The Story Behind the Brand
I started KHB by Design out of my passion for dressing up. I love getting dressed up; I don’t need many excuses to get fancy. I enjoy the process, so as soon as I have confirmed my attendance at an engagement, like many women I start going through a mental inventory of what is in my wardrobe to wear. But I go one step further I visualise how I wanted to look or what character I want to be. Can anyone else relate to this?
I don’t always have the right outfit in my wardrobe, so I search endlessly online for the dress or clothes that fit the visual I have in my head. Over the years I have customised my clothes or styled my outfit in a way that creates a whole new look; I’ve also found dress patterns that I loved and visualised in a particular colour and got it made to measure by a dressmaker.
After years of doing this and a combination of life-changing experiences during the pandemic, I had a revelation that maybe I could design my own clothes. I studies Fashion Design as Diploma at college later in life, but I couldn’t continue my education as I couldn’t afford to pay for another Degree especially when I was still repaying my previous student loan and taking a huge salary cut if I started a career in Fashion after years in of working in the Finance sector. So, I thought I had given up on that dream, but every few years the passion or desire reignites which was what happened.
It all started with a dream! Yes, you heard right, I dreamt about an old friend of mine and a little girl at my daughter’s nursery; in the dream, I was focused on the details of their clothes, and I complimented the little girl on her beautiful applique detailed dress. After that dream I started reflecting on the joy I felt during my Fashion Design course; this then led me to search through my bedroom looking for all my old college assignments and drawings I had done all those years old, and here we are today, after over a year of ups and downs overcoming fear of not being qualified enough, good enough, fear of rejection, fear of failure. The conquering the challenges faced when starting a new business, especially within such as saturated market like the fashion industry KHB by Design was birthed, and on the 1st November 2022 our website went live; thanks to God, the support of my husband and few close friends (they know who they are), that gave me the safe space to be vulnerable and not hold it against, and my previous social media management company. and I must give a special shout to my good friend and old work colleague Andrew Cronin for creating a visually beautiful website.