In the spirit of DCist feature Three Stars (and we heart the music section), we’re launching Design Capital, which will highlight emerging local designers. Today we start with Morgan Hungerford of Muss Line, a designer who’s never met a vintage piece she couldn’t tear apart and sew back together into something infinitely cooler.

Meet Muss Line. Designer Morgan Hungerford’s indie clothing line (she got the name from a children’s book) is a mix of hand-screened t-shirts and reconstructed vintage skirts, dresses, shirts and the occasional handbag that have been “remussed,” which she defines as pieces that have been “thrifted, restored, and redesigned into something new and excellent.”

After graduating from James Madison University in 2005 with an English degree, the Alexandria native was left with the familiar, somewhat horrifying question faced by most recent college grads: What do I do now? Morgan wanted to pursue her couture aspirations, but she had never taken any fashion design (or sewing) classes. So, the Project Runway enthusiast taught herself to screen print and learned how to sew by deconstructing vintage clothing and creating new items, like a clutch she made from an old trench coat.