Philadelphia Weekly

Photo by Sara Sturgill

Jamie Phyl Lewin

Age: 28

Education: Cheltenham High School; Fashion Institute of Technology, women's sportswear.

Specialty: Everyday womenswear in soft, figure-friendly jersey fabrics and hand beading, applique and cutout work.

Where to find it: Tony (47 N. Third St. 215.592.TONY); Shop Sixty Five (53 W. Eighth St., Old York. 215.348.8250); Kaly (37 W. Gay St., West Chester. 610.436.8272) Chickie's Daughter (York and Wyncote rds., Jenkintown. 215.885.9077); and Chantilly Blue (674 Unionville Rd. No. 103, Kennett Square. 610.925.4644).

Born in Northeast Philadelphia, Lewin has lived in Manhattan for the last eight years, but is still a Philly girl at heart. Might have something to do with her middle name, Phyl, which is also the moniker of her clothing line Phyl Couture. "I was named after my great-grandmother, and wanted to use that. Obviously, the Philadelphia connection is an added bonus," says Lewin, who makes it home for family visits and trunk shows. Inspired by her grandmother, a fashion designer, and her grandfather, a master tailor, Lewin took a design course her freshman year of college, and fell in love with the field. She always knew she wanted her own line, but she paid her dues working for Armani Collezioni, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne and Tracy Reese. Then in 2004 she went out on her own, starting small, and working her way up to the current 30-piece collection of tastefully flirty tops, dresses and skirts. Her immediate goal is to include pants and shorts in the next collection; her eventual goal includes shoes and handbags. Lewin takes great joy in translating the details and handwork of couture and vintage into clothing that's wearable and accessible for any woman. "I'm not doing $30,000 evening gowns you'll wear once," she says. She's also hyper-aware of women's bodies, and aims to flatter all types. "Everything I do is bra-friendly. Even if it's an open back, I try not to make it too low. And I always make sure that a wrap hits at the smallest part of the waist." (Caralyn Green)

Photo by Irina Zhorov

Abby Kessler (left) and Katie Loftus

Education: North Penn High School; Drexel University, design and merchandising.

Specialty: Dresses and jackets.

Where to find it: Smak Parlour (219 Market St. 215.625.4551. www.smakparlour.com).

Abby Kessler and Katie Loftus, like Barbie and Skipper or Romy and Michelle, are nothing if not a dynamic duo. They dress alike, talk alike and emphasize that everything they have accomplished, they have accomplished together. Smak Parlour, their funky Barbie dreamhouse of an Old City boutique, reflects their unique and unified style, which they describe as "vintage-inspired, girly, fun and flirty." While their inspiration comes mainly from each other, many of the dresses in their spring collection were inspired by old-school Barbie dolls, and yet maintain an indisputably cool degree of hipster chic. Everything about Smak Parlour is Philly born and bred (except the fabric, which they ship in from L.A.), and Kessler and Loftus design and wear all of the clothes they sell. In addition to their designs, cupcake icing pink walls and glittery cinderblocks complete the store's look and the girls' frilly-tough style. To get by in a business that tends to weed out independents like Kessler and Loftus, they've had to toughen up. Since they met at the bathroom mirror in high school, Kessler and Loftus have been best friends, business partners and seemingly inseparable. They went to college together, moved to New York together, hated it together and then moved back to Philly together. Eventually they opened Smak Parlour together, and they're passionate about what they create: well-made clothes for every woman. As Kessler puts it, "When you put it on your body and it feels good and you look good, well, that's what we're here for." (Ann Stock)

Photo by Irina Zhorov

Nikki Virbitsky

Age: 29

Education: Lakeland High School; Keystone College, fine arts and illustration; Hussian School of Art, graphic design.

Specialty: Sewing, jewelry-making, painting and spinning yarn.

Where to find it: Mew Gallery (906 Christian St. 215.625.2424. www.mewgallery.org).

Raised in the not-so-major metropolis of Jermyn, Pa., in Lackawanna County, Nikki Virbitsky always had to entertain herself. So when she was just a kid, her grandmother (a former home-ec teacher) taught her how to sew and embroider. She gave her gifts of fabric, string and brass, which she's since turned into a livelihood and a passion for fun, interesting and often practical art. In addition to deriving inspiration from her grandmother, Virbitsky finds it in, well, whatever she finds. "I'm very resourceful," she says proudly. While not a knitter, she spins unique yarn from a spinning wheel in her apartment. She gets orders for a range of yarns--from a popular blend of vegan cotton, recycled denim and bamboo, to shredded sari silk, and even a pricey camel hair and angora yarn, which runs around $100 a skein. But that's just when she's in the mood to spin. Otherwise you'll find her painting, hammering brass jewelry, embroidering X-rays of her wisdom teeth, sewing stuffed animals (Frankenstein creations are a specialty--pieced together from abandoned stuffed animal body parts; her stuffed dogs made from socks rival in cuteness any stuffed animal you'll find at overpriced toy stores), or teaching art classes to kids in local after-school programs. Her heart lies in accessible art--accessible to herself and to anyone else who happens to like her work. (A.S.)

Photo by Inna Spivakova

Susan Botwick Murphy

Education: University of Delaware; University of Baltimore, master of business administration.