Boston is often pigeonholed as unstylish by outsiders on the basis of stereotypes such as stuffy Brahmins and tweedy academics. As the city marks Fashion Week with numerous showings and other gatherings around town, the South End News visited some local designers, artisans and entrepreneurs creating and selling myriad styles for everyone from students to socialites, with a common denominator of chic and originality. All of the designers profiled have both emigrated from other countries and gravitated to Boston to become part of the South End's design and artistic tapestry.

Lana Barakat of December Thieves

While she has lived in Boston for 20 years and feels "as Bostonian as anyone," Lana Barakat's globe-trotting is evident in her store, December Thieves, at 524 Harrison Avenue. December Thieves carries a wide range of apparel, accessories, household and lifestyle furnishings, many of which bring surprising flair to everyday objects. The shop carries a large and varied inventory for its size, but clever, thoughtful design and displays create a fresh and airy feeling. Prior to opening December Thieves in late 2013, Barakat owned Lazuli, a Newbury Street shop showcasing her own jewelry. December Thieves' eclectic yet cohesive collection is a comfortable fit in its SoWa home, surrounded by studios and galleries of every description. "We have a handmade, edgy and fashionable component to all the things we carry," Barakat explained. "We have a lifestyle concept with a little bit of everything but very well curated with an artist's eye and with a personal approach," she added. A native of Jordan who lived and learned jewelry-making in Mexico, Barakat travels the world to seek out new products and meet the artisans. Her own line of jewelry for men and women emphasizes simple, sleek designs combining leather with silver, copper, brass and colorful resins. Local lines showcased in December Thieves include bags and backpacks by Gina deWolfe, while more far-flung offerings include driftwood and ceramic serving spoons by San Francisco's Linda Fahey and handmade bow ties from Italy. Store manager Jemisii also designs jewelry, and on a recent Saturday, Jemisii's long, slender fingers were festooned with her own and Barakat's handwork. The store has a little of everything: steampunk-inspired playing cards, staplers, beeswax candles, a children's corner with clothing and toys and copies of a book of verse by Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet whose poem, "The Music We Are", lent the store its name. Barakat is currently putting the finishing touches on her second location, which will open soon on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. "The South End store is the studio store of the two. A lot of the creative energy comes from here and the in-house brand comes from here. We want to have a similar aesthetic but different lines and collections that are carefully curated for the neighborhood. There will be some fashion brands that we are going to carry at Beacon Hill that we don't carry here," Barakat said.

GALVIN-ized Headwear

Growing up in Ireland, Marie Galvin and her siblings were encouraged from an early age to amuse themselves indoors with craft projects on rainy days. Galvin arrived in the US at age 19 and experimented with various media, including fashion design, before immersing herself in her passion and gift for creating hats. Self-taught, Galvin pored over old millinery books and disassembled old hats to understand their construction, eventually crafting her own designs, which run the gamut of headbands adorned with feathers, traditional silhouettes for occasions such as weddings and tony horse races such as the Kentucky Derby and Ascot, and daring styles that experiment with shape and material reflecting the sculptural nature of Galvin's work. "Everyone wanted to be a fashion designer, and I loved the sculptural element of headwear. No one was doing hats here in Boston and I wanted to carve out my niche, I just fell in love with it. The first hat I made I was so happy with it," Galvin recalled as she busily prepared hats for her September 7 show with designer Daniel Hernandez at Venu. "Unlike a fashion designer, most milliners create their own work. Even the top hat designers make the hats themselves. Most millinery is couture, it's all hand done. It's a lot of work, and it's intense," she continued. The work seems to agree with Galvin, as her appearance and demeanor belied the fatigue of long, long days standing in her cement-floored studio working her millinery magic. Aside from the satisfaction she derives from her work, Galvin's efforts have been rewarded with an international following, opportunities to work with designers and stylists she admires; celebrity clients including Cher, Alicia Keys and Taye Diggs; and the inclusion of a dozen of her hats in a scene in the film, "The Devil Wears Prada" with Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. While she provides hats to many well-heeled clients planning transatlantic weddings-"My top countries this year are England, Ireland, France and Spain," she said-Galvin has beautiful pieces for even the most modest budgets, with feathered headbands starting at $35. "I've had ladies come in with a dress that they bought for $99 and they've spent $600 on a hat," Galvin mused.

Tsedenia Kiros

Tsedenia Kiros came to the U.S. from East Africa when she was 7 and grew up in the Washington, DC area that is home to a huge population from her native Ethiopia. Starting college at Virginia Tech as a biology and chemistry major, she decided her path was not in science after all and left to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Unlike the other designers featured in this piece, Kiros works for a clothing manufacturer. From her early days as a freelance designer, Kiros has been drawn to sporting apparel. This led to a position at the Greg Norman Collection, where she launched a women's golf clothing line, and earlier this year to Charles River Apparel (CRA) in Sharon, Mass., where she is director of design. Kiros and her fiancé, Le Petit Robert chef Stefano Quaresima, live in the Piano Craft Guild, long known as an artist hive. Since taking the design helm at CRA, she has been immersed in designing uniforms for the Head of the Charles Regatta, which will take place the weekend of October 18. Asked about the challenges of designing performance wear, Kiros observed, "It not only has to look good, it has to be appropriate. It needs to fit and it needs to be comfortable." Kiros misses New York and has not yet had much time to explore her new South End home, but she is happy to have made the leap to CRA. "I think it's a great brand with a lot of potential to expand in retail and. We have a lot of amazing products and our quality is par none."

Flock's Dani McDonald

Dani McDonald and her mother Lisa share not only a close parent-child relationship but a partnership in Flock, a boutique located at 274 Shawmut Avenue, and in that spirit, the two strive to create an atmosphere where both mothers and daughters can shop together happily. Since they opened in 2009, Dani and Lisa have sought to strike a "relaxed, West Coast vibe" with their merchandise by local and international designers. "Neither my mom nor I have ever lived on the west coast but our travels there have consistently inspired us and influenced our style. We were finding brands that we loved out in California boutiques that we couldn't find here in Boston, so we wanted to bring those options to shoppers here," McDonald said via e-mail. McDonald and her mom seek out new brands via traditional methods such as travel and word of mouth as well as through social media and following fashion blogs. One of their local discoveries was right in their midst. "We carry a small collection of earrings which are handmade by a local designer, Jane Xiang. She was living in Boston and interning with us here at Flock but is now working on the design team for Kenneth Cole in New York. Another brand we are super proud to have been the very first retailer of is Artemis Design Co. This line is designed by south end local Milicent Armstrong. She has had great success since launching this line of handbags and shoes made from vintage Kilim rugs and was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal for her designs. We love that she got her start retailing with us at Flock and we continue to carry her products and do trunk shows with her," McDonald said.

Since the store's inception, Dani and Lisa have tweaked the product line to address their customers' preferences. "We have really tried to adjust our buying so that anyone can walk in and feel comfortable purchasing something. Our buying has evolved to incorporate pieces at all different price points and this has really opened up our customer base," McDonald observed. Their goal is to offer their customers the same kind of mother-daughter bonding experience that they have enjoyed. "We have really aimed to be a place where moms and daughters can shop together, so nothing makes me happier than when we get them shopping in the store and they both leave with something," McDonald said.