We Review | ASH CLOTHING - INTERVIEW
Written by: Katherine Brodsky

Arina Hanciulescu of Ash Clothing is an extraordinary designer, who has overcome extraordinary circumstances. Modamag decided to ask Arina to tell her astonishing story, but as intermission we'd like to also highlight some items that we have reviewed (and liked) from her collection.

#2013 - Sexy 80's Tank This tank is very sexy and fits very well. While it's a little showy, it isn't showy enough for most women to feel uncomfortable. It just gives gals the extra edge, without going overboard. The fabric is very comfortable to the skin and the shirt itself is a confidence booster. It's sure to send heads spinning! Special details include eyelets w/ sterling silver chain on front. Due to the stretch properties of the fabric, fits women size 0 to 8.

#2018 - One Shoulder Tee w/Strap The one shoulder strap gives the shirt a rather elegant and feisty look. It's as comfortable as it looks! This tee is made from 100% cotton and fits women size 0 to 8. It's available in Vanilla, Bubble Gum, Banana, Baby Blue or Caramel. Vanilla and Baby Blue are probably the best picks.

And Now For Our Featured Program...

THE INTERVIEW:
Q 1) What was the hardest thing about living in Romania?
A 1. There is not one identifiable thing that I could
quantify as the ‘hardest thing’ about living in
Romania.  There are many things that I remember about
my country some good and some bad.  But, since I have
moved to the USA and have been exposed to many new
things here over the years.  I can now say that the
hardest thing about living there was the oppression.
Communism when it first began in Romania was about
equalization of all people, if you came form a family
which was in a comfortable situation when the
communists took over, your possessions, your freedoms,
your house and most importantly your life… were no
longer yours.  My grandparents and parents came from
good families and when the communists took over, they
took everything.  They couldn’t even go to college
because the communists considered them enemies of the
state because they had eeked out a good living for
themselves.  They had to sneak into school or lie about
their families background just to get into college.
Although I was not born and living in those times, my
parents would tell us stories about how they had only
15 minutes to pack up all their belongings and leave
their homes so the communists could take the house and
re-assign people to live in it, even though my parents
built and owned the building.  Again, I did not know
any better so this was normal to me, that is until I
came here to America. The lines for food you had to
wait in, I remember standing in line for hours for meat
and only getting pieces of a chicken that you would never
consider using here in America.  Another hard thing was
having to share a 1 family apartment with 2 families.
6 rooms shared by 10 people was exhausting,  people
would steal your food, clothes or anything you had that
they did not, what are you going to do, go to the
police?  They’ll arrest you for causing the trouble,
not the thieves.

Q 2) What was the toughest thing about leaving Romania?
A 2. Coming to America was traumatic for me at 8 years
old.  I was ripped away from my best friend never to
see her again.  My parents were afraid that if my
sister and I knew where defecting that we might tell
someone and get my parents arrested or even worse, so
they told my sister and I, were going skiing in the
mountains and would be back in a week or so…  I never
went back and never saw my best friend again. I was sad
for months.  Not seeing my grandparents again for 20
years also made me very sad and depressed.  We were
very close as a family, which is all we had in Romania…
family and when you leave like that without a good bye
it is very traumatic as a little girl.

Q 3) For your family, what were some major hardships
that you have encountered when you arrived in America?
A. 3. When we left Romania, all we had were the clothes
on our back and two suitcases with less than $500 in US
dollars.  We had two choices of cities we could stay
when we arrived here in the US, Cleveland or LA.  My
parents chose LA.  When we moved here, (coming from a
communist society) we had no idea of how things worked
here in the US.  We moved (with what little money we
had) to a very bad part of the downtown LA area.  So
bad, my mother was mugged at knife point the 2nd week
we were here.  The language was tough to learn, I had
to learn the English language watching TV commercials.
It was a totally different society, economy, and
culture.  It was tough for many years on us.
Especially since my parents were very well respected
architects in Romania, and could not transfer their
education and certifications here in the US.  It was
tough for them and us to make ends meat until they
could become certified here in the US.
Q. 4) What immediately caught your attention as being
different?
A. 4. My clothes and accent were Romanian, so when
school started, you can imagine what the little
children did to me and my sister.  They were brutal, I
am not someone who backs down, so I was getting into
trouble a lot when kids made fun of me.  It made learn
the language fast.  I wanted to be American so bad, I
look at it now and say to myself, I am proud to be
Romanian I want to keep my heritage but love being an
American.  I also knew I was different than most kids
in school when I started taking sewing classes at a
very young age.  You make your clothes in Romania most
of the time, not like here in the US.  Being different
was always in my attitude and style.  I loved wearing
clothes that no one else wore at that time, staying 1
step ahead of the fashion curve.

Q. 5)What inspired you to start your own line?
A. 5. I always loved working with my hands to create
things.  In Romania, you do not have Sega or Nintendo
to pass the time by as a kid.  So, I guess my heritage
has inspired me to a certain degree.  Watching my
grandmother and mother making beautiful clothes of
Romanian style, always caught my eye as a little girl.

