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

Kyanah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

At the age of six or seven, I got so obsessed with the “Thats So Raven”. A Disney show about a young black girl who wanted to be a fashion designer that had physic abilities to see in the future. Her style was bold and colorful which captivated me at such a young age to start sketching my designs. I eventually started loving flare jeans and obsessed with 1970’s styles. My Nana Connie showed me all her amazing outfits from her party days in the 1970s which made me love that time period so much. I’ve had people tell me I have an old soul ever since.

After the age of 15/16 I began to start thrifting because I was tired of my parents school shopping. I needed to revamp. Then eventually I started learning about the phrase “Thrift Flip”. I was already trying to make jeans fit me better… just had to take it up a notch.

I had a friend of mine by the name of Saidah Hardwick, I coin my journey start with her because she pushed me to do my first fashion show at South East High School in Raleigh. I created three pieces and the rest is history.

Hippyky was created because I wanted to input sustainability with upcycling and reworking my garments. Saving the world and looking fly while doing it.

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

I have been just pushing throughout the Raleigh creative scene. I eventually went to University of North Carolina Greensboro to get my Bachelors of Science with a concentration in Apparel Product Design and been working through the creative scenes in Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh. I began interning with a major Denim supply chain company in Greensboro and promoted to Assistant Designer for Tops/Outerwear.

I’m proud of myself for being a small business owner but also a legit Assistant Designer for a company. Many people were scared I wasn’t going to be able to find a job in my industry but I did.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Many times because of how passionate I was about fashion, I came off naive or green and many older creatives took advantage of that. I also poured my amazing energy into people and it didn’t pay off at all.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Instagram and word of mouth has been working for the past 5 years so I’m sticking to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: hippyky.com
• Instagram: @hippyky
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kyanahmhughes
• Youtube: @thekytolife1494