Success is all in the details. That's how Megan Dengerink and Nadine Spidla begin most pieces: a tuck here, a gather there. And then the rest follows.

The design duo work under the label Imaginary Friend ( www.ifapparel.com/ ), which they created last summer. "We definitely wanted something that was playful," Spidla says. She originally heard the name on a radio program and thought it had possibilities. It was memorable and didn't tie them down to a certain style. According to Dengerink: "If we tried to use our last names I think people's heads would explode."

Spidla is originally from Saskatchewan, and Dengerink grew up in Michigan. They met at the Fashion Arts Program at Vancouver Community College in 2002. "We both learned to sew originally from our grandmothers," Dengerink says.

Last summer they decided to form their partnership, drew up a business plan, and went to work. They weren't sure how it would unfold, never having designed collaboratively, but a year later they've started to see their effect on Vancouver's fashion scene and beyond.

In their studio, through a grey door in the shadow of the new building rising out of the old Woodward's site, Dengerink and Spidla are busy preparing for their fall line, which goes out to stores this month.

"This is where the magic happens," Dengerink says. The designers emphasize natural fabrics like wool, silk, knit soy, and hemp.

But they don't want to be pinned down when it comes to defining their style. This fall, look for a black high-waisted skirt, a swanky sage-green dress with tab sleeves, and a wheat-yellow T-shirt–style dress topped off by a red plaid belt. Most of their palette is muted, but a couple of standout pieces, including an unstructured dress in strong green and white horizontal stripes, complete the collection.

Spidla says she's mindful of trends, but doesn't follow them. Their customers, she adds, are trend-conscious but don't want to be "on the nose". Opportunities have a way of finding them, Dengerink says. Actress Zooey Deschanel bought one of their dresses while she was in Vancouver–and wore it to the glamour reopening of Holt Renfrew.

Not long after, they got a call from a designer in Los Angeles who wanted to use the dress for an M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Happening, that Deschanel is working on. They were thrilled. "It's not like we contacted her and said, 'Please, please, please wear this dress,'" Dengerink says. "That was really affirming."

Imaginary Friend clothes can be found at Eugene Choo (3683 Main Street) and One of a Few (354 Water Street). Prices range from $100 to $250.

Dengerink and Spidla are planning to focus on expanding eastward across Canada, and maybe eventually into the United States. And if Deschanel wants to send any more Hollywood friends their way, the door at Imaginary Friend is always open.