A Functional Outlet for Creativity

The best birthday presents Sue Donohoo ever received were from herself. For her 30th birthday, Donohoo, an elementary music teacher at the time, gave herself a Drawing 101 class.

After that, she says she became an art evangelist, obtaining her masters degree in fine art from Northern Illinois University, working to reinstate art programs in the Downer’s Grove school district (near Chicago), and teaching various art classes at DuPage University in Glen Ellyn Illinois.

Then, for her 50th birthday, she gave herself a backpack and plane ticket to Europe. It was this present to herself that launched her current endeavor – Soo Hoo Artwear. Because she would be backpacking through Europe, Donohoo recognized the need for portable, multi-purpose clothing – she had nothing of the sort. She made her clothes for the trip herself, and then thought, “This is fun! What the heck, I’ll run with it and see where it goes.”

After returning from Europe, she gave herself three months to design and see what she could come up with. The three-month period went well, and eventually a family friend, Russ Zabler, of Zabler Designs in Ephraim, offered her the opportunity to share space with him at his studio.

Donohoo’s business grew, and she quickly needed her own space. She opened Soo Hoo Artwear in the Red Barn shops in 2001, offering her original, contemporary clothing, custom tailoring, and other wearable artists’ work. The Red Barn shops were home to not only the retail aspect of Soo Hoo but also her design and production studio.

“Soo Hoo became a functional outlet for my creativity,” she said.

Up to this point, she had kept her house in the Chicago area while spending her summers in Door County. Finally after her third summer season, she decided to move to the peninsula and live here full-time. Like many, Donohoo knew, “This is where I want to be,” but questioned, “How do you make a living here?” Not needing the answer to that question immediately, she decided, “I’ll figure out something!”

She maintained her space in the Red Barn shops until 2007 when she bought a piece of property on the quiet side (Baileys Harbor) and moved her studio into her new home.

Now that her studio and gallery are at her house, Donohoo focuses more on selling her designs wholesale and at various festivals and shows. Her retail space allowed her to design more items, like jackets, that require custom tailoring. According to Donohoo, if a customer bought a jacket one day, she would have it tailored for them by the next day.

Her home studio, however, does not allow for this sort of service, so she has focused her designs on pieces that sell well at festivals like her signature multi-purpose shawls and scarves.

A lot of products claim to be multi purpose, but Soo Hoo shawls are the epitome of multi-purpose. While they can be worn in various ways as a shawl, they can also be turned into an over dress, poncho, unstructured jacket, skirt, swim cover, and any other way you can think to wear it. Some of her customers love the shawls because they can go from the boat to fine dining with one piece doubling as a swim cover-up and a dress.

The scarves are new to Donohoo’s line this year and have really taken off. Scarves seem to be the “in” thing right now and her designs are a new take on the fad. Instead of being thick and chunky, they are made out of light material and have a subtle ruffle, which makes them lay nicely and sets them apart from the scarves that can be found at any retail clothing store.

Donohoo’s designs are set apart from products in corporate retail stores in more ways than one. First and foremost, the versatility of her designs means that you can purchase one piece and potentially wear it five or six different ways, making her pieces both practical and economical. Also, the customer service and knowledge about the product are something unparalleled to the larger retail formats.

Part of what Donohoo enjoys most about Soo Hoo is the customer interaction. She says, “I really enjoy customer’s creative input. I find it absolutely invaluable.” She believes in building clientele through personal service.

Overall, Soo Hoo is most definitely a creative, hands-on line of clothing that accommodates all types of women and celebrates every type of woman. Donohoo encourages her customers to have fun and try new things with her clothing, but at the same time, she understands that customers have varying comfort levels with the process.

Donohoo’s ability to adapt to her customers needs mirrors the way in which she creates her clothing. While Donohoo does plan some designs, she also uses the unique method of throwing a bunch of fabric in the air and seeing where it lands. Sometimes, she sees something she really likes, colors she wouldn’t normally have thought went together but when spread out on the floor of her studio, they are exactly what she is looking for.

“Sometimes my designs literally just fall into place,” she said.

Donohoo is currently gearing up for the fall season with new fall designs and colors. She plans to participate in many shows this fall in the Milwaukee and Chicago area and is also thinking about hosting some fall open houses at her home studio.

For more information, visit Donohoo’s Web site at http://www.soohooart.com. If you would like to visit her in home studio and gallery, just give her a call at 920.421.0449 to make sure she is home.