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

Alright, Kim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The ideation of my dream career came about when I was 10 years old. I drew all of the time and was obsessed with dressing my Barbie’s like the characters from Clueless. I created fashion columns and sketched constantly. As i grew older I lost sight of my passion until i made the decision to begin a journey of healing. I connected with my inner child and I’ve realized that my vision was within me the entire time. I felt that the spark had been reignited, I began drawing again, taking illustrative commissions in the process. I taught myself how to sew, thus allowing me to bring ideas to fruition. Because of this, my clients and customers trust me to do the same for them. Whether that be garments, product design or look books, my passion for fashion design is expressive and fun.

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?

I’m Kim, I am an Illustrator and Designer. My brand is KH Design World where I bring your vision to life. I’ve been drawing ever since I could remember—my love for fashion brewed at a very young age. Film and TV like Clueless, Living Single, and The Nanny are big style influences to this day. The vibrancy and diversity of the late 90s and early 2000s will forever hold a warm place in my heart. I love working with patterns, creative textiles, and digital media tools. I provide custom design services in which my main source of material is tapestry. I work with clients for illustrative commissions, which may range from album art to lookbooks for clothing lines. I’ve also introduced style outfit templates to my Etsy shop: KH Design World helping individuals curate their perfect fit in an organized fashion (pun intended). What sets me apart from other fashion creatives is my range. I am capable of fostering the idea and bringing it to life in a seamless way. From building the proper verbiage to present the idea to then illustrating said idea to creating it into a tangible product, this is my area of expertise! I also create videos to help clients on their creative journey, with tips and tricks on how to bring their vision to life. For my socials please follow me on Instagram @khdesign.world and @kim.hvze on Tiktok

How did you build your audience on social media?

In full transparency, I am still building! I’m excited about it because I feel that I’ve finally figured out how to get the ball rolling on building an audience and building clientele. A big one is consistency and in conjunction with that is clear direction and being yourself. Presenting yourself in your truest form along with what you love doing will attract the attention of those who align with you! Providing solutions for your audience is just as important. They know that they can rely on you for authenticity and valuable tips. It’s a slow process but worth it!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that you must create whatever the client wants even if it doesn’t align with your creative vision and previous work. When I first started taking commissions I took every single client even if what they wanted didn’t align with my style. This caused a lot of frustration and subpar work. Which resulted in me having a portfolio that wasn’t cohesive. I realized I wanted clients to come to me for my unique approach rather than just finding an artist. Build a clear portfolio of what you want to create. The designer and the client must be aligned on the vision the client is presenting for a successful outcome!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Khdesign.world
• Instagram: Khdesign.world
• Other: TikTok; Kim.hvze
  Email: [email protected]
  Etsy: khdesignworld