We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kate Jones a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kate, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

In 2012 I was living in Los Angeles and had just left a retail job. I saw an ad in Craigslist for an assistant to a clothing designer and I answered it. I met Jesse Kamm in a coffee shop and thats how I started working for her. It blossomed into nearly 9 years. At first it was part time, but we grew together. The very first day in that coffee shop she asked me what I was interested in doing. After working in retail for so long I had already begun to think about working in a more behind the scenes role. I said something to the effect of wanting to also be a clothing designer. She said to me ” be a pattern maker”. It’s a bit of a dying breed she explained, and told me about the pattern makers she had worked with. It was really the tiniest bit of fuel that was thrown onto a spark I already had, but she put words to it. Between that, and my regular walks to a vintage shop called Luxe de Ville in Echo park where I had the best conversations with Oscar, the owner, who told me about fashion design classes at Los Angeles Trade Tech, it wasn’t long before I was enrolled. It was really those simple conversations that lead me to where I am today. Jesse has continued to be a role model and mentor to me every step of the way. Since she was a small business owner and real a one woman show at that time, I got to learn all aspects of the business and really had a hand in almost everything. Going to school WHILE working directly in the fashion industry was really the ticket. I was able to see firsthand what I was learning about. I was learning how to grade patterns while dropping off the patterns to be graded, and was able to sit in and ask them questions. When everyone in my class said they wanted to be fashion designers, I held off and said I wanted to be a pattern maker. Mostly, I watched how Jesse was extremely intentional about everything she designed, created, and sold. She was likely a sustainable designer before most knew what that was or how important it would become. She has always been committed to those core values such as paying a fair wage, sourcing deadstock or sustainable fabrics, creating little to no waste, and most importantly, kindness in a industry that seemed to be less about heart and more about money. I spent a lot of time wondering how I would fit into this industry and I constantly asked myself, “what will I make that is any different from what already exists?” I struggled for a long time and didn’t want to contribute to an already seemingly saturated market. One day I found a quilt top in a thrift store and immediately felt that connection, that tiny bit of fuel I needed for the spark that was already there. I knew it would be a very intentional process to work within the constraints of existing materials but it was something I knew had a place in the industry and it felt right to me.
Although Jesse and I are now on opposites sides of the country, she continues to be a mentor. I’ve turned to her for advice over and over again, and last year we collaborated on a project together which was a real dream come true for me. Jesse will have an everlasting impact on me and my work, as I think about her and the lessons I’ve learned every single day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Shadow island is a closed loop sustainable brand that believes in the cradle to cradle approach to design. The brand was created in response to the waste I saw happening firsthand while working as an asst to womenswear designer in Los Angeles . I was lucky enough to work with womenswear designer jesse Kamm, whose company and design principles are very in line with slow fashion and thoughtful supply chain approach. But it was on visits to some of the factories and vendors that I saw how the “fast fashion” industry was exploding literally and figuratively. Sometimes exploding into the streets. I drove through skid row every day for 7 years wondering how I would be able to find a place for myself in this industry that felt good . I was able to learn from Jesse the how TO’s while watching the How Not Too’s all around me. It’s about scaling slowly , or sometimes not at all. I will never be able to mass produce my products and I’m ok with that. I don’t want to. I want each piece to be unique and one of a kind. Shadow island is a place of exploration for me. Because the medium I work with is whatever is available, the design and style needs to be adaptable as well. I make a lot of different styles and I experiment a lot. I do all my own sourcing as locally as possible. I do all my own patterning, cutting sewing and finishing .
It is socially responsible to be limiting production right now. The stats prove that there are already enough clothes in circulation, so any pieces made must be special, be made to last a long time.
I work with existing materials only. I use quilts, quilt tops, blankets, sheets, curtains, tablecloths, fabric remnants, donated fabrics, found in thrift stores, purchased from other vintage sellers, etc. I create my own collections to satisfy my own desire to keep learning and creating, but I also take custom client work. If you can dream it and relate it to me, I can make it. I enjoy how visually appealing the clothes are, like a work of art. Its an unknown collaboration between myself and sometimes someone else; ie the person who sewed the table cloth, there person who made the unfinished quilt top, or the person who embroidered flowers all over the table cloth. I work with that intention, to hope that that person would be proud of my work as well, not just the future buyer, client or wearer. When I was younger I wanted to be a visual artist, a painter or a photographer. Now I paint with fabric.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist has been the effect its had on the all other areas of my life. When I was much younger I remember my grandmother asking me what I wanted to “be” when I grew up. You know, that insanely annoying question. When I said I wanted to be an artist she said something along the lines of ” do you want to be poor?” I don’t think it was meant to be intentionally cruel in any way but I wonder if it did derail me. It’s a pretty common misperception that artists are starving: What we are starving for is art.

I spent too many years when I was younger working jobs that provided me a paycheck but no real joy or purpose in life. Being an artist and creative has since allowed me to have two beautiful children, and thus to be at home and watch them grow, to be able to work my job around my life instead of my life around my job, as I imagine most people with strict 9-5 jobs must do. My children are now old enough to understand what I do and maybe even why I do it. It is the most rewarding to have them in the studio while I am working, asking questions, and creating their own projects. They know and feel my joy, which is their joy. I know this about myself: I am not cut out for a traditional job with traditional hours. Sometimes I enjoy working late into the night, or all weekend long. That I have the freedom to do so, is incredibly rewarding. I feel like a better mother, daughter, sister and friend to those around me, and that is what I mean when I say it has effects far reaching into all other areas of my life.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough has had a huge impact on my work. If we start from the very beginning by answering those questions about how we will be a sustainable closed loop system, everything else can settle into place. Everything we do as humans effects the health and economics of our world. We all have a role in this world as caretakers of each other and the planet. I think of it not just as a solution to design but a solution to a lot of problems in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: shadowislanddesign.com, shopshadowisland.com
• Instagram: @shadow_island_design

Image Credits
Dominique D’Costa Meagan Reily