 |
|
|
ISLAND PEOPLE….Avon surf shop owner goes national with her clothing designs
By SUSAN WEST  Jennifer Harmon, owner of Avon Surf Shop, received a carton containing 100 plain sweaters in August.“Half of the sweaters were black and half were white, and they were all traditional V-neck, button-down cardigans,” said Harmon, surrounded by the eclectic collection of clothes and accessories displayed at her store. Harmon had five weeks to transform every sweater into an exclusive, one-of-a-kind fashion piece and ship the sweaters back to Urban Outfitters, a retail clothing company with stores in the United States and Canada. Scanning the company’s Web site this summer, Harmon noticed that the company was looking for 20 new designers for its Urban Renewal line that features limited edition clothing made from vintage fabric, dead stock, and surplus material. Harmon sent the company photographs of the purses, jewelry, and swimsuits she crafts for her Joe Bell line of clothing and accessories, named for the small red-and-yellow flowers that thrive on the Outer Banks. “I wanted a name with a connection to the island,” she said. Harmon grew up visiting her father’s family in Avon and moved from Virginia Beach to the village in 1993. Harmon uses vintage fabric and clothing in all of her work. She cut a floor-length granny dress from the 1960s into a short tube-top dress edged with metallic thread. A navy blue shirtwaist dress now sports an open bodice and hem edged with embroidery and flowered fabric. Silky yellow fabric contrasts with the black yarn of a purse she crocheted, and a single patch of flowered material is stitched to the lining. After reviewing Harmon’s portfolio, Urban Outfitters asked her to work on the next project.  “The company didn’t set any guidelines or restrictions, and I was free to do whatever I wanted with the sweaters,” Harmon said. She used a variety of techniques, dying some with a tea stain, cutting off sleeves, turning some backwards, and cinching sleeves or cleavage on others. The designer embellished some with embroidery, crewelwork, or appliqués. Others feature painting, stenciling, or block-printing. Harmon pushed the individuality of each sweater further by adding unexpected touches of lace or beads or buttons or yarn. Christina Macfarlane, a photographer from Virginia Beach, photographed the sweaters at the harbor in Avon. “We set up at Avon Seafood’s fish house,” Harmon explained. “The models wore the sweaters with bikini bottoms and fish boots. A fisherman happened to come in during the shoot and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.” 
 |
|
|
|