After eighteen months in the basement, the hardest working girls in sew business are moving on up.

Kristen Swenson and Erin Derge of Ginger Root Design have opened a new first-floor studio, complete with a wide cutting table and dedicated sewing room, that brings their line of repurposed clothing to the top of its game.

Upgrade your wardrobe with Ginger Root’s summer-ready City bloomers and Upside Down shirts; elevate your guy’s closet with reimagined lean-cut khakis dyed dark red, blue, or bright green.

The expansion also doubles the display space for other local designers (with the addition of one new designer a month): Get a boost from Accoutre’s bow ties, punch-colored felt fascinators by Ciao Nina, Clara Cantor’s geometric earrings, and painted handbags from Elizabeth Graeber.

The only out-of-towner stocked? Derge’s jewelry designer mother.

Because success doesn’t mean you have to forget where you came from.

Ginger Root Design, 1530 U Street Northwest (202-567-7668 or gingerrootdesign.com).

Photo: Kate Gibbs for DailyCandy