Fashion Designer and Founder of Serrahna

Meet Andrea Serrahn: Fashion designer and owner of Serrahna

Meet Andrea

Andrea Serrahn’s love of fashion started when she was a little girl growing up in Wisconsin designing and sewing her own clothing. She went on to study textiles, among other things, in college and practiced various printing and sewing techniques into her early 20s.

  • TEXTILES OF INDIA

    Andrea's Love Affair

    But her true love affair with fabrics and fashion design was only just beginning. It was during a trip to India in 1990, that Serrahn became enthralled with the colors, textures, sheens and exciting variation of the country’s hand-woven, hand-printed, hand-stitched and wonderfully unique textiles.

  • A Desert Oasis

    Out in the far western reaches of India, where the ocean meets the desert meets Pakistan is a small town called Bhuj. It’s quaint village atmosphere with winding back alley ways lured me in year after year. It was there that I met my friend Ranju. An unmarried, educated textile junkie like myself, she ran her own boutique stocked chock a block with lovely regional artisan fabrics. She was the most hospitable woman I’ve ever met; always inviting me in for tea. Folks from around the world would flock to her shop, and we all hung out and became friends. When I lived in Bhuj during my year long Fulbright Scholarship, I shared lunch with Ranju every day. We traveled together, shared giggles, stories, passions for fashions rendered from such cloth.

Solo Traveler

Eternal Friendships

Traveling to India as a lone long blonde haired female has its challenges. I found that out early on during my first trip in 1990. I got too much unwanted attention, from the wrong kinds of people. Meeting other female travelers was what I was looking for; we are stronger and can find safety in numbers. Meeting a woman in India who owned her small textile boutique was ideal on many levels.

  • Fullbright Scholarhip

    Serrahn vowed to learn more about India’s fabulous fabrics and went on to win a Fulbright Scholarship enabling her to return to India to study textiles. The many months she spent working with the artisans, who continue to weave, print and embroider fabrics using traditional techniques honed over generations, was very formative.

  • A Desert Oasis

    Out in the far western reaches of India, where the ocean meets the desert meets Pakistan is a small town called Bhuj. It’s quaint village atmosphere with winding back alley ways lured me in year after year. It was there that I met my friend Ranju. An unmarried, educated textile junkie like myself, she ran her own boutique stocked chock a block with lovely regional artisan fabrics. She was the most hospitable woman I’ve ever met; always inviting me in for tea. Folks from around the world would flock to her shop, and we all hung out and became friends. When I lived in Bhuj during my year long Fulbright Scholarship, I shared lunch with Ranju every day. We traveled together, shared giggles, stories, passions for fashions rendered from such cloth.

  • Upon her return, Serrahn was inspired to create a boutique that fused her love of fashion design with her love of India’s fabulous fabrics. The result is Serrahna, her women’s fashion boutique in Oakland’s Rockridge district featuring cutting-edge fashions sewn from the traditional, hand-worked fabrics of India.

End of an Era

After the devastating earthquake of 2001, I helped her by painting a sign on her entry way to attract customers. She was the only shopkeeper, women owned and operated. How rare to find an unmarried shopkeeper such as her, and all the visitors to Bhuj should know this woman, I felt. I considered her a good friend, always my Rock of Gibraltar. Sadly Ranju passed away some years ago. My trips will never be the same without my dear friend Ranju.

  • Visitors will immediately see that the store itself is testimony to Serrahn’s zesty approach to design. The colors of curry, turquoise and maroon mix playfully on the racks of tops, skirts, pants, and jackets with accents of indigo, copper and amethyst featured in abundant accessories.

    A large mural of interlocking pinwheels and stars climbs the wall to lofty ceilings above. Towering obelisques capped with Indian brass and green lit glass lanterns flank the granite cash shrine in front of a towering arch honoring Serrahn’s creative process.

    Come and be inspired to celebrate the queen in you – via the joy of Serrahna style!