India Starke of West Midtown on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to India Starke. Check out our conversation below.

India, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
What makes me lose track of time—and find myself again—is love. Falling deeply in love has a way of bending time, making hours feel like minutes and moments feel infinite. Every conversation, every glance, every laugh becomes its own little universe, and I forget where the clock is. But when love shifts into heartbreak, time feels heavy again—slow, sharp, and unrelenting. Going through a breakup taught me that even in the unraveling, I could still rediscover myself. I learned that healing has its own rhythm, that solitude can be just as consuming as love, and that finding myself meant embracing both the beauty of letting go and the strength of what’s to come.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is India Starke and I’m the visionary behind Style JUNKIEZ Klozet, LLC, a fashion customization brand where fashion and art collide. I call myself a Fashion Artist—someone who transforms ready-made garments into bold, hand-painted, one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces.

What makes my brand unique is the way each design tells a story. Whether it’s a blazer, suit, gown, coat, or streetwear piece, I approach every garment as a canvas, merging fashion with fine art to create statement pieces that can’t be duplicated.

My work has been worn by celebrities, influencers, and everyday people who want to stand out and express themselves through clothing that carries personality and power. Along the way, I’ve been honored to have my brand featured in several magazine publications, television shows, and Atlanta news segments—and most recently, I was awarded the 2024 Female Fashion Trendsetter of the Year by the Georgia Alliance of Radio, Television & Film, a recognition that affirms the impact and reach of my artistry.

Beyond the craft, my story is one of evolution. After more than two decades as an educator, I stepped fully into this creative lane, carrying forward my passion for teaching, storytelling, and inspiring others.

Today, Style JUNKIEZ is more than fashion—it’s a movement encouraging people to embrace boldness, individuality, and freedom of expression through what they wear.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
What often breaks the bonds between people is a lack of honesty, empathy, or willingness to truly listen. Misunderstandings, unspoken expectations, and the weight of pride or ego can slowly erode connections, even when love or respect once felt unshakable. Sometimes life’s seasons just move us in different directions, and the bond loosens not because of malice, but because growth pulled us apart.

What restores those bonds, though, is vulnerability. It’s the courage to sit in discomfort, to say the hard things, to own our part, to change our behavior, and to extend grace. Forgiveness, genuine effort, and showing up consistently with both words and actions create space for reconnection. At the heart of it, bonds are restored when people remember the humanity in each other—when love, in all its forms, becomes more important than being right.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me patience in a way success never could. Success feels bright and validating—it tells you that the work was worth it. But suffering strips everything down. It shows you who you are without applause, without recognition, without the certainty of what comes next. It taught me how to sit with pain, how to listen to silence, and how to find strength in places I didn’t know existed.

Through suffering, I learned compassion—both for myself and for others. I discovered that healing isn’t linear, that vulnerability is its own form of courage, and that resilience is built in the quiet moments when no one is watching. Success taught me how to celebrate, but suffering taught me how to endure, rebuild, and still choose love and hope despite the weight of loss.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Is the public version of me the real me? Yes—but it’s only part of me. The version that people see is authentic, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Like anyone else, I come with many layers: the visionary, the artist, the educator, the friend, the daughter, the colleague, the lover, and the woman who is still learning, healing, and growing.

The public version is polished, strong, and expressive because that’s the part of me I choose to share with the world. But behind it are the quieter pieces—my vulnerabilities, my doubts, my private joys, and my struggles—that don’t always make it into the spotlight.

What I’ve learned is that both are real. The public self is not a mask but a reflection, one facet of a much deeper whole. I honor both sides, because together they make me who I am.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
If I retired tomorrow, I think my customers would miss the experience as much as the clothing. They would miss the way each piece feels personal—how I take something ordinary and transform it into a work of wearable art that tells a story. They’d miss the energy, the boldness, and the individuality that Style JUNKIEZ Klozet brings to fashion, because it’s never just about fabric and paint—it’s about creating a statement, a memory, and a feeling of confidence.

Most of all, they would miss the connection. Every client who wears one of my pieces knows that it was designed with intention, love, and a little bit of my soul woven into it. That’s not something you can mass-produce or duplicate.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/iam_style_junkiez_klozet

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me: India Starke