The Ground Floor: Iowa City entrepreneur’s clothing design leads to her own store

Misty Blank has been an artist for much of her life, working in multiple media, including textiles. She started designing and sewing her own clothes and then selling her designs at stores around Iowa City.

But it was after she became pregnant with her first child in 2006 that she decided to pursue clothing design on a full-time basis.

“It was a career path that would allow me to stay home with my son,” she said.

The self-taught designer developed a line of children's clothing and began researching companies to manufacture it. She began working with Vital Millennium, a family-owned clothing manufacturer in Shanghai, China, to develop prototypes for her line.

When work on Blank's merchandise came to a standstill because of funding issues, Vital Millennium offered her a job designing for its own line of women's clothing, Gindy Laura. She became the lead designer for the line.

Blank's designs for Gindy Laura use eco-friendly materials such as tamboocel, a bamboo fiber popular in China.

“It's soft and breathable,” Blank said. “It feels like your favorite T-shirt after it's been washed a million times.”

The next logical step for the designer was to launch the line in the United States with her own store. Mayfair first opened in August 2012 as a small section of clothing within Lorenz 2.0 shoe store.

Then, this past March, the store that began 96 years ago as Lorenz Boot Shop in Iowa City closed its doors.

Blank took over the entire location and revamped the space. Mayfair now carries women's clothing, accessories and shoes, including the Gindy Laura line.

Blank keeps an eye on each detail, from the window displays to the shopping bags.

The next step is Mayfair's own label. Blank also would like to add children's and men's clothing.

“I'm here to prove someone like me can do this,” she said.

• Owner: Misty Blank
• Company: Mayfair
• Address: 109 S. Linn Street, Iowa City
• Phone: (319) 338-7166
• Website: mayfairapparel.bigcartel.com

Know a company in business for less than a year that would be ideal for “The Ground Floor”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.