Shesho Designs

Meet local designer, Krista Kelly of Shesho Designs, our featured designer for May. Where do you get your ideas for your designs? I get ideas from the fashion world - magazines and people walking around on the street, as well as from vintage clothing and my imagination and patterns and graffiti and well what have you. What type of equipment do you use? Do you make all of your pieces yourself? I use a Bernina serger mainly, which is a fancy sewing machine. I make everything myself from scratch, and design each piece separately, creating out of each piece a unique and special pair of hotness.

What kind of products do you create and where can people find them? I handmake ultra comfortable fashion forward one of a kind underwear and hot pants for men and women from scratch using 5-9 separate pieces combining and contrasting 2-4 different materials, which include both new cotton knit blends, and recycled materials which are in good condition and often vintage. I place a heavy emphasis on recycled clothing and redesigned vintage, and use recycled products in approximately 80% of my designs. However, waistbands, and crotch lining are always from new materials. I do not use elastic, with the goal of greater comfort, but take great care to ensure my stretch knits are of a particular variety that *does not stretch out and not stretch back* - as I put it in my etsy store - "the waist bands are a polyester lycra cotton knit, and are stretchy yet sturdy for stretching that bounces back-more comfortable than elastic, but equally effective!" The seams are on the outside, which both gives them a DIY look and also makes for more comfortable wear. Each pair of underwear/hot pants are hand-crafted designer made with love by Krista Kelly (me!) of Shesho Designs.

Where can your items be found? They are available at Monster Clothing in SEATTLE, Washington on the corner of 20th ave and Ballard Ave (they have a great selection-like 30 pairs!) ALSO NOW available at Antic Clothing located at 2935 NE Broadway in Portland Oregon and at the Portland Saturday Market under the Burnside Bridge Saturdays and Sundays March-Christmas (in the Antic booth). The Fremont Market I have started doing every Sunday 10-5. The Fremont's cool cause they have something for everyone. There's vintage clothing, handmade stuff, records, furniture, food, and street musicians singing about smoothies!

Upcoming stuff includes the Fremont Solstice Fair (not to be confused with the weekly market) which is bigger and badder than the weekly version. As they say on the website, "BUSKERS, CLOWNS, JUGGLERS, MAGICIANS and STREET PERFORMERS of almost any kind are encouraged at the Fremont Fair. The weirder, the better." I approve.

May 3rd at "I Heart Rummage" which is held at this rad bar Chop Suey the first Sunday of most every month. "HR features 45 of the Northwest’s most innovative indie designers and urban crafters. They have a live DJ, and admission is free!" Also, Bumbershoot! I am jumping on board with the I Heart Rummage crew and will be sharing their booth with some other radical local designers. EVERYTHING is available online at www.sheshodesigns.etsy.com

What inspired you to start doing what you do? I am inspired by South American street fashion, my appreciation of graffiti art, my secret obsession with comfort, and a refusal to consider life a serious matter. (see also answer to next question)

What's your background and have you always been creative? Are there other artistic endeavors you're involved in? Unofficially, I started creating fashion in about sixth grade, when I began turning my Barbie dolls into punk rock vixens, and making them clothes to go along. I was also buying vintage clothing and redesigning them with the help of my crafty mum. However, I took a detour and went to college for Political Science and Sociology after high school, and didn't get serious about making clothing until about two years ago, after returning from a three month stint in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I found Buenos Aires extremely inspiring, from the language to the fashion to the graffiti, it stirred the creative force in me and I began brainstorming, made myself an inspiration book using cutouts from fashion magazines (new and vintage) that gave me ideas.

I started out with several ideas, and with the help of my extremely supportive mom, starting making stuff. However, my underwear/ hot pants quickly emerged to me as my most creative item, as well as the most widely unavailable type of clothing available in todays market. Although you can always find some ill-fitting mass produced underwear, finding sexy comfortable cool and original designer made underwear is relatively difficult. Therefore I decided to focus on that endeavor for the time being.

As far as other creative stuff, I do all my own fliers, buttons, and other graphic design related goodness. I make zines, alter my own clothes constantly (good practice!), and juggle!

How do you see expanding your line in the near future? I am interested in so much. I am extremely creative and think of some new design I want to put into production almost daily. There will definitely be more from me in the future, as to what particularly I'm not decided.

Whose work do you admire? Flood Clothing out of Portland is one of my favorite designers and focuses on redesigned vintage (www.floodclothing.com). I also really love Antic Clothing out of Portland for their original artwork screenprinted clothing (www.anticink.com). You can find their booths at the Portland Saturday Market. Also, I can't help but admit I love Marc Jacobs and Betsy Johnson.

What advice would you offer new designers entering the market? Don't give up. Keep pushing yourself to be better and do more and if this is your dream and you believe in what you do then don't let anyone tell you it isn't possible. The economy has hit all of us, but the point is not to give up and work at walmart. The point is to work harder, be better, and be worth it.

What is your vision for your business and where would you like to be in five years? Bigger better faster smarter with my ideals still intact-which are eco friendly large corportation phobic quality affordable and awesome. I am always pushing myself and looking for more opportunities and some other stuff is in the works. So basically that's my goal in life. To kick ass.

Any other area of fashion you'd like to delve into? Again, I can see myself doing a lot of different things in the industry. As to what direction I will take in the future, time will tell. I can say I have always secretly wanted to be a personal stylist.

What current trend would you like to see go away? Fake pockets. What a tease!

If you could have one item, new or vintage, what would it be? I wouldn't say there is any one item I can't live without, but a good leather jacket and a pair of big vintage sunglasses complete any wardrobe.

What item did you wear to shreds growing up? A purple glow in the dark alien tshirt. Ah, the nineties.

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