ON THE JOB: Chanel Harrison of DVAHS

Chanel Harrison, holds up one of the wigs on sale at DVAHS, her fashion boutique at the Cecil Village Shoppes on Bridge Street

Posted: Tuesday, November 30, 2010

By Amy Elliott

Chanel Harrison is a military wife, and mother of lovely daughters and the owner of DVAHS boutique. In addition to Harrison's line of custom clothing and accessories, DVAHS features wigs designed for more than just the fashion forward. Harrison helps people who have lost their hair due to cancer or alopecia, making home presentations that enable her customers to shop in comfort and privacy.

How did you get your start?

I had great aunts, mother, grandmother that all used to sew clothes. Then, doing the modeling, wearing all different types of wigs, working in the fashion houses, that's how I got started in this business. And then with my daughters, I could never find clothes that looked like a little girl is supposed to look. So that also pushed me to want to go and do more with designing clothes. I just like the old heritage look, like little girls as walking baby dolls.

How did you train for the job?

I didn't train. I guess you could say it's natural. I learned how to sew from my grandparents, my great aunts. I guess you could say that's training ... I learned how to do all the patterns. I got into the wigs because I pretty much like all the different hairstyles. Plus not only that, but so the cancer patients, the women can come in and be able to get different hairstyles. I want the women to step outside the box and don't feel like with the hair, you gotta be scared to put the hair on. I used to have a retail store where I did hard-to-find clothing for women, so I figured with the clothes, why not throw the hair in with it, too, and you've got a whole new look. I import the hair. The hair is styled already. I will show you how to style the wig if you want to do a different look with it. We're in the mix of getting ready to have our own line of hair too.

What essential skills are required?

If you want to go to school, you can. But I didn't do that. If you want to go to fashion school for it, yeah. You can get started in the retail market, working as a salesperson. I did that. Another skill that I would say for it is give good customer service. Even if your customer does not buy anything from you, give the best customer service. I think that is going to be the top thing to bring your clients in, word of mouth. If someone comes in, if they're spending $20 or $2, if you give them the best customer service, they're gonna come back. Marketing is one of the biggest things that you want to do. Attend some of the hair shows. Go to beauty salons and let them know that you're out there and network with them. I go to the nursing homes. I go there and let them know that even if you can't get here, we do come to you. I will go to clients homes, set up everything and let them pick out whatever they want.

What is the strangest request/question you've ever had?

I just got that today. Are these my real eyelashes?

Describe a typical day.

My typical day is fun. I come in here around 11 to about 6. I try to get all my orders out. I get home, get my collection ready and finish that up for next year. I am doing everything for next year. The fashion industry can age you, in a way, in your head. You're buying things that I already did last year.

What's the best part of the job?

Everything. I live, eat and breathe fashion.

What's the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge is doing all of this work, maintaining the books and also you've got to think outside the box and be very creative for your next fashion line.

Who succeeds as a designer?

People that work hard. Don't look to be rich overnight in this industry. You've got to be willing to love fashion in order to be a designer. It took over 15 years even to get where I am right now. And I still have more things to do in order to get where I want to go. Everyone looks at fashion as dressing up, getting glam, like oh that's easy. There's a flip side of it where there is a lot of work.

What advice would you offer someone looking to go into this field?

The one thing you need to know is how to sew. Please, know how to sew and do patterns. Draw your own line. Little girls, get some old scrap fabric and make the little clothes. They don't have to be perfect. That is how you learn. If you want to work at a fashion house, that's not easy to do either. You've got to work your way up, intern, before they'll even take a look at you. Work at a retail store. That's how I got ideas of how to do displays. Be nice to everybody because you'll find out that the fashion industry world is really small.

Hours:  Wed- Sat 11a.m- 6p.m

Hours are subject to change in the Winter months.

Closed on Snow Days

For Press/Media Inquires Contact:

DVAHS

P.O BOX 482

ABERDEEN, MD 21001

EMAIL:CUSTOMERSERVICES@DVAHS.COM