Last year, local fashion designer Cristin Richard stole the Detroit Artists Market Design Show with her dresses made out of toilet paper. This year, Emily Thornhill plans to show off original works with a 1950s flair.While last year's theme was "bath," with designers displaying more than 60 pieces for the bathroom, such as hardware and furnishings, this year will have a "cocktail" theme. The bulk of the show, beginning Friday, will display 13 local designers' works, including cocktail tables, side tables and bars.
This is the first time the opening will feature a single runway designer. In years past, the runway portion featured groups, said Gallery Manager Sarah Balmer."We just wanted to change it up a bit," Balmer said. Thornhill's new line and participation at Detroit Creative Corridor Center makes it a good time to highlight her, she said.Thornhill runs Homeslice Clothing out of the DC3's business accelerator, opened in July at the College for Creative Studies' A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education. She lives in Midtown and does production work out of the Russell Industrial Center.
The Homeslice Clothing line, started a year ago, consists mainly of women's tank tops and dresses. Thornhill said she is working to expand into business casual wear.Debenhams sale December 2011: Our selection of great looking plus size dresses.Our website and Crain's Detroit Business Web Editor Gary Anglebrandt spoke with Thornhill to learn more about the business side of her fashion work:Was this your first line?I had a line called Femilia Couture that ended in (December 2010). I had a partnership. It didn't work out; this is my new solo line.
Homeslice is designed for creative, savvy women. I'm inspired by global street style. I'm kind of obsessed with Berlin and am trying to bring a world to Detroit that Detroiters may not know about. It's inspired by the avant-garde, but I'm making it more wearable. ... Everything is made here in Detroit by hand, all organic fabrics.Femilia Couture was much more high-end, evening cocktail dresses. It's hard to sell that stuff in Detroit. Not many people are going to galas. I wanted to keep it hyper-local. I'm on a 10-year plan, taking baby steps to get my name out locally and expand from there.
I've probably sold over 100. I did a lot of festivals this summer, launched at the electronic music festival, sold at the DIY Festival and did really well there. The end goal is international sales. I'd love to be in boutiques globally. My main goal is to keep producing in Detroit. It's really important to me to create jobs locally. I'll never send anything to China.