Tampa Bay Designer Kimberly Hendrix to Debut k.hendrix Spring/Summer 2011
Local Tampa Bay designer Kimberly Hendrix, of the brand k.hendrix, will make her inaugural appearance at Fashion Week Tampa Bay September 24, 2010; showcasing her much anticipated spring/summer 2011 collection.
Kimberly took inspiration for her newest collection from 1952 Life magazine photographs depicting University of Florida students performing circus acts in their vintage, embellished costumes. Kimberly was also influenced by the darker side of the ballet and seems to share that inspiration with Hollywood, as a new thriller, Black Swan , featuring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, is also set to open the Venice film festival in September.
Since 2007 Kimberly has quickly made a name for herself in fashion. Using her talent and skills as an interior designer, vintage collector and exceptional seamstress, Kimberly has built a large following for her handmade, one-of-a-kind, coveted creations. Her pieces have been worn by fashion forefront celebrities like Zooey Deschanel, Courtney Love and Juliet Lewis. Her treasured pieces have appeared in fashion spreads for Ocean, Glitterati, La Direct, 944, S Magazine and Blackbook, as well as yet unreleased ad campaigns for Miami and New York based up and coming starlets.
Kimberly appeared as herself on the TLC reality show Bikini or Bust in 2008 and narrowly missed being chosen for this year’s 8th season of Project Runway on Lifetime. Undeterred by the near miss, Kimberly has been going head to head with the shows designer’s with her own Project Runway home challenges and corresponding video blogs on youtube and has gained a large following, selling the creations almost as quickly as they are completed.
Located in quaint Palm Harbor, k.hendrix designs are available online at www.khendrix.com and in Miami, New York and Los Angeles boutiques. On her blog “keeping up with k.hendrix” she shares her progress, inspirations and excitement for her upcoming runway show. Kimberly’s first complete release showcasing her Spring/Summer 2011 runway collection will be turning heads at this year’s Fashion Week Tampa Bay 2010.
To learn more about Kimberly Hendrix or her k.hendrix line, please visit www.khendrix.com. To learn more about Kimberly’s Project Runway home challenges video blog project, please visit Kimberly’s youtube page. Ticket for Fashion Week Tampa Bay are available online. Any other inquiries, please email kimberly@helloimfabulous.com.
Contact Information:
k.hendrix
727.643.2356
Street Couture for Every Day
MEET MADISON BUYER DESIGNER: MARY SPENCER & JON WATSON
What inspired you to jump into fashion?
I’ve always enjoyed fashion from the time I was a little girl. I loved vintage fashions as a teen and young adult and was a big thrifter before it was ever fashionable. For most of my career I’ve been in product development for the social expression and puzzle/board game industry, so going into fashion was a pleasant surprise. I always thought you had to go to school for fashion design to be involved in fashion.
Jon (co-owner, Jon Watson) is mostly a t-shirt and Dickies kind of guy, and follows his own fashion sense. In fact it was his whole classic motorcycle gettup that attracted me to him in the first place. Now, his biggest fashion statement is his hair. He’s always changing it up and of course his long braided beard has become his most noted accessory besides his buckles. I told him he can never shave it. It’s his trademark.
It was really by accident that we got into fashion. Jon made a buckle for himself one day and I jumped on it and said, “hey, let’s make a whole line of those”. From there we developed our line.
What makes WATTO different than other brands?
We are fusing art with fashion so that it becomes wearable art. Each item is handmade in the USA and is it’s own little piece of affordable art. Jon is interested in the craft of the fashion as much as the fashion itself. We are a unique merge of art and consumer goods. Many artists don’t want to repeat their designs and are not into marketing it to the masses. We are not only about good quality craftsmanship, love of metal and great design, but we are also about branding ourselves.
As a designer, what are your most difficult challenges?
Balancing creativity with production. We are both artists, but I’ve had to take the business and marketing role on and Jon has had to give up some of his more creative metal endeavors in order to fill orders. Although we love what we do, we wish we had more time to create for the sake of creation.
What do you find most rewarding?
Working for ourselves and having our own business is by far the most rewarding aspect of being a designer. The great thing about being a creative designer with a business and marketing sense is that there are always new things to create. If the popularity of our items dies down, we can always come up with other ideas of things to make whether it be in metal or other medium. And, although we love fashion, we also design home goods such as lighting and sculpture, so the opportunities are endless.
Who is your primary target audience?
Wow, that’s a tough one. We originally aimed for the 18-30 year old market, but due to the economy and the fact that our items are not mass market pricing, we have actually picked up an older audience than we expected. More of the 30-50 year olds. I think our target market is more of a mindset. We like to say it’s for the “rocker” in all of us! We also originally aimed our lines more to appeal to guys since there are not a ton of accessories for them, but we’ve added womens buckles which has been great for our business.
What’s in store for WATTO customers in the near future?
