North Shore designer
forging a name for self
in upscale casual wear

NORTH SHORE-raised
Sandy Elliott is impeccably
dressed in creamy crepe, her
size 2 soft-shouldered jacket
belted over matching palaz-
zos of her own creation.

By Layne Christensen
and Bean Cathro

As the couture-trained designer
pulls out samples for her fall line.
one would expect more of the
same,

But for her debut collection,
the 28-year-old has, instead, cho-
sen to market something com-
pictely different. Sweats.

These aren't the generic work-
out-wear variety, EHiott is quick
to point out.

Cut from cotten/lycra ottoman
rib, custom knit and dyed to her
exacting specifications, finished
with litle details like double rows
of stitching and toggies imported
from Germany, Elliott's line is
decidedly more upscale.

Available in Vancouver at E.A.
Lee and on the North Shore at
Margareta Design, her pieces
carry a price tag of between $68
for a T-shirt or leggings and $145
for an oversized hooded jacket.

“By virtue of the price,” Elliott
admits her line is attracting an
older crowd, but the style is age-
crossing.

The line is “ideal for a
Vancouver lifestyle — going to
Whistler, going boating ... and it
fits.”

This final point is an important
one for Elliott, who received her
design training at Sugino Doreme
Joshidaigaku, a prestigious design
school in Tokyo. During her three
years in Japan, the Handsworth
grad was taught the haute couture
method of garment construction.

“Vm happy I’ve learaed that
way.” she says of her days spent
learning to master a treadle
machine and drafting patterns
with pencil, eraser, ruler and
French curve, all the while dodg-
ing obstacles posed by instruction
in a foreign language.

Upon graduation, Elliott
returned home to land a job with
North Vancouver-based
Margareta Design where she
developed a reputation for being
“a psycho for quality” and fit.
Designing “a hugely varied line
— fleece, evening wear, coats,

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office wear, garden wear, ca
wear, wool jersey separates..." for
close to four years gave her the
confidence and experience to go
out on her own last December.

Her first patterns were cut on
the kitchen table of the Yaletown
highrise apartment she shares with
a high-school chum. Smiling, she
says, “I commandeered the break-
fast room at home.”

Noticing a hole in the market
for high-end casual wear, she put
together a small collection and
took her samples on the road last
July.

“L was picky.” she says in her
pursuit of the perfect retail cli-
mate in which to sell her new fine.

E. A. Lee soon picked it up
and called for a re-order within a
week. Stores in Victoria,
Kelowna, Kamloops, Calgary and
Red Deer came on board soon
after. Last month ENiott hired a
sales agent to rep her spring line,
which she is confident will be
available across Western Canada
by the new year.

With such rapid growth it
would be easy for a novice
designer to let things spin out of
control. But this young entrepre-
neur's head is planted firmly on
her shoulders.

“fm not psychotically ambi-
tious. | don't have a desire to be
across Canada. And | don’t want
to get in the hole.

“Md rather keep it profitable
and keep a handle on it. I don’t
want to promise what [ can’t
deliver.”

For now, Elliott is content to
deliver high-quality sweats to an
exclusive clientele and to build a
sotid base upon which she can
launch into other areas of interest
— future plans include a line of
softly tailored suits, something
more her style.

After all, as this ambitious
self-starter puts it, “Il don’t want
to be the Queen of Sweatstuff for-
ever, thank you very much!”

NEWS phoios Cindy Goodman
FORMER NORTH Van resident and designer Sandy Elliott has
faunched a line of upscale casual wear. Priced between $68 and
$145, the age-crossing pieces in her fall collection are sewn up
in a comfy ottoman-ribbed cottonfycra knit. The Sandy Eliiott
label is available on the North Shore at Margareta.

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