After earning degrees at Colorado State University, Megan Timlin, 22, and Michael Vasseur, 22, worked around the world studying retail and fashion. Since moving back to Colorado, they opened their own women’s fashion boutique in Denver called Whorl Shop.

“Whorl is a type of fingerprint,” Timlin wrote in an email to the Collegian. “It represents the mark our customers leave on the store and the mark we leave on the community as a whole.”

Because Whorl Shop is Denver-based, Timlin and Vasseur try to support other local stores.

“We like to work with other Denver business and offer private events,” Vasseur wrote in the email. “About 40 percent of (our products are) made right here in Denver.”

Vasseur said they focus on details to differentiate themselves from other boutiques.

“Our shop is unlike others, because it truly is the product of a mixture of talents,” Vasseur wrote. “From the beautifully curated collections, our fixtures and local artwork, every aspect of Whorl has a local Denver mover behind it.”

Both Timlin and Vasseur mentioned how their educations at CSU inspired their careers in fashion.

“I studied fashion merchandising,” Timlin wrote. “My degree gave me the merchandising knowledge I needed to run a store.”

However, it is not necessary to have a degree in fashion to work in the business, according to Vasseur.

“I studied communication studies and women’s studies,” Vasseur wrote. “Together, these two disciplines allowed me to develop a creative yet aware sense of understanding perspective.”

Whorl Shop is having its grand opening celebration Friday at 5:30-9:30 p.m. at its location in Denver, 3326 Tejon St.

“It means so much to know that our CSU community is supporting us,” Vasseur wrote.

Collegian Reporter Emery Love can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @emerynlove.