We’ve added a lot more accessories besides buckles. We are also targeting some lower price points in items such as chains and key chains so that our mini art pieces can be more affordable for everyone to enjoy.
Find Watto Distinctive Metal Wear: Website * Facebook * Twitter * Flickr
Meet Movoc 16:3
MEET MADISON BUYER DESIGNER: Chris Pease – Movoc 16:3
What inspired you to jump into fashion?
I decided to fill a void within the motorcycle industry. The motorcycle community didn’t, at least in my opinion, have an apparel company that tastefully produced a product that truly draws its roots from the motorcycle history and culture. I wasn’t a fashion major or anything of the sort, I had to educate myself as much as possible over about a year to bring my vision to fruition. It wasn’t and still isn’t easy!
What makes Movoc 16:3 different from other collections?
I won’t necessarily say it’s different from other collections within the motorcycle inspired casual wear, but I will say that we pay more attention to quality and creating designs that can become conversation pieces. We aren’t trying to grow overnight, we want our concept to grow slowly and steadily. 
As a designer, what are your most difficult challenges?
Honestly, finding reputable and skilled graphic artists and apparel designers who are willing to work with smaller, start up companies. You’ll see that larger apparel companies have more leverage in getting the product they need. Smaller companies have difficulty competing with that. Another challenge is capital, this business works off of well executed marketing efforts and distribution-a challenge for many start up apparel companies.
What do you find most rewarding?
Seeing customers actually see the effort put into the designs. We also like seeing those few that understand our concept and become supporters and advocates for Movoc 16:3.
Who is your primary target audience?
Primarily motorcycle riders and enthusiasts. There are other audiences, but I feel that we need to establish our validity within the motorcycle community first.
What’s in store for Movoc 16:3 customers in the near future?
I pray that we can expand into more apparel and accessory offerings within 5 years, but I have to ensure that the company is more established within its distribution and knowledge/demand for the product before moving into new territory. There’s a great deal more in terms of those “right” people and resources that I think we haven’t found to successfully expand. I do have faith, which has helped me tremendously in making this company become what it has so far!
Handbag Accessories for the Modern Fashionista
MEET RACHELLE COURTNEY, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF LOCAL HARDWEAR:
What inspired you to jump into fashion?
I’ve always been interested in fashion and while the legal industry allowed me to pay my bills and exercise my mind, I wanted a creative outlet as well. My love of the fashion industry, trends in the marketplace and my ability to shop for others and know what would look good (personal shopping) was really my inspiration. After my online retail consignment store and experience as a personal shopper, I sensed an opportunity in the accessories industry with handbag hangers. So, after 17 years in the legal industry, I put aside the corporate world and jumped into accessory wonderland with both feet.
What makes Local Hardwear different from other collections?
The Local Hardwear mission is to combine utility and design with a pinch of attitude – a harmony of beauty and raw functionality. To the uninitiated, a handbag hanger looks like a pretty simplistic piece of metal. The physical characteristics of the hanger are critical. A hanger must be strong enough to hold the heaviest bags, compact enough to fit into the smallest of handbags yet large enough to fit on a wide range of tables and other surfaces. We have spent a good deal of time on refining our basic hanger design.
As a designer, what are your most difficult challenges?
To stay ahead of the curve and know what people want before they want it. It has been a challenge to create unique designs that are universal to everyone without diminishing our contemporary and fashion-forward designs. Our designs are remarkable, the quality is unmatched and our pricing is quite aggressive in today’s market, however, the majority of women still do not know that these fantastic accessories exist. So opening up that market is one of the biggest challenges.
What do you find most rewarding?
Creating beautiful inspired designs and then describing how we created them in words on our website. Each of our Collections has a meaning and reason behind it, as well as the hanger designs. We create them for women of the world and knowing that our customers love them and can’t be happier is quite a reward in itself. We receive only positive feedback quite frequently from new and return customers.
Who is your primary target audience?
Historically, the working woman who carries a handbag, goes out to lunch or dinner has been our target market. But quite honestly, it has morphed into anyone who wants to prevent the spread of germs – which, in this day and age, is almost anyone. Our customers are of all ages and all over the country, including international customers, so it goes without saying that almost anyone could benefit from the handbag hanger. In this regard, requests and comments submitted through our website by men is also making it clear that the market for handbag hangers reaches far beyond women. Many men these days carry laptop bags, camera cases, umbrellas and other accessories that could potentially be stored on a hanger.
What’s in store for your customers in the near future?
We just launched our “Bliss Flower” design in the Harmony Collection a few months ago and it is continues to sell out and has become a customer favorite. We will be introducing at least one more Collection containing 4 original designs based on symbolism, edgy graphics and stunning ornaments. They are currently in the sample phase and are on track for an early 2011 launch. We have re-designed our physical hanger to incorporate new materials and functionality. We are also adding a few new accessories in the fall to compliment our already fabulous inventory.
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