Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Mutsch
Hi Kelly, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our clothing brand, Eco Evie Apparel, started with my daughter Evie, who was 9 at the time we launched our business. Evie has autism, and is a walking encyclopedia of animal facts! Evie became very aware of animal’s conservation statuses while visiting our local zoo, and was constantly pointing out how endangered certain species were. She came to me one day and said “Mom, we need to start a business to help them. They have no voice, they cannot speak for themselves. We need to be their voice”. Pretty profound for a kid who didn’t talk until she was 4 years old!
I knew in starting a business centered around conservation, that I needed to build a product that matched Evie’s mission. My background is in apparel production, and I was able to source our 100% recycled water bottle fibers, a mill to make it into fabric for us, and our manufacturer all within the USA to create a truly environmentally conscious clothing company.
Today, Evie chooses all the endangered animals she wants to feature on our shirts, and I get to create the designs using a combination of hand drawn, watercolor, and digital artwork. Evie of course has to approve the designs, and we make our small batches of production right in our hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To date we have recycled over 35,000 water bottles into our clothing line, and have donated almost $3,000 to different conservation programs.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We started our business right before covid struck, which really put us off to a snail’s pace start. We basically had to put it on the back burner while we figured out how to complete school tasks at home. It also really affected Evie alot as well. Imagine leaving school in the 4th grade and coming back as a middle schooler once school opened up again! We also struggled through special education services that needed to look different at home versus at school. So often people love to say that kids are incredibly resilient, which they are, but they still have experienced a massive hardship that has uprooted their whole world. And I think they deserve a lot of credit for navigating back into a routine again.
As you know, we’re big fans of Eco Evie Apparel. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Eco Evie Apparel’s mission is to promote our world’s well-being, making garments entirely from recycled water bottles, and donating a portion of each sale to endangered animal conservation efforts.
Evie is an amazing advocate for endangered animal species and our earth, and we have been focusing more on ways we can contribute to our community’s education. Evie and I do public speaking at schools and community groups in and around Milwaukee, spreading hope for recycling and empowering others to do just one more thing to help our earth. Evie is an awesome and inspiring presenter, and kids love hearing from another kids who is trying to do good things and help our earth.
My own personal message through our business is showing Evie that she can do anything she sets her mind to. We are not all good at everything, we just have to be good at one thing. And I want to show the world that people with autism or any disability have so much to offer, we just have to listen to them and support them in any way we can. Seeing how far Evie has come since being diagnosed with autism at 2 1/2 years old has been an incredible journey, and gives me hope that I hope to share with others.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Evie is also a huge history buff! She loves facts of all kinds, not just animals! Evie would frequently read non-fiction books, mostly on US history, but really any history topics. We enjoy visiting museums just as much as zoos. Evie also enjoys researching cryptids, like bigfoot for example, which most would attribute to legends and folklore but Evie insists some are just creatures that we haven’t discovered yet!
Pricing:
- Girls tanks $29
- Girls dresses $39
- Kids unisex hoodies $49
- Adult unisex hoodies $59
- Womens dresses $69
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ecoevie.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecoevie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecoevieapparel/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb3OLVbTfm-JDvfDgOvlHRA
Image Credits
all photos by Allison Calteux