Young designer on her way

Like so many contemporary designers, Jamie Phyll Lewin launched her fashion line with T-shirts.

Unlike C&C California and Three Dots, which offer just the basics, Lewin focused on details. Her shirts featured fashionable touches such as cutouts, ruching and darts.

Now the Cheltenham native, 28, has a complete fashion line: Phyl Couture, a 30-piece collection of easy-to-wear, tailored pieces. After three years - that's six fashion seasons - the collection made its New York debut Monday in a showroom blocks away from the billowing Fashion Week tents in Bryant Park.

Setting up a showroom is a common tactic for both fledgling and established designers hoping to capitalize on Fashion Week exposure. The hope is that buyers, magazine editors and members of the regional press will pop by and check out the line in between the Fall 2008 runway presentations.

When they do, Lewin is ready for them. "After years of hard work, it's all starting to come together," she said, as she readied models in Showroom 304.

Made from light and heavyweight cotton blends, Phyl Couture feels L.A., but the details are uptown New York. Below-the-knee A-line skirts swing with paneling and darting. Shrunken sweat jackets have ruffle edging. The seaming in the suits and shift dresses is double-faced.

Made in China, the clothes are available in sizes XS to XL, and they retail from $65 to $175.

Several boutiques and department stores, including Nordstrom, are interested in carrying the line. It's already available nationally at boutiques such as Azalea in New York and Genius in Boston. Locally, Phyl Couture is carried at Vagabond in Old City and Mia in South Philly, as well as Chantilly Blue in Kennett Square and Shop 55 in Doylestown.

Pamela Dollak owner of Old City boutique Tony, picked up the Spring 2008 Phyl Couture collection in January.

"Her line is really fun and it's flirty and it's great because she's from Philadelphia," Dollak said. "You look stylish, without looking like you are trying too hard."

Like many of the collections for Fall 2008, Phyl Couture features very tailored, back-to-basics looks. Lewin has three trends within the cycle; the first, she said, is very 1960s "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis-inspired." These include straight skirts - with ample stretch to make them wearable - and jackets with three-quarter-length sleeves.

The second grouping skews younger, with pieces such as a tangerine polo dress with ruffle detailing around the buttons. And the third has a more casual design, with damask symbols on the back of long-sleeve tees and body-skimming track jackets. Wide-legged and yoga-inspired pants anchor this part of the collection.

"These are my signature pieces," Lewin said. "I find that people want design, but they still want their clothing to be basic. That's what they like. That's what they feel comfortable in."

When Lewin was younger, she wanted to be a psychiatrist. Both of her parents were in education; her father, Harris Lewin, was the superintendent of schools in Northeast Philadelphia.

Still, she was drawn to fashion. "I always saw it in her," said Penny Parker, Lewin's grandmother, who worked as a children's-wear designer. "She always had a fashion sense. Her mother would take her shopping and ask her opinion in the dressing room when she was as young as 3 years old."

Lewin went to Pennsylvania State University, where she studied graphic design, costume design and the history of fashion. She did graduate work at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

After graduation, she took an internship at Armani Collezioni. She also worked for Manayunk designer Paula Hian, Tracy Reese and Ralph Lauren.

Three years ago, Lewin invested about $75,000 - a combination of her own savings and money from family members - to start her collection. She has her fingers crossed that this is the year she breaks even, as 2008 has started off as a tough time for retailers.

So far, response has been good. Lewin has been featured in Women's Wear Daily as well as Lucky magazine. And Phyl Couture was a finalist in the contemporary category at the Dallas Fashion Awards.

"I want to make sure my fashion story fits into everyone else's," Lewin said. "That's what it's all about."