By Darq Angel (April 2004)

“Oh my God! I have to show you. I saw this fabric and I totally thought of you!” Michelle digs excitedly in a mountain of fabric. She pulls out some plush, shiny velvet.

“See?” She says with an almost frantic gasp. “I love the colour. It’s beautiful. This is what your top will be made from.”

I smile in spite of myself. This is about the 10th time during our interview that she shows me fabric, drawings, or pictures with such breathless enthusiasm. It’s this excitement that makes her line, Minx Clothing, so refreshing. The excitement and energy are palpable in everything she makes.

Known simply as Michelle, she first launched the Minx Clothing website a year ago, while maintaining her day job to pay the bills. But the first version of the website wasn’t a slick or flashy affair. The pictures were taken in her living room. And there was no publicity except through word of mouth.

Launching the website was a moderate business success. MinxClothing.com received 16 000 hits in its first month. But it was a huge personal triumph for Michelle, who had been unsure of putting herself and her creations on the line.


In The Beginning

The roots of Minx Clothing grew out of a disciplinary action. Michelle first started sewing when she was 12 years old. Her parents grounded her for sneaking off of school property. So in an effort to keep the rambunctious girl in line, her mom enrolled her in a sewing class.

“After that I was hooked,” Michelle says. “Which, to this day, still makes my mom chuckle.”

But her sewing was for herself. It started out with a long black lace skirt that she made at age 14. She adores it to this day.

“I was made fun of. The kids said I was wearing curtains. But I loved it,” Michelle laughs.

She was essentially like Molly Ringwald’s character Andy from the movie “Pretty In Pink”-- picking up a pair of pants or a shirt and changing the piece to suit her own tastes. This emphasis on personality in clothes would later prove to be a pivotal theme in her Minx line.

The clothing created during Michelle’s teenage years were inspired by the most pivotal point in musical history-- The Sex Pistols and the birth of punk.

“Originally I started working with PVC in the early 90's when I was going through a British punk stage,” Michelle explains. “I was infatuated with the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood, and the London scene from that era. I can remember watching the movie Sid 'n Nancy and seeing people wearing PVC and I knew I had to have it.”


The Birth of Minx

After high school, Michelle enrolled in Fashion Management at Humber College and then Fashion Design at George Brown College. She worked for eight years in the production area of fashion. During those years, the nagging desire to make her own creations grew stronger. And her friends started to notice.

“She had this dream that was unfulfilled,” explains friend and Minx website designer Rachel Ross. “And I told her that if there was anything I could do to help fulfill that dream, I was willing to do it because I saw how talented she was.”

Outside of work, Michelle sewed for herself and a small group of friends who craved the one-of-a-kind looks she was offering. Finally, it was time to go after her dream all the way.

“Rachel told me about the first Rejuvenator Festival and said, ‘You have to do this’. I wasn’t too sure, but then I thought, what the heck I’ll do it,” Michelle says. “I got so much positive feedback during the festival I thought, this is the time. This is it.”

And Minx Clothing was born.

MinxClothing.com came together with the help of friends- they modeled, took pictures, wrote and designed her site, and provided the words of encouragement that built up her confidence.

“That’s what took me the longest with Minx,” says Michelle. “I kept thinking, what if I put myself out there and everyone hates it? It’s a very personal thing.”

The site was re-vamped in January 2004 with a whole new set of professional photos taken at Savage Garden. Michelle also added brand new outfits. Then the visits to the site just kept on coming. So much so that she was able to quit her day job in early April and focus on her own business. According to Ross, the number has jumped from an average of six visits per day to 50, with viewers from Canada, the U.S. and as far away as Finland and Australia.

“It’s amazing how the numbers have consistently gone up since the launch,” Ross says. “For March 2004 we got almost 81,000 hits. It really is good to see.”

But Michelle won’t take all the credit.

“I have the most fantastic and supportive friends that anyone could ask for,” she says. “Designing my own clothing line has always been a dream that I've wanted to pursue. And in the last few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet new friends who have helped to give me the confidence and support to put myself out there.”

The Designs

The Minx workshop and Michelle’s home are one in the same. The day I visit, half of her living room has been turned into a mini-design studio. Patterns and sketches are scattered on a table dotted with scraps of curled tracing paper. Boxes of fabrics are sitting on the floor, its contents overflowing. Scissors, chalk pieces, measuring tapes and several sewing machines are spread over three tables. Michelle jumps from desk to desk while working on a new skirt, measuring, cutting, stitching, and scrutinizing. Quality clothes with impeccable detail are the result of this methodical approach-- trademarks of the Minx Clothing line.

It’s also the personal touches that keep her customers coming back for more. Looking at outfits she has made for friends over the years, one thing is clear-- Michelle captures your personality in whatever she makes. For Jarod Preston, a Toronto DJ who goes by the moniker "High Voltage", she created a set of PVC pants-- complete with lightning bolts down the side.

“Her custom work, it’s special,” Preston says. “A lot of care goes into her work. And her clothes reflect that. They reflect a part of you. She really connected to my fun side and designed something that I’m about. I really like that.”

“I can’t come up with one-of-a-kind ideas until I know who I’m making stuff for,” Michelle says cutting into some PVC. “People are part of the inspiration.”

She cites everything from reading, to music, to fabric shopping for ideas. Her inspiration even comes when she’s fast asleep.

“Once I even woke up from a vivid dream about a shopping trip and drew a picture of a jacket I had seen in the dream. The next day I couldn't figure out how a sketch had ended up on the bedroom floor.”

Going from a sketch to skirt is foreign to me. I watch Michelle as she measures out some PVC. With chalk she draws out intricate grid-like patterns and starts cutting. Strips of PVC in hand, she heads to a sewing machine and proceeds to piece things together. She sews, cuts, and folds, like a cross between Edward Scissorhands and an Origami champion. Eventually, she stands up and shakes out the fabric like a magician shakes out his magic scarf. The PVC strips have turned into the beginnings of a skirt.

“Pretty good, huh?” A critical eye scans the garment. Then she sits back down to make adjustments.

“I actually find sewing really soothing. If I’m stressed I start to sew, and it’s such a load off,” Michelle says running the waistband under the sewing machine.

I ask what would happen if she couldn’t sew anymore.

“I really don’t know,” she says with a sigh. “Sewing is such a huge part of me. Even if it wasn’t a business for me, it’s still a big part of who I am. It’s like a carpenter losing his hands. What do you do? I hope I never have to stop.”

Minx Clothing will be participating at the New Scream fashion show at Savage Garden on May 6th. Check out www.minxclothing.com