jewelry, silk-screened shirts and cotton underwear printed with flocks of birds under the moniker No Style/Pale Pink.

"We focused on putting out products that were stylish and that people could wear," Hinkes says. "We weren't trying to be too trendy. We were trying to put out clothing that reflects our own style."

Hinkes and her friends did well for themselves at the Folk Festival - they ended up selling out their entire stock of shirts and underpants, and unloading a handful of jewelry pieces - but the fashion collective remains largely underground.

All of the advertising is word of mouth and Hinkes doesn't know when the outfit will be selling its clothing and accessories to the public. She plans to continue making and selling jewelry until she can figure out the next move.

"I would love to pursue art somehow," she says. "Whether that would be going into my own business or pursing my MFA I don't know. It will all fall into place."

STAYING IN STYLE

You can find original fashion at the following outlets:

Colette Jewelry Bar & Boutique: 780 Blair Blvd.

Deluxe: 1331 Willamette St.

Android: 1016 Willamette St.

Pale Pink/No Style: 513-2988, [e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

Brittany Katter models a skirt "re-designed" with applique and decorative stitching; a T-shirt decorated with a fabric applique and a silk flower corsage; and vintage shoes. The fashions are from Deluxe, a second-hand clothing store in downtown Eugene that offers original designs. Sara Jane Hall models clothing and accessories from Colette Jewelry Bar & Boutique, including a cotton knee-length skirt, a bow shrug by Beki Wilson, a camisole by Mira and Annin and a gather top in lycra lace by Wilson. Kelly Lawson wears original "re-designs" from Deluxe including a skirt, a blouse with painted decorations and a handbag. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard Deluxe owner Dagua Webb Nelson wears a skirt made from jeans, a tee with fabric applique and vintage cowboy boots. Far left: McKenzie Davie models clothes from Android including a U.S. Navy top with added studs and a U.S. Army camouflage skirt with a bullet belt. Left: Tiffany Browne carries a mini-pinscher in a Swedish Army gas mask bag and wears a vintage coat and U.S. Army six pocket skirt from Android.