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Young designer fulfills her dream
23-year-old Lancaster area woman launches clothing line at her favorite shop
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Article RatingLANCASTER — Fresh out of school, Jenna Doane scored a job in the ultracompetitive fashion industry.
A full-time job with benefits, no less.
But designing maternity coats for a big-name Philadelphia company left Doane feeling so creatively stifled that she considered quitting.
“It was a battle in my mind what was the right thing to do,” she says.
Doane, a 23-year-old Hempfield High School grad, eventually chose creative freedom over a steady paycheck.
In January, she left her job and went to work on designing her own one-of-a-kind fashion line.
Doane’s big break came courtesy of a downtown Lancaster clothing store she frequented as a teen.
She launched her first-ever collection of rock-’n’-roll-meets-bohemian clothes at Irish Gypsy last week.
“Each piece is unique and special,” Doane says. “That’s what I want.”
Fittingly enough, her ultimate opportunity started with a pair of yellow high heels.
Doane grew up near Centerville, the only child of Jeffrey, who works for Hershey Foods Corp., and Sally, a third-grade teacher.
She really got into fashion as a high-school freshman. She wanted to set herself apart from the five other girls wearing the exact same T-shirt.
“I’m really not in to multiples,” says Doane, whose blonde hair is streaked with lavender.
So she skipped the mall and combed thrift shops for vintage skirts, mixing them with more expensive pieces for an eclectic look.
Doane has an unparalleled passion for shoes. After searching everywhere for a pair of yellow pumps (no special reason she just thought they’d look cool), she found them at Irish Gypsy.
“She was one of my first customers,” owner Susan LePage says.
Doane picked up a needle for the first time in a contemporary fashion class during her senior year.
Even though she’d fallen for fashion, she still wasn’t sure she wanted to make a career out of it.
“I actually considered being a lawyer,” she says.
After graduating from Hempfield in 2003, Doane refined her sewing skills by shadowing local designer/seamstress Judith Saylor. (Saylor had altered Doane’s prom dress, a poufy, Easter egg-colored concoction Doane now regrets.)
While studying fashion design at Philadelphia’s Drexel University, Doane worked with Lancaster bridal-gown designer Janelle Berte for six months.
Under Berte’s tutelage, Doane served as head designer for the Ephrata Performing Arts Center’s production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Since she suffers from paralyzing stage fright, that’s the closest Doane will ever come to acting.
Doane graduated from Drexel last July and landed a job at Motherhood Maternity.
She longed for a bigger challenge short of joining the hordes of would-be designers trying to make it in New York or L.A.
Then her mom ran into LePage, who was looking for a designer to create an exclusive clothing line for Irish Gypsy.
It was a perfect fit.
“I didn’t have to explain what I’m looking for at Irish Gypsy,” LePage says. “(Doane) gets it.”
Doane’s first line of about a dozen pieces will sell exclusively at Irish Gypsy.
The spring collection, priced at $75 and up, includes leather pants, gauzy skirts and sequined minidresses.
Doane designs and makes each piece herself, from cutting patterns to hand-sewing on the embellishments.
She works often all night in a space she’s carved out in her West Philadelphia apartment. But she also takes her sewing machine whenever she’s on the road.
Doane is no walking advertisement for her designs. She’s so busy creating clothes for Irish Gypsy that she doesn’t have time to make anything for herself.
She hopes to eventually design clothes for other unique shops, and perhaps more theater costumes.
Launching her own business at such a young age is a little scary, but Doane is glad she’s taking the first steps in her hometown.
“If it doesn’t go well, I’m not going to stop,” she says. “I’ll learn from this.
“Hopefully there will be a Jenna Doane fashion house someday.”
