Keeper Awards: Amanda Natzel

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Amanda Natzel’s simple, versatile womenswear is making waves across the country

Amanda Natzel spends her days sketching garments and cutting prototypes in a sleek basement studio in the Minneapolis.

Image credit: Marshall Franklin Long

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By: Mary O'Regan | January 2012 | From the print edition

At first glance, this year’s Keepers are a ragtag bunch. Their mediums run the gamut from good old-fashioned pen and paper to the human body; their habitats are classrooms, venerable theater stages and rock clubs. But here’s where this diverse group converges: Each Keeper has talent to spare, and is an indispensible cog in the wheel of Twin Cities culture. For that, we hereby present them with fancy words and pretty pictures in an attempt to flatter them into never leaving town.

August 24, 2006 was a good day for fashion designer Amanda Natzel. She was about to turn 23, freshly graduated from St. Catherine University with a degree in fashion design, and had just arrived at the Minnesota State Fair to see Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips with her husband, Brian. Walking past mini-donut stands, they were about to enter the Grandstand when Amanda’s cell phone rang. The caller was Josh Sundberg, co-owner of Cliché boutique in Uptown; he wanted to let her know that she’d just sold her first garment, a circle skirt with black floral appliqué, for $65. “It was the best feeling ever,” Natzel recalls. Later, she photocopied the check from Cliché and hung it on her office wall.

Cliché’s was the first of many checks for the womenswear designer, whose brand, Amanda Christine, is now sold in 41 boutiques across the U.S., two shops in Japan and one in Toronto. She has a showroom in L.A.’s fashion district next to Dolce Vita, a popular women’s line, and regularly participates in industry trade shows, like PROJECT in Las Vegas, where buyers can preview her collection and place orders for upcoming seasons.

Tall and elegant with long black hair, Natzel spends her days sketching garments and cutting prototypes in a sleek basement studio in the Minneapolis house she shares with her husband and two dogs. When her designs are ready for production, a seamstress in Duluth sews the smaller batches and a factory in Chicago manufactures larger lots. The rest is a family affair, with her mother prepping clothes for shipping and her husband managing the books.

Natzel’s spring line, which hits stores this month, is made up of 10 or so simple, versatile pieces ranging from cocktail-ready to work appropriate. An impressionist-style floral print peppered with magenta and lavender appears in chic, loose dresses, perfect for lazy summer days. She also designed slightly sheer voile blouses and slim-fit trousers in white and black, all of which easily integrate into a woman’s existing wardrobe.

“Amanda Christine appeals to the girl with a feminine edge who wants an outfit for every occasion,” Natzel says. “It’s all about the essentials.”