Local Designer Deepali Roth’s Passion for Fashion

Deepali Roth has practically grown up with fashion. As a young girl in Mumbai, India, she eagerly started working alongside her father, who owned several clothing factories. At age 13, she started traveling to small villages throughout India to work with women making printed fabrics and dresses to sell in boutiques in the city. By the time she was 18, Roth was running 50 boutiques all over India. “I’ve been a fashionista since I was a little girl,” she says. Along the way, Roth became an astute student of design, thanks to her grandmother, who taught her to sew during summer breaks from school. “It was always a hobby,” Roth says. “When I was in school, I used to design the school uniform. If we had a function or talent show, I used to make the costumes for everyone.” So when the time for college arrived—this time in the United States—it was a no-brainer to combine her love of business and fashion with a business degree. Upon graduating, she moved to New York, the fashion capital of the world, and started a business designing and manufacturing for several department stores before becoming a buyer for Gap and Express. “I got to know how they worked and how to work with manufacturers,” she says. “That was really good knowledge growing up in that area. I can look at a piece of clothing and tell what material it is immediately.” But Roth couldn’t escape the itch to design more freely. “I have creativity always going,” she says. “I will be talking to you and designing in the back of my brain.” Roth realized she didn’t enjoy having to put someone else’s name on her designs, and on making the move to Edina, began dreaming up plans to launch her own line. The first step in her plan? Open a retail space. “I realized that, no matter what, you have to have your own retail space if you want to put your name on things,” she says. “I realized this would be the place, and this is the time for me to have my own design and my own store.” As luck would have it, a former boutique space became available at 50th and France, and Roth snatched up the prime location. She worked day and night painting, installing shelving and bringing in merchandise before opening Fashionologie this past November. “I always feel like everyone is unique in this world and I like to bring that out,” she says. “I love this connection one-on-one with the women. I want to make them feel special.”   Fashionologie offers women’s and kids’ clothing  and accessories, all with Roth’s signature colorful twist. “I’m a bling girl,” she says. “I feel like everyone in Minnesota gets into a rut during the winter. We already have a hard winter; we don’t need to wear black and gray all the time!” The shop has become a second home for her, and she can often be found there until the early hours of the morning. But for Roth, the excitement of seeing a satisfied customer is reward enough. “That’s like a million dollars to me,” she says. “That’s what I want to bring out in every woman, because people don’t realize how unique they are. We will help you look beautiful the way you are.” Only a month after her store opened, Roth began work on her own line, to be launched under the Fashionologie name this month. Roth started by sketching and then sewing master samples of each piece. “I get inspiration from women in the store all the time,” she says. “I never shut down my brain.” Roth has tapped her extensive experience working with overseas manufacturers, which she says has greatly helped speed the entire process of designing her line. She regularly flies to various Asian countries to work with the manufacturers, picking out materials and color combinations, and overseeing the production of the pieces. The first collection will have eight or nine pieces, including summer tops, jackets, blazers and dresses, as well as purses and jewelry. Roth says the line is comfortable and figure-flattering, but never without her signature edge. “I always pay attention to those little details,” she says. “Studs on the sleeves or a neon color.” Based on the response from customers, Roth hopes to continue to grow the line and expand every season, offering solutions for fashion-hungry women. “In a small town, you get to know everyone,” she says. “It’s the same as a boutique. Come to the boutique and everyone knows everyone. We will help you look beautiful the way you are.”