Made in Alabama

How a clothes crafter created a business--and jobs for her hometown

Designer Natalie Chanin has transformed the appeal of handmade clothes into an economic-redevelopment model with her Project Alabama line. Chanin is a former film stylist (she handled costumes) who while on hiatus in New York City needed an outfit for a party. That's when she deconstructed and refashioned a T shirt using the quilting stitching techniques that she learned growing up in the Appalachian foothills of northern Alabama. Individual style soon turned into a high-demand fashion business. She eventually created a line of dresses, skirts, jackets and T shirts, but she couldn't find anyone in New York to hand render her...

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