I was born and raised by a Polish/Belarusian family. I grew up knowing that the beautiful things around me were all handmade. My grandma devoted her life to designing clothes and handmade interior designs. She made pillows with fanciful ornamentation and tassels, dresses with sashes and beautiful fabrics.

 Knowing that one could create these things out of nothing but creativity excited me. I was curious – “How I can do this myself?”     After completing my schooling, all young people wonder about their career path… for me, there only one answer; fashion design.   I completed the coursework of the school of fashion design. My desire     and determination brought me to the fashion world.

Soon I was married and had my first child named Naryman. At   23 I took the first step of my career. Because of my hard work, I was named the head manager of a factory that had a staff of over 1,000 people. At 26 I became the head fashion designer of the Soviet Couture department; designing couture gowns for the wives of dignitaries and political statesmen.

Fashion shows and design presentations gave me a chance to  shine: I used fabric accessories and ideas to create beautiful clothes. I wanted to create a style to make women feel beautiful. These things   gave me the resolve to be the best at my job.

Before I have completing my first piece of work, it inspired me   for the next piece… My accomplishments led me to open my own Boutique Factory called Anglica. The clothes that were produced in     that factory were sold worldwide. In 2000 I was invited to work in a company in the United States. Upon the birth of my second child we decided to give our family a chance to start our new life in the America. In September 2000, my husband, my two children, and I moved to     New York.

After working at a company that produced uniforms for the hotel industry, I soon realized that my talent and experience was not enough   to understand the American fashion world, not to mention the English language. In 2001 we decided to move to California so I could attend a school to improve my English and computer skills. I also had a crash course in American culture. We started our life in a small city called Susanville. I was working full time while still attending school in Susanville, California.

I found a job as a designer- pattern maker in a company called “Living Soft”. Living Soft was working on a project making programs   for people who love to sew. The program was called “Dress Shop”. I have great amounts of experience in design and sewing and pattern making, but I didn’t have any experiences in making and using     computer programs in terms of fashion design. This program was   unique: the “designer” was able to input measurements into the computer, pick the sample they prefer, and the program designs and prints out    your custom pattern.

This program changed my entire career. My responsibility was      to create fabric samples of the clothes and make the pattern that the computer engineers would then re-create in computer language. The    way that the program was designed enabled the user to use the same pattern on different body types and sizes, and would make the modifications on the printed pattern. I was also able to use my   experience to adapt the program instruction for European version, incorporating specific European finishing techniques. This       revolutionary program made me excited to go to work, knowing that     my ideas were being used by millions of people worldwide that loved      to sew as I did.

The owner of the company that created the CD was delighted by my knowledge, experience and enthusiasm.  They created a workshop program called “Zhanna Designs”. This gave people a limited time   access to my fashion illustrations of the samples that I created, for     future use.

In 2003, “Living Soft” decided to host a fashion show in New York for customers of the program. These customers came from all   over the world to see the beautiful, fashionable clothes that can be   created using “Dress Shop”. The fashion show in New York City was     a smash. I received many invitations to return to the New York fashion world. After I the birth of my 3rd child George, I decided to accept     their invitations and returned to work in New York. This give me the opportunity to keep pursuing what I did back in California – To share   my love and experience for design and sewing.

If you never used a sewing machine and you want to learn a basics or you are interested in ,fashion sewing clothes or knitting, we offer a variety of sewing classes to help make your ideas come to life. . To read more about our sewing classes or sign-up, click here.