Sarah Johnson never wants to be one of those designers who mass produces the clothing items she creates for her own line, Rock N Reconstruct. So instead, she creates one-of-a-kind items that are reconstructed from other vintage pieces (i.e. a Members Only jacket has become a tube top).

The 24-year-old designer is from Bondurant, but now lives in Los Angeles, where she moved after graduating from Iowa State University where she studied
business, management and marketing. She initially wanted to go to music school and eventually do A&R for a record label. However, the industry people she spoke with encouraged her to get a business degree and immerse herself in music-related activities. So she hung out in Ames, attended shows and finished out school. She saved up some money and made the leap to L.A.

It was there that she started working as an assistant for another young clothing designer, going downtown to the fabric and clothing markets, doing patterns and sewing and cutting for her - basically an informal fashion internship. Johnson still helps her run her business, putting to work her marketing and public relations background in the process.

"When I moved there I wanted to do entertainment marketing, promotions for bands or anything within the entertainment community that I was interested in," Johnson says. "That didn't work out. I've always kind of done design myself, but I was horrible at it. I've just kind of this year started doing it. In a year I've just made my collection."

And that collection has made its way into five - soon to be six - stores in California and Iowa - the only Iowa location being at Smash, a hip, youthful clothing store in the East Village. A few weeks ago she brought her designs to the Central Iowa runway in a fashion show at the newly remodeled venue Bali Satay in Ames in conjunction with Smash. That afforded her the opportunity to let her friends and family know what she's been up to since she left Central Iowa.

But Central Iowa still plays an important role in her creations. The vintage pieces she reconstructs hail from Iowa, thanks to her mother, who goes shopping for items a few times a week before sending packages to Johnson in California; Johnson refers to her as her "treasure hunter."

"Thrifting in California is ridiculously horrible," Johnson says. "I don't know where they get the stuff, but it's the worst. All of the good stuff is really expensive. Even the bad stuff is expensive. I rely on my mom to go thrifting for me in Iowa."
Johnson has been shopping in thrift stores since she was in junior high. But it wasn't until her freshman year at Iowa State that she began altering her clothing to create new, unique pieces.

"My design stuff started in college because I was so bored with business," Johnson says. "I knew I needed to do it and that I needed a degree. But I was so bored and my creative side needed to come out. I'd do my homework and then my creative side would say, 'OK, give me a turn.'"

And the hard work has paid off. Paris Hilton was in the store that Johnson helps run a few weeks ago. Though she was bombarded by paparazzi and had to leave, she had planned to come back later, which could potentially be a big deal for Johnson. In the next five years, Johnson thinks she might want to have her own store for her line. But right now she just wants to freelance design and wholesale to stores (she's looking for stores to pick up her line on the East Coast), and her online store, www.rocknreconstruct.com, will be up soon.

"This is perfect for me because I still like business and have that mentality," Johnson says. "But I can also express my creative side." -Erin Randolph

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