Q 6)Is designing your full time job?
A. 6. Designing takes up about 75% of my time.  I have
to run the business and have some help in marketing and
the day to day, but as you know, you have to stay on
top of things. If I had a choice, I would design and
merchandise all day long and leave to the rest of the
business to people I trust.

Q 7)In what ways is your line different from other
traditional lines?
A. 7. The ASH-Clothing line (www.ash-clothing.com) is a
simple day to day line with a hint of attitude or edge.
It has a touch of sex appeal so both girls and women
can wear it, with out either of them feeling like there
are pushing the envelope too much.  I have mothers come
up to me as say they love the line because it is
something that both they and their daughters can wear
and shop together for.  I use high end Sterling Silver
chains and grommets to insure the quality of each
piece.  I make each piece by hand.  The dye, design the
chains, all done by hand.  It takes longer to make each
piece (that is why it is a boutique line) but, you know
that the garment is quality and will hold or increase
value.  I treat each piece as a work of art.  I only
make up to 1,000 pieces of each design; I also attach
an authentication card for each, so the buyer knows
what numbered piece out of the style lot they have
actually purchased.  Once the 1,000 piece mark is met,
I no longer offer that style.

Q 8) Your Hemp line is a very interesting one and hemp
obviously has a very comfortable quality to it as a
fabric, however you have encountered many difficulties
in regards to using it. Can you tell us about some
conflicts and how you overcame those?
A. 8. Ah yes, my Hemp line… HEMPSTYLE
(www.hempstyle.com).  Hempstyle is a casual line of
mainly sweats, tee’s and shorts.  Beach casual wear
that is safe for the environment.  Hemp is the main
export (after the communists came) of Romania, it is a
very versatile fabric with many uses.  I use only
organic cotton and Hemp blends to create soft fleece
sweats and shirts.  I also use a very soft Hemp and
linen combination for light and comfortable cargo beach
pants.  They are so comfortable; my boyfriend wears an
XL to the beach all the time. The line was designed to
help save the environment, but be very fashion forward.
Most hemp lines cater to the (simplistic life-style) I
am trying to bring Hemp mainstream, for small petite
girls who want to help the environment but want to look
good doing it.  Since Hemp is illegal here in the US, I
have had many problems bringing it in from Romania and
China.  I have lost fabric in customs and have had many
run ins with the Gov’t, fighting to make it a legal
substance.  It used to be one of the most widely
produced and used crops here in the US until the late
1800’s.  There have even been claims that our first
President George Washington had Hemp crops and that
Henry Ford built some of his first car using hemp.  To
over come a lot of the problems I face with the Gov’t,
I have had to exhaust any and all importing channels as
possible over the years.  It is not easy, it takes a
lot of time energy and resources.  I think I have the
channels down now.  The Gov’t knows who I am and
understands this is only used for clothing purposes.  I
continually try to get people educated on Hemp and all
of good things it can be used for to help save our
environment.  From our ozone, to our forests to our
oceans and drinking water.  I write to my local
congressman religiously, I write to the Senate House
committee, as well as to the FDA.  I support Gov’t
officials locally wherever they are, providing free
merchandise as well as signature support on petitions
and local bills.  I put out environmental as well as
Hemp newsletters to all who sign up for them.  I have
them sent to me by people globally who need the
distribution channel to get the word out about the
environmental atrocities happening around our planet.

Q 9) What was the first thing you did, when you decided
to start the line?
A. 9. After looking up the laws and determining this
was something I was meant to do.  I looked for the
suppliers and distribution channels I would need to get
the fabric imported.  It took me over 6 months to find
importers who would bring that fabric in.  I made my
patterns and took them along with letters of
recommendation as well as letters from my suppliers to
my local bank and got a loan.  The rest as they say…
was history.  I started the line out of my very small
apartment in Hermosa Beach, Ca.  This is wear I drew a
lot of inspiration from.  I would drive all over
Southern California making the line, from the cutters
to the washers to the sewers.  I must have put over
100k miles on my truck the first year alone.

Q 10) Where are you now, in terms of establishment...?
A 10. The ASH-CLOTHIING Line is doing very well in the
markets that we targeted for distribution.  I am
currently working on a new Spring / Summer line for
2003.  Hempstyle is and has maintained itself as a line
with integrity and does quite well in the stores that
carry it.  I am doing more online business than ever
and have been getting a lot of attention dawn to the
Hempstyle site for it’s environmental awareness and
different style relative to that fabric.
Ash-Clothing.com is doing equally as well and we are
always changing the site to meet current trends and
styles.  We are currently running promotions on both
sites and encourage everyone to enter the giveaways.

Q 11) Anything you would change?
A.11. NO, Nothing!  I went the road I did because it
was the path chosen for me, the experience, the friends
and contacts I have made over the last few years are
priceless.  I have made so many friends of the people
who buy my line, I guess they love my perseverance and
tenacity.  I never would have had the opportunities I
have here in the US, in Romania and for that, I am
thankful.

You can check out Arina Hanciulsecu's designs on the web at www.ash-clothing.com and www.hempstyle.com