Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Autumn Tyler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Autumn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My nomadic childhood has been an integral part of who I am, and who I am still becoming. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, a beach baby through and through, but my parents, and still to this day, have never liked to settle down or commit to any one place for too long.

We’d often travel around from place to place, with the few things that we owned, searching for the elusive place called “home.” We’d unpack and set up our little homestead. We’d have gardens half an acre in size, canned our veggies, brewed homemade root beer, and raised our own chickens.
 We lived in different places all across the country, some years so remotely, that my parents just found it easier to homeschool us. 
I remember late nights, eating cinnamon toast and playing card games together as a family rather than watching a television. All the while, I just wanted to be a “normal” family. One who lived in the same house their entire childhood, had neighborhood friends, took ballet and did sports on the weekends, you know, the stereotypical family.

Now, I find myself grasping on to those values and striving for a lifestyle once forgotten, and as a child, under appreciated. It’s sometimes hard to hold on to that traditional way of living, in this fast paced and modern world that surrounds us, but I’m learning to find a balance….

Autumn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are a small batch, slow fashion house, with a mission to change the current trajectory of the fashion industry by returning to a more thoughtful, handcrafted approach to fashion.

Everything we create is designed, cut, and stitched in-house using natural and biodegradable fibers, supporting our efforts in closing the loop on sustainable fashion. By doing so, we take a stand against cheap labor, eliminate excess waste and over-production, and focus on the quality of our goods.

KDH was conceptualized long before it was ever actualized. Since college, I had always known I wanted to start my own design house, but getting here was not easy. I would be working a full time job, and work on the business nights and weekends, then went down to a part time job, still working on the business in spare time, but it just was not going anywhere and not getting the focus and attention that it needed. It wasn’t until I lost my part time job and was at my lowest low, with nowhere else to go, that I realized it was time to make this dream into a reality and give it everything I had.

I took a risk, and as scary as that was, it worked. If I hadn’t been let go from that job, I would still be working part time, trying to achieve something. The universe will always give you what you want, but it may come in the most unexpected of ways.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission with KDH is to create intentional, ethical and eco-conscious clothing while raising awareness of the impacts of fast fashion and the overconsumption epidemic. This industry is the third largest polluting industry in the world, sending as much as 92 million tons of textile waste to landfills every year, polluting the worlds water ways and soil with chemicals and dyes, and depleting our earths non-renewable resources. I think that a lot of consumers are unaware of how damaging their fast fashion hauls and one-time wear purchases actually are, I want to be an advocate for change and inspire intentionality and more conscious consumerism.

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

Owning a business, especially as a creative, exposes you in the most vulnerable of ways. Be vulnerable. Be authentic. You have to put yourself out there. You will make mistakes and you will fail. Everyone does. Understand that not everyone is going to love and understand what you do, and that is okay, it’s not for them. There are a 7.8 billion people on this earth, you will find your people. Stay true to yourself and who you are, because that is what will set you apart. Never stop trying to improve and ultimately, never stop learning. I still have to remind myself of these things on a daily basis….

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kepoladesignhouse.com
• Instagram: kepoladesignhouse
• Facebook: kepoladesignhouse
• Linkedin: autumnktyler
• Pinterest: kepoladesignhouse

Image Credits
Cece Torres Kaili’i Smith