Fashion designer Kim Elleen showcases her fall collection and spills details on balancing two careers, while facing the challenges of producing locally.
In this area many women are multi-taskers, but very few can juggle two full-time, equally challenging careers and remain as chic, seemingly well-rested and good-natured as Kim Elleen. By day, she is the chief Washington reporter and columnist for the Boston Herald churning out daily political content for the newspaper. By night, she creates custom ready-to-wear pieces in her Arlington studio for her namesake label. “I do have insomnia so that comes in handy,” she divulges. “Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with a design idea, I’ll drape some fabric that I got or return some emails—at least I get a jump on the next day.”
As the daughter of a seamstress, Elleen began officially designing four years ago when she grew tired of ill-fitting, off-the-rack pieces and seeing the same It dress on multiple women at events. Now she creates mostly dresses (“because it’s a whole outfit on the go”) in her signature mix of prints, colors and comfortable fabrics tailored for busy women that range between $150 and $300.
The affordable price point is a benefit of designing in the area, although the sourcing of the fabrics still proves to be a challenge. “The prints I design myself and I do it through a company that’s based in North Carolina (Spoonflower) because I can’t find a place locally that’s affordable and easy. If there were such a place here, I would love to give them the business opportunity,” she says. Despite her growing clientele, don’t hold your breath for a department store takeover. This is one designer you will have to keep on speed dial as she remains committed to delivering affordable custom couture on a one-on-one basis. –Angela Bobo
(September 2014)
