Fresh-faced fashion designer, Whitney Pozgay, is quickly climbing her way up the ladder of success in the cutthroat world of the fashion industry with her unique style and natural knack for the chic and modern. Currently working on her very own clothing line, WHIT, the brunette designer relishes the idea of someday soon opening up a boutique to further share her playful creations.

Pozgay, 30, decided to open up her own clothing line in an attempt to bring viewers closer to her designs, and to really get a feel for what she is all about, which she says is a mix of women’s wear and men’s wear. Her collection pieces range from the flirty and feminine to the more relaxed and tomboyish — all with a hint of vintage. She enjoys androgynous, playful trends, embodying her true style, which is the finesse that she would like to be known for. Her delightful personality and colorful way of speaking mirror her charming designs.

Pozgay, who was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and graduated in 2003 from the University of Texas with a degree in theater, concentrating in costume design, decided early on in her college career that her love for costume design was going to outweigh her theater acting aspirations.

“I switched pretty early on in my degree when I fell in love with costume design,” Pozgay said. “I was always really interested in all things creative, drawing and painting. I loved fashion and giving the power to fashion. I was just ready for it.”

When Pozgay began getting further acquainted with designing and honing her skills together with her aunt, Kate, and uncle, Andy, outside the college scope at Kate Spade New York, her aunt’s company, she found that she was a bit more interested in creating apparel than what she had previously conceived. So that’s the route she decided to focus her talent on. There her responsibilities grew from producing cold weather accessories to playing an integral role in the transcendence of attire for the company.

“I interned there with the intention of job hunting, but ended up falling in love with the company,” Pozgay said. “It was such a good place for me to nurture my love of color and vintage. Being there was a great lesson overall of company management [in] keeping aesthetics in streamline with the prints to the trends.”

After her experience at Kate Spade, Pozgay moved on to work with Steven Alan where she led and designed women’s collaborations, including Steven Alan for Uniqlo and Urban Outfitters’ brand Lark and Wolff. Here Pozgay got a better feel for more boys’ wear and tomboy inspirations.

“Steven was a good way for me to find where I exist. I worked really closely with Steven, where he taught me the very interesting connection with women’s wear and men’s wear. Working closely with both lines was an interesting challenge. It was very fun to share different prints and plaids,” she said.

In fact, her designs were so crisp and exhaustive in detail that Pozgay had been dubbed to be the key to the success in Alan’s women’s line. But this was merely the beginning for her. Launching her own clothing line in the fall of 2010, the fashion designer was ready to experiment and surprise those around her, despite the continuously spiraling downward economy. And while many might have speculated that this was a business venture set to fail due to the inopportune time, Pozgay’s company has only blossomed since day one with its delightful two-piece casual blouses and shorts and long, flowing flower-child style dresses.

So where do her innovative fashion tips and profound inspirations stem from? Pozgay says that much of her collection ideas can be tracked back to actress Michelle Williams.

“I really like her,” she said. “Her style isn’t forced and is very chic and classic. I think she’s a little under-appreciated in her attractive style.” Pozgay also admires the style of actress Alexa Chung, calling it a little more tomboy, but still possessing the right amount of playfulness.

Because the designer doesn’t have a store yet, she loves that the website, WHIT, launched with partners Zonda Sochorow, Zach Cooper and Parker Argote, serves as a tool that helps get her message out to the general public, and moreover, displays her fashion designs for sale for the enthusiastic consumer. Not only does the site strive to emphasize what the brand is all about, but it creates an overall fun feel that is sure to appeal to both the average folk and fashionistas alike.

“There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles to it,” she explained. “It’s just really clean and easy, very well put together.”

Talking about the specifics of her clothing line, Pozgay expressed that she tries to give females a big dance floor.

“It’s really more about girls that are inspired by the past and are not slaved to trends,” she said. “I want girls to be drawn to amazing prints versus a head-to-toe one look to be paired with over-embellished things.”

When I asked Pozgay what drew her to the exciting world of fashion design, she explained that since she could remember, she had always been curious about fashion.

“Whether you are into fashion or not, it’s an outward expression. I was always intrigued by vintage prints especially. I think it combined all of my favorite things about art and product, glamour and beauty, personal expression and exploring,” she said.

Along with perfecting her clothing line, Pozgay has also presented her gorgeous fabrics at New York Fashion Week three consecutive times as a participant designer, and will continue to do so through the spring of 2012 for the fourth season.

Excited for this unexpected opportunity when asked for the first time, Whitney said that she didn’t want to get ahead of herself while preparing for this exclusive event.

“This really brought my designs to life, being able to showcase them to editors and buyers,” she explained. “From there, I think I kind of got hooked. I had this moment to bring my pieces to life.”

The balance of tomboy sensibilities and feminine silhouettes were displayed on the runway at this year’s fall 2011 New York Fashion Week complete with full, puffy skirts in masculine fabrics, and whimsical gatherings on simple tops. Hints of ’60s American actress and fashion model Mia Farrow were evident through Pozgay’s original pieces featured in her spring collection, which were made modern by clean lines and fanciness. Southwestern pop prints and embroidered bright colors were some of the focuses of demonstration as well.

Yet fashion isn’t the only thing that Pozgay dedicates her hours to. Other than breathing, eating and sleeping fashion ideas, the designer spends the free time that she has with her fiancé, Parker Argote, who she has been with for 10-and-a-half-years. Though Pozgay herself hasn’t confided in any of her future wedding plans, it can only be assumed that after the two tie the knot, she might gain some inspiration for a vintage-inspired bridal line, or even before then, one for her own dress.

But when asked what she has in store for her future; Pozgay replied that it’s hard to say exactly.

“We’re [referring to her design team] so young, we just hope we’re in business!” she giggled. “It’s just so much work trying new things, building new things. We have so much fun developing the prints, fabrics and art works,” she added.

In addition, Pozgay revealed that she soon hopes her line will expand to shoes, accessories and other items, since at the moment WHIT mainly features clothing only. While developmental plans are still underway, she states that she thinks entering into the wonderful world of fashion design is the career path she was meant to take.

“I really, really enjoy what I do,” she said. “I have amazing business partners and I love the process of it all. Although it’s very hard to feel stagnate in this business because it’s ever-changing and evolving, I feel very comfortable in the position, and hope for my business to grow.”

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