 |
| Kelly McDonald of Wabasha, is the founder and designer of KIS Fashions. McDonald who lost her sight in 1990 and was visually impaired until she recovered from corneal transplant surgery later the following year, creates handbag designs that she says are "innovative and functional. |
By Holly Galbus
news@postbulletin.com
WABASHA – A local handbag maker has found a unique way to make a splash: It’s seeking designs from students across the country to create a product for the retail market.
Kelly McDonald, founder of KIS Fashions, has created Design4America, a national competition giving fashion design students the chance to submit an original design that could be sold at boutiques and other retail stores.
KIS Fashions, located at 205 West Second Street in Wabasha, sells handbags and women’s apparel at its shop and through its website, kisfashions.com.
McDonald was born and raised in Wabasha, and after working for 22 years in the insurance and hearing aid industries, moved back in 2006 to be closer to family and friends.
This past May, she opened KIS Fashions as well as AMUSA, a local factory to manufacture leather handbags, women’s apparel, and bedding and bath textiles. AMUSA already has its first order for 26 handbags and continues to work on samples of products for the upcoming season.
The AMUSA factory is in the KIS office but soon will be moving to a former museum building; it has three employees and hopes to grow to 20 by 2015.
In the future, McDonald hopes to manufacture products for companies similar to KIS Fashions.
Previously, McDonald worked with overseas factories to manufacture her products, but she wanted to bring her business to the U.S. She feels good about making the move to Wabasha, creating employment opportunities for local residents in sewing and assembly of her products. AMUSA will also be giving a percentage of its profits to both Vision Loss Resources and Wabasha County DAC, which assists mentally challenged individuals.
The Design4America competition began taking registrations this October. It is open to any current fashion design student or graduate in the last five years.
Through the submission process, students learn how an item proceeds from the design stage to the marketplace.
First, the student submits a photo or drawing of the original design in one of three categories: handbags, apparel, or bedding and bath. After consideration, the student may advance to the next step and create a sample and pattern of the design. Winning entries will eventually be sold online or in retail stores and boutiques, and may be featured on the home shopping channel, ShopHQ.
McDonald is excited about giving students this opportunity. “It is so rewarding to work with them – they are ingenious with their designs,” she said.
She sees her role as business partner to these budding young designers. “I am giving them a platform,” explained McDonald. “It can be difficult for new designers to get their ideas to the market.”
KIS Fashions began with a line of handbags, which McDonald designed to be both functional and luxurious.
The importance of these 2 concepts emerged from a challenging time in her life. Losing her sight in 1990, she realized the difficulty a woman who is visually impaired has in finding essentials in her handbag.
Also, the touch and feel of fabric became more important to her. This heighted sense of awareness led her later – after a corneal transplant restored her sight in 1991 – to design handbags with functionality and the comfortable feel of lambskin. She designed her handbags with numerous pockets to separate essentials like keys and sunglasses.
No comments:
Post a Comment