Hello,
In this shop, I wanted to create a special collection for the hard-working woman who wants to feel pretty and alive on vacation (or just feel like she's on one!), a night out or even just lounging at home!
My usual customer grew up in the seventies, and still longs for the "bohemian hippie days". She is young at heart, a flower child with great responsibilities! She wants to wear vibrant and fun styles that make her stand out.
Styles that are flattering and forgiving, for all shapes, sizes and age groups! My essential pieces travel well and are easy to care for. The high-quality hand-dye holds up well and the colors will remain vivid for years!
***I welcome custom orders; I buy and hand dye my garments, I'll be happy to do some custom combinations (see some of my listings & previous sales for an example)
My linen garments are designed and made by me, I also make all my crocheted jewelry.
Agi Anderson: Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1961.
Creating and selling my fun designs had been a long journey for her.
She'd been always fascinated by anything hand made. She still has the book with the story of a little mole who saw a pair overalls with tons of pockets hanging on the clothesline. He really wanted a pair for himself, so all the animals chipped in and helped to make one for him! They grew linen, made it into fabric, cut and sewed it. That was it for me! At the age of six, She was already making little outfits for her dolls, cutting out tiny buttons from plastic bottles, made dollhouses from shoe boxes, furnished them with matchboxes, we could just keep going on! If you haven't figured it out yet, She's been pretty much self-taught in everything! Her grandmother showed her the very first basic crochet stitches, then she figured out the rest. Through the years She's experimented with all kinds of techniques and projects. She learned beading after a visit to the museum, made puppets after she saw a show, she can't even remember it all! She loved sewing clothes, especially since back then there were very few stores in her country with extremely limited selection. An eclectic very skinny girl like her never looked good in anything. That inspired her to come up with her own designs. Some were tie-dyed, some beaded or embroidered on.
At 18, she was making macrame necklaces. She kept giving them away, so a friend offered to help her sell them. She never thought of becoming a businesswoman before. She met some young artists who helped her get into the crafts show circuit. This road was not easy because Hungary was still a socialist country and self-employment was very hard and rare. Agi went to sell in different cities, took the red-eye if you had to, even hitch-hiked. She lived a free-spirited artist's life, had a lot of fun and made good money!
After meeting her American fiance, she moved to New York City. Agi tried to sell the same crafts she made back home, but everything was different here. She was constantly searching for the right way to make money with her designs. She had two children who of course were wearing her little outfits and sweaters she made for them! And yes, she still has a few saved! Back then Agi was really into knitting. She contacted some magazines to find out how to get her designs published, then started submitting them. Finally, Agi got one accepted and she made the first sweater for VOGUE KNITTING. The most challenging part was to self-learn how to write professional instructions. she never even worked from one! And that is a whole different language. After having many designs published as a freelance knitwear designer, she went to a trade show where somebody wanted to hire me as a designer. But Agi was thinking; If she thinks she can make money off of my designs, so can I! So she launched her own children's knitwear company. She needed to find manufacturers to help - long story but she managed to figure some things out, have some agents working for her and got orders from boutiques. At one point Designs by Agi had a 100 specialty accounts! During this time she became a single mom with absolutely no help in this country. Agi was forced to really try to figure out what and how. She had a lot of extra inventory, no money and kids to feed, bills to pay. Then she remembered selling at shows back in her country. Agi found out how to sign up for street fairs. And she did it. She fazed out the wholesale business and she's been doing all kinds of shows and festivals ever since, 20+ years! Her collection changes depending on what the customers are looking for. It started out with baby and kids items. They are in solid and tie-dye colors with my original crocheted appliques she hand stitches on. People loved them so much they
Agi
See my other shops;
www.designsbyagi.etsy.com
www.mermaidgemsny.etsy.com
www.bohoyogishop.etsy.com
My now-adult son Robert is a very talented artist too!
Check out his work here:
www.robanderson.art