George Moskal

Age: 31.

Hometown: Prairie Farm, Wis.

Day job: Textile designer for Target; planning to move to Portland, Ore., to design namesake line full-time.

Years with Voltage: Two.

Years spent designing: Professionally for four years, although "I have been designing for most of my life," he says.

Credentials: Winner of first design award by U.K. retailer Topshop and Dazed Magazine; interned at Zandra Rhodes in London.

Known for: "Body-conscious demi-couture for the modern, strong-willed woman of today."

Three biggest inspirations: "'50s/'60s couture, the female body and the Elizabethan era."

Describe your Voltage '08 line in five words or less: "Film noir femme fatale."

Russell Bourrienne

Age: 41.

Hometown: Kimball, Minn.

Day job: Working at Accent Arts framing gallery in Uptown.

Years with Voltage: One.

Years spent designing: "I've been designing for myself since I was 13, and professionally for about six years."

Credentials: A winner of Macy's Distinction in Design award in 2007; core designer for DIFFA/DIVA fashion show for five years; clothing featured in TLC's "A Makeover Story" and in locally produced film "Justice."

Known for: Custom menswear and use of hardware, bold detail and "a strong undercurrent of the '70s."

Three biggest inspirations: "Music, architecture and fabric itself."

Describe your Voltage '08 line in five words or less: "Historical European and Asian-inspired sportswear."

Max Lohrbach

Age: 31.

Hometown: Mantorville, Minn.

Day job: "Unemployed collector."

Years with Voltage: One.

Years spent designing: 10.

Credentials: Recipient of Chapeau Millinery Guild award in 2005.

Known for: "Dreamy, historical-inspired confections," including womenswear, menswear and millinery.

Three biggest inspirations: "Buster Keaton, old paper and redheads."

Describe your Voltage '08 line in five words or less: "Pretty, emotional, funny, old-fashioned, handmade."

Katherine Gerdes

Age: 26.

Hometown: Minneapolis.

Day job: Designer and owner of Katherine Gerdes clothing line.

Years with Voltage: Three.

Years spent designing: Five.

Credentials: Contestant on "Project Runway" Season Three, designer for Target men's clothing brands, designer for DIVA fashion show, fashion design instructor, featured in national magazines.

Known for: Her comfortable yet sophisticated jersey dresses.

Three biggest inspirations: "Home decor magazines, colors in nature, and cool kids on the street," she says.

Describe your Voltage '08 line in five words or less: "Sustainable, comfortable, hand-dyed, jersey and wabi-sabi."

Swank Dollar

Designed by: Annie Larson.

Age: 24.

Hometown: Westby, Wis.

Day job: "Designer for the most enormous corporation on Nicollet Mall."

Years with Voltage: Two.

Years spent designing: "Seems like years!"

Credentials: "Miscellaneous shows and collaboration."

Known for: "Designing clothing that would probably be better suited for children but is worn by adults instead."

Three biggest inspirations: Easter baskets, dinner mints and "really pretty flowers."

Describe your Voltage '08 line in five words or less: "Straight from the magic garden."

Laura Fulk

Age: 25.

Hometown: New Richmond, Wis.

Day job: Assistant to a high-end custom menswear tailor.

Years with Voltage: Three.

Years spent designing: Five.

Credentials: Purchase Award of Excellence from the Minnesota Historical Society, Collector's Purchase Award from the Goldstein Museum of Design, Wearable Art Midwest Artwear Devotee Award, NICHE Student Award finalist.

Known for: "Masculine femininity through silhouette and form with subtle to extreme surface interruptions."

Three biggest inspirations: "History, sculpture and those who keep their chin up."

Describe your Voltage '08 line in five words or less: "Annie Oakley Meets the Sex Pistols."