By Keysha Drexel
Journal editor
Anna Sibley Barclay dreamed of being a fashion designer while growing up in Mountain Brook.
And now with her first line of scarves and a showroom in Atlanta, the 28-year-old is living that dream.
Anna is the owner and designer of A.Barclay Designs, an evolving collection of scarves and resort wraps aimed at giving the accessories marketplace a luxurious shot in the arm. She has a store next to her office in Buckhead, which just opened this summer.
Anna’s journey to the design world started when she was a student in Mountain Brook.
“I was always fascinated with fashion and a friend of mine who also lived in Mountain Brook used to say that we were going to be designers in New York, living above our own store,” she said.
After earning a degree in art history from Rhodes College, Anna pursued the dream of being a clothing designer by working as a buyer in New York to learn the ins and outs of the business.
But the stint in New York made her homesick for the chicken salad, sweet tea and woodsy terrain of her Southern hometown.
“I really learned a lot from that experience, the business side of things, but I got tired of New York, so I moved back to Birmingham and worked in retail,” she said.
After that, Anna took a break from fashion and worked in fundraising in the Atlanta area.
But it wasn’t long until the urge to create returned and Anna set her sites on the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she said she learned a lot about designing with natural fabrics and fibers.
“I took a few classes there with the idea of learning how to create my very own full clothing line, but after a while, I realized I wanted to go in a different direction,” she said.
Anna said one day she realized her artistic canvass didn’t have to be a full clothing line.
“I wear scarves everyday and I love them and one day, I just started looking at them as this big, blank canvass where I could be really creative and make something unique,” she said.
As a scarf lover, Anna said she often had a hard time finding quality scarves that were large and versatile.
“So, I set out to design my own,” she said.
Anna’s scarves are made with all-natural materials like silk, silk-cotton. linen and cashmere. The scarves are handmade it Italy, with the silk and silk-cotton scarves screen-printed with Anna’s original designs.
The cashmere and linen scares are hand-woven on looms in Italy.
“I really wanted to give customers something that is high-quality and one-of-a kind,” she said. “With most scarves, they are made with polyester or other unnatural materials and are made in huge factories in China,” she said.
Anna said she gets the inspiration for her screen-printed scarves from things that catch her eye during her everyday life.
“I take inspiration from drawings that I do, pictures that I take, from everywhere,” she said. “Sometimes, it is just an image that I’ve always wanted to see on a scarf that inspires me.”
Anna calls her scarves pieces of art that you can wear and says scarves are the perfect accessory because they are so versatile.
“There’s a million ways you can wear my scarves,” she said. “They are much larger than most other scarves on the market and so that means there are lots of creative ways to use them. To me, bigger is better.”
Anna said she favors a substantial scarf that she can wrap around her neck several times.
“I wear them in all seasons and with all different types of outfits,” she said. “I think that’s part of the appeal–you can put on a scarf and really feel pulled together and chic.”
Anna said her line is a year-round source for unique and rich designs in varying weights that work well for everything from fall football games in the South to snowy New York days to sultry summer evenings and beach strolls.
Her scarves also appeal to a broad range of women, Anna said.
“The other day, I had a mother come in and buy a scarf for herself, her mother and her daughter,” she said. “These are stylish at any age.”
Not only is Anna providing the accessories world with a unique and high-quality item, but her design business also strives to help others.
Anna teamed up with a friend from Mountain Brook, Beverly Burden, to help orphans in Tanzania. For every scarf purchased at A.Barclay Designs, items are bought for multiple orphanages. Burden lives in Tanzania and helps Anna identify what each orphanage needs.
“I just wanted a way to give back and help others,” Anna said. “I feel really fortunate to be able to make money doing what I love and I wanted to give some of that money back to people who really need help.”
Not only does Anna give proceeds from her sales to help the orphanages, but she does her part to stimulate the local economy in Tanzania.
“The orphanages needed blankets so we got all the blankets they needed made locally by people in Tanzania and then bought the blankets from them to donate to the orphanages,” she said. “It gives people a job, stimulates the economy and helps the orphans.”
Next year, Anna said she hopes to help the orphanages get school uniforms for the Tanzanian children.
“I don’t just want to be the moneymaker,” Anna said. “I want to be someone who gives back.”
Anna said she encouraged other young women with dreams of fashion designing to follow their hearts.
“You are going to have a million people a long the way tell you that you are crazy, that it is too hard to break into the fashion business, that you should do something else,” Anna said. “But you can’t listen to them. You have to listen to yourself and know that you can do it.”
Anna also has a few tips on how to fashionably wear scarves in any season and for every occasion:
•With a cocktail dress, drape a silk scarf around your shoulders as a wrap.
•During colder weather, wrap a cashmere scarf around your neck several times, with only some of the ends of the scarf hanging.
*Use a silk-cotton scarf as a sarong during holiday trips to the beach.
•Fold a large scarf into the size of traditional scarf and wear it around your neck.
•If you are petite, fold the scarf in half and put it around your neck to add body.
•Wear a brightly-colored scarf with neutrals to provide a pop of color to any outfit.
Anna’s scarves can be found at www.abarclaydesigns.com.
