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Fashion week crowns Designer of the Year

Jes Switaj of Phoenix started her fashion design career on a tiny Singer sewing machine, the one her mom took to college. On Friday, she showed her clothes on the runway as the winner of the Designer of the Year competition at Scottsdale Fashion Week.

"I thought it would be really cool if I could make it to the top four. ... I never ever thought I would end up being a winner. . . . That was pretty awesome," Switaj said.

As part of Scottsdale Fashion Week, which features marketplace tents, runway shows and parties, local designers were invited to enter the competition. Online voting narrowed the field to four finalists for another vote. The runway show featured Switaj and the other finalists.

Switaj, 27, also will meet with boutique owners and buyers to show her line, said Lesley Oliver, spokeswoman for the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the sponsor of the runway show and competition.

Switaj sells her accessories online at jesswitaj.etsy .com and sells accessories and clothes at Bunky Boutique, Retail Laboratory and Gold Lion in Phoenix.

She also is an assistant sewing teacher in the fashion-design program at Phoenix College. She is one class away from her associate's degree in fashion design.

Switaj started sewing about four years ago, after seeing her friend's handmade purses and deciding she could do it, too. She started with handbags, improved on her technique with classes, bought a new sewing machine and expanded her line. Each piece is usually one of a kind, and at times Switaj makes a limited number of pieces.

She's inspired by nature and organic elements, typically using wool, silk and cotton corduroy fabrics.

"I really like ocean stuff - you can see in the octopus dress," she said. "I like things that look like they move in the ocean, like jellyfish, just flowy and floating and organic-looking."

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