Clothing Shop Owner Loving the Milldam

Sara Campbell was the one in school that was always sewing. She's the one that made the costumes for the plays, or created sculptures out of papier mache and textiles.

Now that she is grown, she carries that love of fabric and sewing into her women's clothing boutiques including the just-opened one on Main and Walden streets.

Campbell is a native of La Jolla, Calif. She attended UC Davis with a major in design and became an artist and entrepreneur, she said. She "integrated costumes, interiors and architecture" while in college. She went to graduate school in art education at Lesley College in Massachusetts, and befriended Sister Corita Kent, the nun that created the colorful splashes of paint on the iconic gas tanks on the Southeast Expressway.

"She was my tutor and mentor," said Campbell. "I loved her and the life she led."

Campbell started a "cottage" business selling wearable art in limited editions. In 1985, she landed her first account at Talbot's, a relationship that ended in 2008. At one time Campbell had 20 sewing factories in Fall River making her fashions.

"Everything is made in the USA," said Campbell. But she said the consumer "didn't care" where something was made, and the garment manufacturing business slowly moved overseas.

"Pricing is tough," said Campbell, because of import taxes and the cost of labor, but she still has her designs made in New York City.

"It's a dying industry," she said. "There is no incentive for us to be made in the USA."

Campbell has stores now in Wellesley, Boston, Concord, and a boutique she ran for the first time this year on Nantucket.

"It's really about color," she said. For spring 2011, she was inspired by the tropics when she vacationed in the Bahamas.

"It's very mix-y, match-y. You cancreate your own style," she said. "It doesn't all have to be one look."

She dresses women size 0 to 14. She describes her collections a "casual daytime to dresses that can be worn at night.

"My customer is easy, but is conscious of staying in shape," she said. "It's not active wear, but it's not fussy. I like the clothes to make her feel better."

She said 99 percent of her fabric is imported, a factor that drives up cost because she is surcharged for it before it is cut and sewn.

She works with her business partner of 25 years, Peter Wheeler, and two designers, although she said she is "designing in my head 24/7. I keep a book in my purse."

Campbell said she feels "lucky to have found a spot" for the shop in Concord. She loves the history of Concord, its buildings and museum. "It's so beautiful," she said.

"I just moved in, but I anticipate loving it here," she said.

Sara Campbell is open seven days from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The website is www.saracampbell.com.