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Photograph by Jacquline Ramseyer
Fashion Friends: De Cre owner Leona Guidace, right, and product developer Gabriela Purtill stand next to some of their creations.
WG fashion designers head for the runway together
By Kate Carter
Leona Guidace, the designer of Willow Glen's De Cre fashion line and retail store, says her creativity lies in putting different textures and colors together in unexpected ways to come up with something new and better than each element would be alone.
The same could be said for her relationship with her product developer, Gabriela Purtill, a student in West Valley College's fashion design program who works 30 hours a week at De Cre. Their collaboration has helped Purtill get a start in the competitive fashion industry and has led to Guidace's role as the special industry guest at West Valley's fashion show on May 11.
Guidace's unique line of "not conservative, but not funky" women's clothing will be featured along with those of Purtill and West Valley's 15 other graduating fashion students at the fundraising event that will benefit the school's program.
Guidace's broad line of clothing in the classic tradition of designing garments for every occasion--highlights layered elements and high-quality fabric to create pieces that stand out from the crowd.
The pattern for every piece is made by Guidace (pronounced gwi-DA-chee) and Purtill, with sewing contracted out to other companies. The two make sure each garment suits each client, from size and fit to the color. That personal attention can take up to two months to complete, Guidace says.
So, when Purtill stopped into De Cre late last spring, looking for an internship with a fashion designer--which she needed to graduate--Guidace was happy to hand her some scissors and a measuring tape.
Guidace hired Purtill after the internship, and Purtill has been seeing each of her creations through to completion since then, and getting valuable experience of her own in the process.
"It's pretty much the basis of everything that I do," Purtill says. "It's exposed me to a lot of different types of fabrics and ways of putting things together. It's been the best thing that's happened to me as a designer."
Purtill is also the assistant coordinator for her school's 17th annual fashion show, and she suggested that the show organizers invite Guidace to be their special industry guest for the show.
De Cre, in turn, is contributing $350 for two scholarships to West Valley's fashion program. Local high school students will display, and be judged on, some of their designs, and the scholarships will go to the first- and second-place winners.
For more information about the fashion show, call 408.741.4015, or visit www.westvalley.edu/wvc/fd.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
