There isn't much arguing with destiny when it comes to you in a dream wrapped with a bow of religious reference. At 14, Lacy Barry had the word ëphoe appear to her in her sleep. "I didn't actually know what it meant, and through research the meaning [of it] unravelled itself to me," she explains over the phone from her studio in Calgary. That was eight years ago, before the Internet was so pervasive, when finding the meaning of a Hebrew word you've never heard was a daunting challenge for an early teen.

Barry's research eventually lead her to a dictionary meaning ("a vestment that Jewish priests wore before going into the temple and before God"), but it also brought her beyond that to what can only be described as her "calling". Repeatedly stumbling across the word's connection to clothing, Barry began to wonder what bearing it might have on her life. "I never really knew how to make clothes before the dream, and finding out what it meant I thought 'I love clothes, and I've been really good at predicting trends.'?" With a mother as a dressmaker to draw resources from, Barry took up sewing and created her own label, Ephoe (pronounced "e-fo"). This was all by age 16.

Six years later, Ephoe just showed its spring/summer 2006 collection, its second full one, at late September's B.C. Fashion Week. The religious connotations came to a full stop. These days, Ephoe is a line focused on the feminine that uses modern fabrics such as nylon, Lycra/spandex, and treated cottons, all with a view to being a good fit for every body type. The influences of Audrey Hepburn are clear, but touches like oversize gold buttons or a slightly exaggerated ruffle collar on an otherwise clean-line coat are what signal a Lacy Barry creation. "Since I was young, I've adored her," Barry says of her silver-screen muse. "But here, it's with a bit of a twist. I want to create something different. Audrey comes up, and all the Givenchy-and he did an impeccable job fitting her. I'd like to keep the ladylike image without that sexy formfitting stuff so that girls feel comfortable with what they are wearing."

Barry's palette for spring is heavy on white with splashes of lime, forest green, and a rich I'm-not-afraid-to-be orange. She's carried her blossom shirt over from past seasons and made it her first signature piece: a boat-neck sleeveless shirt with a blossom in stretch polyester cascading over one shoulder. The blossom is of lightweight cotton and the leaves are nylon. "I used the leftover cotton from the dresses and nylon from the jackets. It's very light material so as not to drag that side of the shirt down." Barry pairs the shirt with full-leg capris accented with her oversize-gold-button detail.

Barry is particularly pleased with her version of the Christian Dior via Oscar de la Renta knee-length poof-skirt dress with fitted, sleeveless, boat-neck bodice. She's added a peak of tulle on hers (gold taffeta with ivory tulle or bronze with dark chocolate) and a cummerbund accessory.

Barry's line is definitely being seen. Holt Renfrew has been watching, she says, and her clothes attract so much attention that the Fashion Watch crew had already noticed her work before they covered Barry's show in Vancouver: they'd seen it on one of Barry's fans who happened to be working at Paris Fashion Week.

Barry's driving goal for Ephoe over the next five years is to create collections and pieces that live beyond the season. "I see it being at a place where it's eclectic and original and still very affordable," she says, "mid- to high-end in cost, and in boutiques that are art-devoted." (Ephoe ranges from $25 for accessories to $800 for gowns.)

For Barry, the name that found her helps keep the collections distinct. "I'm not thinking of the personal fame; I'm thinking of the clothes and sharing that with other people and as a designer and artist it is so great to see people be excited over the work. I want that to project in my company. When I see a dress, I want people to dream about it."

Now that it's the age of the Internet, the dress of your dreams won't take two years to track down. Visit www.ephoe.com/ for more information or contact lacybarry@ephoe.com.