USA: Jes Switaj wins Designer of the Year award.

Jes Switaj from Phoenix won the Designer of the Year award at the Scottsdale Fashion Week.

She started her fashion design career on a tiny Singer sewing machine, the one her mom took to college. She displayed her collection on the runway.

As part of Scottsdale Fashion Week, which features marketplace tents, runway shows and parties, local designers were invited to enter the competition. Online voting narrowed the field to four finalists for another vote. The runway show featured Switaj and the other finalists.

Switaj, 27, also will meet with boutique owners and buyers to show her line, said Lesley Oliver, spokeswoman for the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the sponsor of the runway show and competition.

Switaj sells her accessories online at jesswitaj.etsy.com and sells accessories and clothes at Bunky Boutique, Retail Laboratory and Gold Lion in Phoenix.

She also is an assistant sewing teacher in the fashion-design program at Phoenix College. She is one class away from her associate's degree in fashion design.

Switaj saw her friend's handmade purses and decided to do it herself. She started with handbags, improved on her technique with classes, bought a new sewing machine and expanded her line. Each piece is usually one of a kind, and at times Switaj makes a limited number of pieces.

She's inspired by nature and organic elements, typically using wool, silk and cotton corduroy fabrics. "I really like ocean stuff - you can see in the octopus dress," she said. "I like things that look like they move in the ocean, like jellyfish, just flowy and floating and organic-looking."