Susan Fixel started LTM International six years ago. Today, the business is a multimillion-dollar venture and the only company in the U.S. licensed by Swarovski.

Susan Fixel is no stranger to fashion. Six years ago, the 30-year fashion industry veteran started her own company, LTM International, based on an idea she had when flipping through fashion magazines on a cross-country business flight. "I was looking at ads for jeweled watches, like Chopard," she remembers, "and it came to me: There's got to be a way to take this jeweled motif into embellished tops." A phone call later to Swarovski to get permission to use the Austrian company's renowned crystals in her designs, and Bejeweled was born.

Today, it's a multimillion-dollar label selling tanks, tees and casual wear, with fans that include celebrities such as Sharon Stone, Beyonce and Sarah Jessica Parker. While she now employs eight designers, the line still features Fixel's original rock 'n' roll-inspired artwork, and hers is the only company in the U.S. licensed by Swarovski.

Based in Weston, Fixel spends 40 weeks a year on the road. She says it's difficult to run a fashion business out of Florida because so many of her sources, from knitting mills to fabric manufacturers, aren't here. She spends a third of her traveling time in Los Angeles, where she has a showroom and a huge following.

She used to make different designs for the East and West Coasts but says that Florida is now very much in tune with the edgier L.A. market. Her designs are sold in specialty boutiques such as A Nose for Clothes with several locations in south Florida and Annabella on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Department stores like Saks and Nordstrom also carry her labels.

Fixel has added clothing lines, with her newest, We the People Denim, a "bejeweled" take on denim, hitting stores this month.

She never envisioned her company would grow so big. "When I first started the business, I could put all my pieces in one carry-on," she says. "With over 500 designs, I wouldn't get it into four large suitcases today."

A Style is Born -- And Turns 1

Suzanne Whalen's shop specializes in new and hard-to-find designers.

Suzanne Whalen is celebrating her first anniversary as an entrepreneur and fashion maven. A year ago, she opened her specialty boutique, A Style is Born, in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale near trendy Las Olas Boulevard. "My store brings to Fort Lauderdale the type of fashion that it needed," says Whalen. She carries new and hard-to-find designers like Nieves Lavi out of New York or Orangia from Miami Beach. Prices tend to be on the high end.

Whalen, who decided to open her own store after losing a job as a buyer for another company, says there have been a few bumps along the way -- namely startup capital. She sold everything she owned, getting nice returns, she says, on investments she made while in her 20s, including a pottery collection and her home. More bumps: Hurricane Wilma flooded her store, and, separately, burglars made off with half of her inventory. Still, she says, she's had a great first year and good momentum moving forward.

She has a database of more than 3,500 customers, and she's working on getting her online store up and running soon so her seasonal customers can shop with her year-round.

Designing Sisters

Estee (left) and Sharon Elkayam create designs using lightweight, flowing fabrics.

Estee and Sharon Elkayam were born and raised in Miami but now live and work in New York, where they design, produce and manufacture under their own fashion label, Secrets of Charm. At the end of the day, they say, Miami is still home, and it's where their year-and-a-half-old label has found a following. They've just clinched deals with Nordstrom stores in Coral Gables and Boca Raton, and their separates, from dresses to tops and pants, have been on the racks at several specialty boutiques in south Florida, as well as in Texas, Ohio and Atlanta.

The appeal, says younger sister Estee, is lightweight, flowing, easy-to-wear fabrics. Their pieces are simple and classic with a contemporary flair designed for younger professionals. Dresses retail from $250 to $400 and tops from $180 to $280. One day, Estee says, they'd like to see their designs hanging in department stores next to designer pieces by Mayle, Vanessa Bruno or Chloe. Meanwhile, she admits, they're growing at a nice pace, with one showroom on the East Coast and one on the West. "We have a long way to go," says Estee, "but we're definitely moving in the right direction."

Fashion news

? Word is International Plaza in Tampa is wooing shoe designer Jimmy Choo, a favorite of Hollywood's well-heeled, but International Plaza won't say when it will make an announcement.

? Chanel is coming to the Tampa Bay area this summer with new boutiques opening in Neiman Marcus at International Plaza and in Saks Fifth Avenue at Westshore Plaza. The boutiques will carry the venerable French fashion house's ready-to-wear lines and accessories -- a first for the area. Prior to this summer's opening, only the Saks store in Orlando had a Chanel boutique, and, of course, the shopping Hall of Fame, Bal Harbour Shops, has had a freestanding Chanel store for years.

? Luxury offerings are also on the rise at Orlando's Mall at Millenia with the opening of Salvatore Ferragamo, an Italian luxury brand, and the trendier, more fashion forward Juicy Couture.

? Florida fashionistas are surfing the web for fashion finds in increasing numbers. California-based CoutureCandy.com says the number of new visitors to its site from Florida has tripled. Many are looking for hard-to-find designer denim and its FrenchFifty label swimwear.