Meet Sibel, a clothing artist in Lewisburg

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

Sibel Mallory is full of surprises. 

Originally from Turkey, she now makes her home in the Greenbrier Valley as owner and operator of Cybele’s Boutique, a women’s store in downtown Lewisburg. 

While all the storefronts downtown ooze their own sense of cool, Sibel’s shop has several surprises that make it unique. She does it all, from working the cash register to painting the artwork on the walls to fashioning the clothes on the shelf. She also stays open seven days a week, and refuses to do any online or phone orders, focusing exclusively on in-store customers for whom she makes clothing. 

“I have time to do it, and I enjoy it,” she says. “When I lived in Turkey I studied all the time. When I lived in Los Angeles, I worked all the time. But here, I have time to make one-of-a-kind  things for my customers.” 

Sibel is the youngest of three children. She worked in broadcast news in Istanbul before moving to Los Angeles with her husband where she served as a personal assistant to business leaders and celebrities. 

“Then one day I decided life is too short to rush,” she remembers. Her husband was suffering from mental health problems and they were tired of city life, so they decided to move to Princeton, WV. 

They’d never visited Princeton, let alone West Virginia. But her husband’s family lived about three hours away, which she said, with a smile, was “close, but not too close.”

After a year in Princeton finding their footing, they made the move to the Greenbrier Valley after realizing Sibel’s desire to expand her clothing business would be a good fit in Lewisburg. 

“Sometimes good things come from bad things,” she reflects. “That’s something I’ve learned in my life.” 

‘One-of-a-kind clothing’

One of my professors in college always lamented why consumers purchased mass-produced clothing in an attempt to express themselves as individuals? 

He would like Cybele, because every piece of clothing is unique. 

“I never make the exact same thing again,” Sibel explains. “I don’t want the ladies to show up to the same event in town and look like twins.” 

Her handmade products include shawls, scarves, ponchos, hats, and jewelry.

“I dye the silk, I felt the silk, crochet, knit, do embroidery, paint, all of that,” she says nonchalantly. “Do you want me to show you?” 

“Yes,” I respond. So she sits down at a table at the front of her store, takes a piece of fabric and begins “painting” a picture of an animal using only wool fibers and a needle into a garment. See for yourself how she does it: 

These whimsical pieces are her best-sellers. 

“After I finish the design, I take the fabric home, wash it by hand, and the wool stays on the fabric. Soap and water is a glue.” 

She decides what images to needle onto the garment based on “my mood.” She says the “funny faces” are the most popular. 

Sibel doesn’t do it all by herself, though. Her two sisters also make jewelry, purses, and other women’s accessories by hand and sell them in the store.  

“My sisters are very talented,”  she says. “I will draw a picture of what I want to them make, they make it, and send it to me for the store.” They make every effort to ensure that customers can buy matching items, even though some of made inside the Lewisburg store and others and made in Turkey. 

If Sibel had her way, she’d also have a store dedicated solely to hats. 

“I love hats!” she announces. “But you can’t survive on just hats in this market. I do have many customers who come just for hats.” 

As we are discussing hats, Sibel tells me she sells “fascinators,” and asks if I know what those are? 

“No, I don’t,” I confess. 

“Let me show you,” she says. “Think of the hats ladies wear for the big horse races or special events.” 

As it turns out, “fascinators” are one of her most popular products.  “Ladies come here to the store from North & South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida to buy these hats from me for horse races, church at Easter, and special parties.” 

Sibel explains that most of her clients are women who want quality, unique products. 

“That generation of women, including many from the Greenbrier Sporting Club, come to me for a quality product that they know was made by hand and will hold up over time.” 

‘I just pray’

As you may have noticed, the name of the store (Cybele) is an alternative spelling of the owner’s name (Sibel). 

Cybele is a goddess in ancient Turkish culture, who was later appropriated by the Greeks and Romans in their mythology. She was said to be the mother of the gods, formative in the creation of the world. 

It’s an apt name for the store since Sibel creates most everything she sells by hand. 

Like all downtown businesses, Sibel says her sales are down this year. She said the decline began last year and has continued since. 

“But I just pray and have faith in God,” she says. “Sometimes good things come from bad things.” 

Cybele’s Boutique is located at 934 Washington Street West, Lewisburg, WV 24901. You can follow the store on social media or call Sibel at 213-245-6805.