Enter the year 2020. A global pandemic.
Remember that time?
When the world seemed to break overnight, no one knew what was happening, and fear plagued the planet? Lockdown initiated what I am referring to as a “surge of skill acquisition”. A large percentage of people had the time and space to pursue interests at home that had been prevented in the past. For me, I began weaving cotton potholders on a loom again. Seriously. As a child, at some point and somehow, I ended up with a potholder loom, and I’m pretty sure I made multiple potholders for every family member for multiple Christmas seasons in a row. Something about just sitting and doing something that didn’t require a great deal of mental capacity felt soothing to me during such a challenging season. Starting up this craft again led way to my new mother-in-law suggesting that we sell my potholders and some projects she had been sewing at the first local festival that opened up once things were safe to do that again. My mother-in-law has been sewing and quilting for decades, but she began specifically making beautiful aprons shortly before the pandemic and was acquiring quite a knack for some varying designs and styles. She decided to post a few online that drew a great deal of interest. Fast forward a matter of months and we decided to build and launch a sewing business together. “Kimber Kollections” was born.
With this new venture, we were interested in seeing if we could get our hands on some wholesale fabric to reduce our input costs and increase our profit margins. In my google search for said product, I discovered a pdf guide to wholesale fabric by the infamous Jane Hamill. Subscribing to her emails, a short time later, she gave a huge sale on a course she sold called “Launch-a-Line” for 2 days only at 50% off. Jane worked as a clothing designer for years and had a storefront in Chicago, as well as sold her items through a list of department stores. Her course specifically taught interested designers what they needed to know to, you guessed it, launch a line. I bought it. The training mentioned a man by the name of Boaz David, the “factory whisperer”, as Jane had referred to him. Boaz helped individuals coordinate the logistics to get their lines up and running. I contacted him and the rest is history. He knew everyone. Where to get the good fabric. Which factory to use. Who to purchase clothing labels from. You name it. I could not have imagined working with a better consultant - he was absolutely fantastic to collaborate with and was beyond understanding of me zooming into model fittings while holding a newborn and giving a bottle at the same time. Being able to work with someone that was collaborative and understanding as I juggled two dreams (being a mother and launching my own clothing line) was incredibly encouraging through the entire process.
So, there you have it. The long, and to some degree, short, version of the stories that started the stitching of WHOBREY.
Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes look at the precious childhood treasures I found from sewing days with my grandmother, the gorgeous dress my Aunt Sis made that is working its way down family generations, and the list continues…