Emily Rouse is a 30-year-old designer and entrepreneur who makes fashion magic.
She is the owner of Edgington Studio located at 105 Edgington Lane in Wheeling, and through “House of Rouse,” this young woman also creates capsule collections of practical and transitional contemporary womenswear, made in the USA, accented with prints designed in-house.
A native of Wheeling and graduate of Linsly, she went on to earn degrees in Fashion Design and Business from Virginia Commonwealth University, located in Richmond, Va., graduating in 2016.
“After I graduated, I stayed in Richmond for a while, then moved to New York City and worked in a design showroom for emerging designers,” explained Rouse recently. She was an account manager for athletic brands of clothing and worked under a sportswear designer as a design assistant.
After spending four years in New York, she returned to Wheeling in March 2020, during the pandemic.
“I moved back home and decided to launch my own clothing collection.”
Factories were shut down due to the pandemic at the time. Rouse uses digital programs including Photoshop and Illustrator, to create a pattern, then sends it to a fabric printer to get the final product of a distinctive Rouse-designed fabric. She uses polyester and vista Lycra fabric, all made in the USA.
“It’s hard to find USA-made fabric today but that is important to me and my customers.”
Just who are her customers?
“I have a website, House of Rouse (houseofrouse.co), and customers can shop there for my original designs. But many of my customers are other emerging designers. They come in to discuss their work and Edgington Studio creates a sample, makes the piece and eventually the customer walks out with a sample of their original design.”
Edgington Studio produces up to 50 pieces for the customer designers to show and sell.
Emily works by appointment, during regular hours and her studio is a bright, modern space, with all the machinery necessary for design and sewing. There are five employees (including Emily) and these talented workers do both hand sewing and machine sewing on eight sewing machines.
Mannequins, cutting tables, threads, trims, and fabric make it a colorful space that is inspiring to see.
Customers who wish to see her own designs and inventory can also contact her and come in for a fitting, as they work out the process of custom-made clothing with the House of Rouse look.
“Most of our clients are out of state though, so we often do fittings via Zoom or Google Meet.”
Right now, she’s working on a project to create and sew Chimayo jackets for a customer based in Tennessee. Chimayo is a Southwestern-style woven jacket, and the blanket-like fabric will be provided to Rouse and woven in New Mexico. Then she and her shop will turn it into jackets.
Her business has been growing consistently, and she also offers sewing lessons for gift-giving or fun. Just visit her second website (edgingtonstudio.com) to find out more about sewing classes to create items like a pillow, a bucket bag, a zipper bag, or other more advanced items. Customers can either book a private lesson or a group of up to four participants.
Emily’s overall goal is to let people know that there are local options if you’re interested in pursuing a design career. She is a trained sewing and pattern maker who is ready and equipped to assist any emerging designer.
Her own line of designs comes out once a year and the House of Rouse (houseofrouse.co) will unveil the next collection in March 2025. After that she’ll travel across West Virginia and Pennsylvania at fashion shows displaying her designs.
She is grateful to her parents and the many people in the neighborhood who have supported her new business. Her mother Shelly works with her and is the official pattern cutter and her father, Ted, designed her logo and assisted in other ways.
Emily is a serious designer that is proud to support local jobs as well as the Made in the USA label and it shows in her studio.
“You can be sure that our workshop is a good working environment and a great place for us to design and sew as we create fine clothing. We hope that’s reassuring for our customers as well as our shop.”
You may reach Emily at Edgington Studio by visiting her studio website, or by calling 304-220-0833. She can also be found on Facebook and Instagram at: @edgingtonstudio.
House of Rouse has its own website found at houseofrouse.co and can be found on Facebook and Instagram at: @house.of.rouse.
