Ready to go again

Turya Nations is trying to achieve the ultimate juxtaposition in artistic expression: the uniquely classic. From a personal aesthetic, she's Kate Moss holding hands with Stella McCartney. A feminine/masculine combination -- tailored blazers, or boy shorts paired with a feminine top.

"People want to know where your inspiration comes from ... sometimes, I think it just happens," says the creative force behind Guy Baxter, an L.A.-based clothing line. Nations and music producer husband Braxton spent the last 10 years on the West Coast, building the Guy Baxter brand by working 14-hour days, seven days a week. Ultimately, says Nations, they needed a break.

So they returned to Braxton's roots in Cape Girardeau, where they bought a historic home they're remodeling room-by-room. "Right now, we're taking the opportunity to chill," she says. "We wanted to relax. But I'm ready to go again."

"Go again" means ramping up to launch a new line, likely an accessories-focused one for spring 2012. Nations' clothing has been picked up by stores like Nordstrom's, Harvey Nichols and Anthropologie, as well as small boutiques. Guy Baxter has been featured in a variety of magazines -- including Lucky, Elle, New York Magazine and Seventeen -- and been worn by celebrities like Rachel Bilson and Amy Smart.

Nations started her career in design by accident. She owned a vintage clothing store in Nashville, Tenn., When her store -- and her world -- was ripped apart by a tornado, Nations picked up the pieces and did what she does best: Sewed them back together. From that, Nations picked up some styling jobs and began making T-shirts, which she sold in local boutiques. The shirts were selling out within days of her dropping them off. "I was like, 'All right, I guess I'm a designer,'" she says.

The couple made a decision to pursue that opportunity. "We drove to L.A. in a van full of our stuff," she says. "We knew one person there, and she had a studio apartment. We crashed on her floor."

Eventually, they found an apartment and both began looking for jobs. "I started designing from there," she says.

Nations had been sewing clothes for her dolls since she was a child; she took a couple pattern classes to learn more about the technical side of design and production. "And then I just rolled into it," she says.

Nations has also been a freelance stylist, working for seven years with the editor of Lucky magazine, Teen Vogue and other magazines. For her last Guy Baxter collection, she dived into custom textile design, creating her own prints. "I loved that. It's original, completely your thing," she says.

When inspiration does hit her, it usually has vintage origins. Her mother's artwork is also a source of ideas. Sometimes, she'll dream about a piece and get up in the middle of the night to sketch it.

"But design is like anything, sometimes you have to just force it out," she says.