March 19, 2024

Conscious Style from Yana Dee

April 29, 2016

From the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.P. to Traverse City, Yana Dee has made quite a journey to become a successful fashion designer. Even though she’s built a strong local following, this is one fashionista who won’t be pinned down.

IN THE WILD

The Keweenaw might seem an unlikely place to find fashion. This northernmost part of the U.P. stretches into chilly Lake Superior in a region better known for copper mining than stylish clothing. Dee was home-schooled, which included arts and crafts, further inspiring her to do projects on her own, with no limits on how wild her designs could get.

"I got started, really, by being obsessed with clothes from when I was a kid," she explained. "I used to cut up my clothes, alter them, and put them back together."

After high school, Dee attended Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich., where she majored in product design, but it was a secondary class that really got her hooked.

COLLEGE COLLECTION

"I got into the textile studio later on in my schooling at Finlandia," Dee said. "I also started experimenting with jewelry-making, metals, wood and ceramics. From there, I created several bodies of work and one of my final projects at school was a clothing collection of versatile pieces."

The college encouraged Dee and her classmates to bring their works to a local art show.

"And my entire collection sold – quickly!" Dee said. "That was the first time I thought, wow, this could actually be a business."

Dee graduated from Finlandia in 2004 and continued to delve into fashion design on her own, with a little help from various mentors and advisors along the way. Then she hit the road in search of more inspiration.

THOUGHTFUL FABRICS

"I basically bummed all around the country, picking up fabrics as I went," she said.

One of her goals as a clothing designer is to consider the lifecycle of the products she designs. "So I try and reduce waste, and reduce use of harmful materials," she explained. "Researching materials led me to using products of natural fiber origins, such as flax, linen and organic cotton, and I pay attention to comfort and chemical sensitivity in fabrics."

She also uses salvaged materials, cutting apart older garments to make new garments and using things like coffee bags to make her market shopping bags.

As the years have gone by, she’s found that fashion suppliers are catching up with environmental concerns.

"The fabrics industry has changed tremendously in the last 10 years," Dee said.

"There is a lot more to work with now – more colors, hybrid fabrics and different weaves."

MEASURED SUCCESS

Dee’s priorities today are her store and production studio in Traverse City, where she employs three women to assist with sewing and tagging. She’s been happy to watch some of the pieces she’s designed catch on locally.

"A couple of the most popular so far are the Dahlia dress; it fits all shapes and sizes of women. And the Valora dress coat, which also works for so many different people. Those are two I’m really proud of."

Also popular are her headbands and bracelets, which she makes as part of her waste management approach, utilizing 1-by- 1 squares of leftover fabric to craft them. She sells to a handful of stores around the country, including Fed by Threads in Arizona ("They donate a portion of clothing sales to feeding hungry people") and Little Luxuries of Mackinac Island, but she isn’t in a hurry to expand.

"I’m on the slow-growth program," she said. "I’m very thankful for my customer base, so I just hope to keep moving in the right direction and have more opportunities to do my design work."

Yana Dee’s store is located at 157 E. Front Street in downtown Traverse City. You can also browse her designs and send her email at yanadee.com.

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