CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Inspiration can be found in almost every situation.

Just ask Nicole Sinclair.

When the Charlotte, N.C., stylist's husband of eight years was laid off from Wachovia last November, the couple had a "light bulb moment," she says. They sent their son to camp for exposure to things he loves, so why couldn't they create the same experience for budding fashion mavens?

So five months after her husband, Clayton, lost that banking job, the pair launched Style Sanctum, a Huntersville, N.C., studio that helps children discover and nurture their creativity through fashion. The venture has been such a success, a second location will open Nov. 14 in south Charlotte.

Opening the studio was a leap of faith, Sinclair says - one motivated by her passion for fashion and desire to share her knowledge, especially with young people. As a personal wardrobe stylist, Sinclair had forever been fielding requests from clients to help their daughters get an insider perspective on the fashion industry.

"It was pretty scary, to see it all laid out there," Sinclair says. "I was thinking, 'I can't do that, it's too big, it's too scary.' But I kept thinking of all the little girls that I could help with fashion, help them learn how to draw, and I thought, 'I have got to go for it.'"

By April, they opened the space off Eastfield Road in Huntersville, N.C., hosting fashion classes and themed birthday parties.

Sinclair has an infectious smile and a magnetic personality that softens the edges of her potentially intimidating fashion pedigree. A graduate of Parsons: The New School of Design, she worked at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus before styling full-time. She blogs about fashion and regularly attends New York Fashion Week.

Her experience adds a level of sophistication to classes, one that students may not appreciate until they are older. To her students, some as young as 7, she's an affectionate big sister who has them play with color wheels, tells them it's OK to draw and sketch, and leads field trips to Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, N.C., and Saks Off Fifth at Concord Mills. She's also exposing them to industry visionaries such as Alexander McQueen, Christian Cota and Balenciaga.

By starting with the building blocks of fashion, Sinclair aims to create educated, empowered consumers for whom loving the Jonas Brothers and John Galliano isn't much of a stretch.

Valarie Udeh, whose daughters Chidera, 10 and Amara, 8, participated in summer camp at the studio, says Sinclair teaches more than just what labels are hot or why trends matter.

"I wanted to give my girls the ability to make decisions about what it is that they like (in clothing), and what they put together," Udeh says. "When I was young, it was Garanimals. You match the elephant with the elephant. Now, you can wear jeans and a sundress and it's totally fine.

"I want (my daughters) to create their own wardrobe and know that it is OK, even if it is different."

Style Sanctum offers 11 classes in six subject areas of fashion including industry overview and introduction, drawing, construction, color and makeup artistry. Classes cost $95 (plus $30 for materials) and are held in six-week cycles, meeting once a week for about an hour.

The work is intense, in an age-appropriate way. There is some obligatory collage-making, but there are also discussions about draping, the importance of fit, fabric selection, even sewing.

Angela Stephens-Owens enrolled her daughter Alannah Stephens, 9, in a weeklong Style Sanctum drawing class last summer.

"(Alannah) started off Day 1 feeling hesitant," Stephens-Owens says. "Everyone in the class was a little bit older than her, but by Day 2, I couldn't get her to go to bed at night because she was too busy drawing the human figure (called croquis in the fashion design world) over and over in her notebook."

Stephens-Owens, who teaches interior design at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, was impressed. Her fourth-grade daughter was learning about proportions and color theory, some of the principles she teaches at a college level.

"(Sinclair) was not teaching the students to be brand snobs, or imposing her tastes on them," she says. "She truly seemed to want to cultivate creativity, but while keeping practicality in check."

Style Sanctum's growth has exceeded her expectations, Sinclair says, and is driven by feedback from parents and students. Now, there are classes for homeschoolers, and adult classes when parents said they wanted the same experience as their children.

On Nov. 14, Style Sanctum is launching Style Lab, an intimate, wine-and-cheese-fueled monthly personal styling event at which attendees can have two outfits evaluated.

So far, more than 125 students have attended classes, and that number will only increase as the South Charlotte location opens at the YWCA on Park Road.

"It's all about (the students), to help them listen to their creative voice, to become an innovative leader," Sinclair says. "To make them realize they are special, and that it's OK to be weird.

"And getting the hugs - that's the best part."

DETAILS: 704-274-5645; www.stylesanctum.com.