Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Azadeh recently opened her second fashion boutique in the new portion of Old Town.

Fashion designer learned by outfitting Arab royalty

By Shari Kaplan

It says a lot about fashion designer Azadeh's inborn talent--not to mention ambition--when, before she had earned either a college degree or a name for herself, she held a job outfitting royalty.

Today, with a degree in hand, her own couture line and two Bay Area boutiques, Azadeh (pronounced AH-zah-day) outfits people whom she believes deserve no less quality than royalty--her customers.

Azadeh, who for several years has operated a boutique on Union Street in San Francisco, this fall opened her second shop in Los Gatos' Old Town. Both venues offer dozens of clothing items from Azadeh's ready-to-wear private label and also provide personalized wardrobe advice and cut-to-measure tailoring from Azadeh herself.

A native of Iran, Azadeh spent her first five years in the fashion field as part of an elite group that designed raiment for the royal family of Saudi Arabia. "I learned design and tailoring at the same time. I loved every minute of my life doing that," she says.

Although she had taken some tailoring classes before the Saudi Arabian job, Azadeh credits her mentor--an old-school cut-to-measure French tailor and designer--there with teaching her by example everything needed for a good start in the industry.

Although Azadeh believes formal studies are important, she believes they're not worth much if an individual doesn't already possess a certain élan. "You have to have the capacity within yourself to create something from scratch to call yourself a designer," she says with a smile.

Long before her fortuitous head start, Azadeh knew this was her field. "At a very early age, I felt how much I loved anything art- or craft-oriented. I liked things a lot of teenage girls my age weren't really into," she recalls of her passion for painting on canvas and on T-shirts, which she often sold. She also did needlepoint and sewing.

Azadeh settled in the Bay Area in 1986, where she continued her studies with advanced courses at Diablo Valley College and the Pacific Fashion Institute. By 1990, she found herself the head designer for bebe stores nationwide. While her designs were hanging on bebe racks, they attracted celebrities like Heather Locklear and Courtney Thorne-Smith (then stars of the TV show Melrose Place), who began wearing Azadeh's fashions on the air.

In the spring of 1995, Azadeh set out with her own label and the goal of filling the missing link between young contemporary and high-end designer fashion merchandise. Within two years, she began selling to several Hollywood retailers and providing wardrobes for more TV personalities, including Brooke Shields of Suddenly Susan, Mary Hart of Entertainment Tonight and Portia de Rossi of Ally McBeal.

Azadeh says her fashion statement is all about simplicity, combining a refined silhouette that touches on seasonal trends with clean lines and classic tailoring. She also tries to satisfy the need for a wardrobe that transforms easily from day to evening wear.

"Working women can come here and build their whole wardrobe without having to go through a million racks," she says. Based on its upscale community and proximity to Silicon Valley, Azadeh decided Los Gatos was a prime location from which to offer these services. She already had many clients in the area who had discovered her through word-of-mouth among fashion circles or from her trunk sales and fashion shows at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga.

"When I create something and see my creation walking down a fashion show runway or out of my store, I feel very complete," she says.

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Azadeh's boutique is at 29 University Ave. in Old Town. For more information, call 408.399.4994.

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