Sewing has been a passion since Ashton and her grandma collaborated on her first piece when she was young.

"We made a pair of pink cotton flannel pajama pants together, and I thought I was going to wear them forever. So I made them adult XXXL."

But a key moment came during her senior year at Buffalo State, when she designed her first fashion collection. "It showed me the joy of building a collection from start to finish. I liked the element of telling a story with collections." 

ARWDESIGN

♡ Handcrafted fashion apparel
♡ Made in Buffalo, NY
♡ Founded in 2018

Ashton's smile is huge as she describes the local makers' community. In addition to collaborations through ARW, she's proudly one third of the AVA Collective – a platform that connects local creatives, makers and small businesses.(Shoutout to Veronica Allis and Anna Dusza, Ashton's AVA cofounders and best friends 💟)

On finding inspiration:

Ashton is open to inspiration where and as it comes. Among her go-to inspo sources, however, are street style – "what people want to wear and how they want to style it" – vintage photography, fashion exhibits and more.

She has all of Alexander McQueen's coffee table books and will "take some time to grab a glass of wine and look through those to get inspiration. Sometimes it's even the fabric itself that can inspire her next great idea. 

A cool story:

The sewing machine Ashton uses today? The very same one her grandma taught her on all those years ago.

"It's a 1980s Bernina – it's a beast! The quality is so good, and the parts are metal. Since I acquired it, the engine shorted ... recently I had to replace the circuit board from the inside. This machine will get buried with me. If I had a house fire, that's the first thing I would grab."

Cool Story editor note: We're now obsessed with this sewing machine and will protect it at all costs.

Her happy place?

"I have the day in a new city to just bop around shops, get a fancy lunch and a good cocktail and then just be free."

On her playlist:

Sonically speaking, Ashton's here for a long time and a good time. "I'm an album person. The artist curated it for a reason!" The types of albums that make her cut are ones that include beats that let her zone out, from '90s country to Beyoncé to the Rolling Stones, "but I can also do Hilary Duff."

Follow Ashton and AVA Collective on Instagram: @_arw_ny & @avacollectivebflo