Original Source - Courier Mail
DESIGNER Dacynta Urquhart is a 21-year-old self-made rock fashionista.
Not only did she open her own clothing store, Suburban Mayhem, in Ipswich six months ago, but she also designs and makes a line of clothes under the Pretzel Clothing label.
Her style is rockabilly swing dresses with a "psychobilly" twist.
It all started for Ms Urquhart, also known as Flick, a few years ago when she asked her mum Jody for a sewing machine for her 18th birthday.
"I was sick of going shopping and coming home grumpy because I couldn't find anything that represented who I was," she says.
"I started altering clothing to suit my style and eventually designing and creating my own clothing, and it all went from there."
She says the two biggest issues she found when starting her own business were accessing capital and securing the right location.
"It's really hard dealing with real estate when you're so young," she says. "I can understand why people didn't take me seriously but it made it really difficult.
"Ideally we were hoping to be located at the top end of town (in Ipswich) but in hindsight, I am really enjoying where we are.
"Being tattoo-inspired clothing, it really works in our favour to be close to Ultimate Image Tattooing. We spent a long time saving to open Suburban Mayhem.
"It was a really hard couple of years but it benefited us in the end.
"It's really sad that it's close to impossible for small business owners to borrow and I found it surprising that there is no government help."
Ms Urquhart started selling her designs from home and then online from the age of 19.
"I knew from then that I wanted to open my own alternative clothing shop," she says. "Our target market is definitely youth but we have a lot of middle-aged women and men who are psyched on the style - especially the roller derby girls.
Ms Urquhart taught herself to sew but received hints from her grandmother along the way.
"I guess it was just something that came naturally," she says.
"I have had a lot of support from my partner Mitch, who is just as much a part of this business as I am.
"And we have always had support and guidance from both our families."
She says the biggest learning curve when starting her own business was recognising and acting on flaws early in the business.
"You really have to learn to be flexible," she says.
"Our online store isn't really a big part of our business as we have such high demand in Ipswich, although we do give people who can't make it into the shop the opportunity to buy some of our products online."
www.suburbanmayhemclothing.com
Original Source - Courier Mail
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