We were lucky to catch up with Casey Kelly recently and have shared our conversation below.

Casey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was a pretty independent child and spent most of my alone time creating with whatever was at my disposal. I really enjoyed exploring all art forms, but was very influenced by the creativity of both of my grandmothers and my dad. My dad’s mother painted ceramics, did cross stitch, and was incredibly fashionable. I spent a lot of time with her until she passed away when I was 11. We painted and shopped together nearly every weekend. She taught me a lot about fashion as a form of self expression and taking risks. My mom’s mother sewed, knitted, did needlepoint, and worked in the apparel industry. I would spend my summers visiting her in Texas and learning from her. She always encouraged my love of fashion sending me books and articles as she came across them. My dad builds instruments, paints, embroiders, and has always encouraged me to explore every creative whim. Fashion was always my top creative interest from a very young age. I dreamt of being a fashion designer and took playing dress up to the extreme as much as possible.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After over 20 years in the fashion industry running retail stores I started the learn about the dark side of the industry. I stumbled on the documentary The True Cost in 2018 and fell down a rabbit hole of discovery. I learned how harmful the industry is to the environment, our bodies, animals, and the people who make our clothes. The same week I fell down the rabbit hole Kate Spade passed away. She was one of my biggest inspirations and my first employer out of college. I was still working for a contemporary brand and the day she died I decided to follow her inspiration and find a way to make change in the industry. My now business partner, Joanne, and I had met recently in a dinner club. We quickly bonded over our love of fashion and seemed to be falling down the same rabbit hole. When we started the business our intention was to curate the secondhand market and help people see how fun, affordable, and fashionable shopping secondhand could be. We threw pop up parties and hand selected a capsule for each attendant based on our style profile. In our second year of business we started to offer memberships to our studio for monthly rentals – think Rent the Runway, but on a local level. We offer private appointments where we source for and style our clients based on their needs. These aspects are still part of our business, but our focus has shifted in the last couple years. We have started exploring more of our own creativity with our own pieces of wearable art. In addition to our own pieces we have also created upcycled wearable art out of deconstructed garments painted by artist Vando Davis and have series of ongoing release events with him and designer, Mookah Adansi. We still love styling and sourcing and started to do some work for the film industry, most recently the show Black Mafia Family on Starz. We are getting back into the swing of private shopping and styling events in partnership with Root Local, a new environmental foundation working to create an environmental impact place for the city. We are incredibly passionate about showing people how to express themselves through fashion in sustainable ways.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The best way to support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem is to not buy mass produced pieces from corporations, but buy art from individuals. Go to local openings and artist markets and shop. See and support the value of the work in someone’s creative expression. Share the work of artists and creatives you admire with others to help them grow their following. When you appreciate someone’s creative work tell them. It can be really hard to share creative expression and it means the world to the creator when someone appreciates it.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known about artist in residency programs before this year. I would have dove deeper into the opportunities the past few years and I know it would have inspired more personal growth and creative exploration.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theconsciousoutfit.com
• Instagram: @theconsciousoutfit
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconsciousoutfit
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-kelly-4519849/

Image Credits
Melle Houston and Betsy McPherson