At the age of 18, Ashley left the coast of Florida on a Greyhound bus with three hundred dollars, three suitcases, and the dream of building a career in fashion. Once in LA she put herself through college designing a small collection of bikinis & selling them to friends and students, building her first die-hard fans and launching her revolutionary line of hand made knit bikinis. Within her first year of business, she landed eight covers including the highly coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Four years later she made a name for herself as the maven of swimwear and her designs were in high demand among Hollywood’s A-list celebrities including Lindsay Lohan, Paris & Nicky Hilton, Fergie, Jessica Alba, Liv Tyler, and Kate Hudson. Her styles have graced the pages of numerous magazines as well as countless television appearances including Extra, ET, the style network, MTV, VH1, and Bravo. This small town girl hit the big screen in Peace, Love & Bikinis, a documentary about the grueling behind-the-scenes world of fashion design which won “best documentary” at the New York Film Festival.

Ashley uses spotlight press to promote animal rescue. She brings homeless dogs down the runway, wears t-shirts reading “Save a stray”, and hosts weekly pet adoptions at her boutique-studio in Hollywood.

Not only has she rescued thousands of animals through her non-profit organization, RuffHouZen Rescue, she’s also the author of “Sexy Little Knits” (Random House), giving the home-knitter a fresh do-it-yourself perspective on Ashley’s groundbreaking designs.