PORTLAND (WGME) — Every morning, high above Portland’s downtown, a local designer is turning old fabrics into one-of-a-kind fashion statements.
Daphne Murphy is the owner of Daphne Michelle Designs.
“First thing is clean up the huge mess I made the day before,” Murphy said. “It stares at me while I work, and I imagine what I can make.”
What most people toss aside, Murphy transforms into upcycled fashion, from button ups, quilted jackets to even sports coats.
“I’ll go and probably put the Red Sox logo on the front,” Murphy said.
Murphy creates her own pattern pieces; templates drafted from one of her own jackets.
She carefully cuts each material, stitches it together and adds the finishing touches.
Every morning, high above Portland’s downtown, a local designer is turning old fabrics into one-of-a-kind fashion statements. (WGME)
If all goes smoothly, she can complete a jacket in about a day.
And sometimes, it’s hard to let it go.
“There’s two seconds where I try it on and then immediately after I’m like, ‘I’d rather have someone else have it,’” Murphy said.
Murphy started Daphne Michelle Designs after graduating college in 2022, with a major in fashion design and production.
Every morning, high above Portland’s downtown, a local designer is turning old fabrics into one-of-a-kind fashion statements. (WGME)
She says her love of fashion started young, watching Project Runway, and she credits her mother, a painter, for inspiring her creativity.
Her business started to pick up around this time last year when singer Lisa Bello spotted one of Murphy’s Red Sox blanket jackets online, bought it and wore it while singing the national anthem at Fenway Park last April.
“It’s always really surreal every time I see it,” Murphy said.
Her jackets also made it to this year’s Super Bowl, with Patriots fans sporting her gear all the way at California’s Levi’s Stadium.
Now, Murphy has her sights set on an even bigger goal.
“I pass by places downtown and I’m like, ‘I’d love to be there one day,’” Murphy said.
One day she hopes to open a storefront of her own.
Until then, she’ll keep stitching, thrifting and reimagining what fashion can be.