Katie Brown is a fashionista to be reckoned with. The founder of a San Diego-based clothing retailer is at SXSW here in Austin this week, selling a fine range of clothing for men and women at a booth in the exibitor room.
In an exclusive interview with Sun News Austin, I asked her about the origins of her company, which has the whimsical name Trendy and Tipsy.
The company was founded in 2013 and it originated from my thesis project at Dominican University. I did my MBA in 2013, and worked on my business plan for Trendy and Tipsy on how to start a business online. When I graduated I said to myself I actually want to do something with this. So then I moved home, and I started really small, designing my collection. I went to different thrift stores, repurposing the vintage.”
Since repurposing vintage is an unusual entry into the world of Fashion, I asked what led her to that approach. “I used to always love to do that growing up, like going to thrift stores. My grandpa and grandma had a whole sewing setup in their garage when I was growing up. He was a tailor and they would always do custom pieces for me as a child. My Mom picked up on sewing too, so we had that kind of little thing going on, and so I had a lot of help from them. It just grew from there.”
Many of the clothes she and her fiance Chris Kay are selling at SXSW have a country vibe. “It’s changed over time. We have right now the Western style which is really ‘in’ and we are adapting to that. We’ve done so many different styles: Bohemian, edgy rocker, we’ve done a little bit of everything throughout the eight years we’ve been in business.”
She began doing farmer’s markets “which was a really good way to get the brand awareness out, and testing different styles. That grew on to doing big street fairs, and once I started getting into music festivals our branded exploded. People who love music love our brand and wear our clothes to the concerts, and they also love the repurposing aspect and the sustainability. That led to attending major festivals such as Desert Trip, Stagecoach and Coachella in California.”
Brown’s personal favourite singers are Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Johnny Cash (an example of her Cash clothing is shown here).
She finds the repurposed clothing at vintage markets and big warehouses. Brown now has a second store in Nashville. “The vintage that we carry is a collection in the brand but we also carry a whole bunch of boutique clothing that ranges from accessories, hats, dresses and tops.” Even though it began exclusively as women’s clothing, men’s clothes are now offered as well.
“Our customer base are people who love fashion, they love outfits that are little bit different – that’s where we get the ‘trendy’ aspect of the name, to go along with what’s trending currently in the fashion industry. Also we target toward college girls – that festival and concert goer.”
This is Brown’s first time exhibiting at SXSW. “We just reached out and they loved what we did.” Her future appearances are given on her Instagram account and they are numerous. “We do at least one show a week, mostly in California. I do have my Nashville team starting to do shows too.”
There may be a big future for Trendy and Tipsy right here. “We definitely have our eye on opening a third location here. Everybody has said our brand really fits Austin.”
Visit the website: trendyandtipsy.com
Photo: Katie Brown and Chris Kay at their SXSW booth.
Photo by C. Cunningham, copyright SunNewsAustin.
