When I caught my first glimpse of designer Ashley Tyler through the windows of her home in the West End, I noticed we were wearing matching vintage Woolrich shirts and Sorel boots. Sometimes you just know you’re going to like (nay, love) someone’s style. 

Ashley is new to Portland, though she’s been a frequent Maine visitor for the past four years. She left her prominent New York fashion career behind her (she worked as Senior Design Director for Ralph Lauren, interned with Jean-Paul Gaultier in Paris and had her own boutique - no big deal) to head North full-time.

Ashley’s new spring and summer designs were laid out for us to oooh and aaah over. Highlights included a bikini with printed prose, stretch modal Ninja Shirts, a draped and sexy Cobra Dress and organic cotton t-shirts. She’s also created handmade leather medicine bags from skins she’s been collecting for over 15 years. 

The Native American aesthetic behind most of her designs stem from her family’s Cherokee background. Her beautiful silk “Aviva” scarves came from a sketch inspired by her cat as well as a piece of Native American art belonging to her Grandparents. 

Ashley’s home, which she shares with her artist boyfriend, gets the creative juices flowing. Up their winding staircase are two adjoining bedroom/studios. Her boyfriend works on his sculptures in one room while Ashley works on her bags and stores her collections of medicine bags, plaid shirts and vintage whites.

Their basement houses a silk screen that Ashley uses to create her t-shirts. We notice one screen with the image of a phoenix - the symbol of Portland. “I’ve loved phoenixes before I moved to Portland, I even have a tattoo of one that I got years ago,” says Ashley. “It’s a sign I’m supposed to be here.”