Career dre

Fit, fabric are staples of |
custom design business

By Layne Christensen
Fashion Editor

DEBORAH Gyug’s
favorite icon is the bee.

Emblematic of industry and
commerce, organic in form, it is
a productive creature and
Gyug’s symbol for her bur-
geoning design business.

Gyug and business partmer
Ruth Elke are busy as bees since
starting their enterprise last
spring. Their showroom and
workspace is in Gyug’s spacious
ground-floor apartment on
Lytton Street in the Seymour
area of North Vancouver.

Their concept is superior
quality custom-design clothing.

Fabrics are of the highest
quality, imported from mills in
Italy and Germany. Garments
are made to measure and sewn
on site, and styles are classic so
the customer can build a
wardrobe that will wear for
years.

Prices are high.

A double-breasted jacket in
charcoal stripe wool is $710.
That same jacket in Scottish
cashmere is $1,395. A man-
style shirt in crisp white Swiss
cotton is $215. A short A-line
skirt ranges from $165 to $220
depending on the fabric.

“Expensive? It is!” says
Gyug. “It may be more than
the customer is used to paying
but the quality is there, the style
and service is there. They are
expensive because they are one-
off cuts.”

Gyug and Elke met on the
set of Bye Bye Birdis, a TV

‘movie of the week starring
Vanessa Williams. Gyug was set-
ting up the costume workshop
and Elke was hired as a sewer.
Both had years of experience
with fashion and fabrics —
Gyug as a designer, costumer
and buyer; Elke as a fashion
illustrator, sewing, teacher and
sales rep of fine fabrics.

“We used to say ‘wouldn’e it

| The Perec
| Christmas
| Gift

be great if the only
stuff we ever made
was out of great
fabric,” recalls
Gyug, Their vision
became reality
when they traded
their movie clients
for working
women,

Their cus-
tomers are real
estate agents,
lawyers and
“retired ladies who
travel.” Most have
come to Gyug
because they can’t
buy off the rack.
Like Gyug, who
calls herself'a “clas-
sic pear,” they are
disproportionate
to the standard.
One client in her
40s is very tall and
very slim) with
broad shoulders
and no hips.
Another client is
shorter and broad-
er, with most of
her filiness
through the front.

When they
come to Gyug,
they are measured
and their special
needs jotied down
on a chart. There
are samples in the
showroom to try
on for size and
fabrics to choose
from. If a sleeve
necds to be
lengthened or a jacket short-
ened in the waist, the changes
are made on the cutting table.
Once sewn, the garment is
delivered to the customer's
home or work.

Gyug and Elke keep a file
on each customer, who in turn
is given her own portfolio of
design sketches, fabric swatches
and price list. Seasonal updates
are sent through the mail.

It’s investment dressing,
for sure. But Gyug, says it’s
well worth the price.

“We tell clients that if they

NEWS photo Mike Wakefletd

FIT, quality and service are key te Deborah Gyug (left) and Ruth
Elke’s custom design business. Clients can book an appointment
at their Seymour area showroom and workspace by calling 929-
8073. Or visit during an open house on Nov. 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

want to build a wardrobe, buy
une suit in the spring and one
suit in the fall. If they do that
for three years, they’re set.”

| Direct [rom Italy
to you!

The Ermenegildo Zegna
cloth mill, Trivero, Italy

Paul Minichiello
chooses cloth for his

customers.

Zegna cloth is made
from the world’s finest
Australian wool and
Mongolian cashmere.

a Custom
4 designed suits

*999

(reg. $1800)

Order before Nov. 30 for Christmas delivery

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