User:Wisegye/sandbox

Ellen’s eclectic background includes concert violinist, patent attorney, scientist, entrepreneur, and mother but it is her love of fashion and couture that forms the soul of her existence. As a student she toured Europe as principal violinist for the California Youth Symphony. She also won awards and ultimately earned a college scholarship based on her design and dressmaking talents.

Six months after her son was born, her husband died from an aggressive form of Lymphoma. As a new mother and working as a patent attorney, she spent her limited free time developing, marketing and licensing her late late husband's invention of a blood gas analyzer for ICU patients. Work on bringing the invention to fruition came to an untimely end when the lead research scientist on the project died of AIDS complications.

A short tranquil period in her life culminated in complications from delivering her 3rd child ultimately resulting in 15 years of chronic severe migraines, temporarily ending her legal career. After raising her 3 children she finally gained a level of stability in her migraines through her return to the art of fashion design and fabrication.

Preparing to return to a career in law, she was wearing one of her creations while browsing at a Wilkes Bashford store. During her visit, the clerk took great interest in her jacket, ultimately leading to a discussion with the store manager. She was asked if she could replicate her design for sale in the store. This encounter formed the germ of her ultimate decision to abandon her law career and pursue a new passage in life.

As someone who refuses to do anything half way, she first broadened her talents through intensive study with well-known couturier, author and teacher Susan Khalje. She also studied pattern making with Julien Cristofoli, an expert in the French art of draping (Azzedine Alaia's draper)

Working exclusively on one-of-a-kind creations, Ellen attempts to integrate science and design with a sharp focus on magnifying femininity while working with thie finest materials.