In 1985, while Amsale was searching for a wedding dress for her upcoming wedding to film executive Neil Brown, she found that she was unable to find anything that presented itself as a simple yet elegant wedding dress with an air of sophistication. This spawned her idea to begin creating wedding dresses, and this look later became her niche within the fashion world. She started her business out of a loft apartment in New York with the help of a sketchpad and a couple of couture seamstresses.

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Amsale is a native of Ethiopia and was attending school in New England when her country broke out in unrest. This made it impossible for her to return home, so she stayed in the United States and took on several odd jobs to try and support herself and her financial obligations to school. Amsale admits that she did not have much money while attending school and would often design and sew her own clothes, which is what sparked her interest in fashion design.

She enrolled in New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and began her career with Harve Bernard upon graduation. It was two years after this that she launched her custom-bridal dress line and “forever modern” concept. Her idea was to bring future brides-to-be simple dresses that they could look back on twenty years later, and still be pleased with how they looked in their gown. (This is not an easy feat to achieve, as we have all gone back and looked at pictures of ourselves and can not believe half of the things we wore!)

Amsale has quickly become one of the top designers in Hollywood. She is often sought out by various producers and film makers for creating dresses for television shows and films. Her designs have been featured on television programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Grey’s Anatomy, and 27 dresses, just to name a few. Her collection of bridal, evening and party dresses have become second-to-none when it comes to soft spoken sophistication with a splash of elegance.

Amsale’s Madison Avenue boutique opened its doors in September of 2001, where her fashion lines could be displayed in a gallery-like setting. The boutique was the perfect place to show off her lines which include: Amsale, Amsale Presents the Little White Dress, Kenneth Pool, and Christos. Not only are her designs featured within her self-owned boutiques, but they are also featured at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.