Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Thomas.
Hi Kelsey, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always designed clothes as a child, since the age of seven. I started off bedazzling clothes for my grandmother. My grandmother Chomel always pushed me to pursue my clothing dream. She passed away July 29, 2017, of a sudden heart failure. So in order to keep my mind off grief and still honor her and myself, I started my clothing business named Khomela. I replaced the C in Chomel with a K for Kelsey, and added an “a” at the end to be similar to Coachella. I took my college refund that fall and used it to start my business on September 14, 2017, selling boutique clothing. I then branched off into handmaking my own unisex streetwear brand, “The Klassic Kollection”. In between the time of starting Klassic, I short owned a store in the mall of Beaumont, TX, where I graduated highschool.
Summer of 2018, I opened a pop-up shop there for a week to see what it would be like to have a brick and mortar. The first time went well, so I opened up again for another week during the holiday season later that year. With the end of my college career approaching, I decided to take a leap of faith and open for two months straight in the same location in the summer of 2019 to see if that’s what I wanted to do after I graduated college. At the time, I was enrolled into summer school, and running the store for two months vs. one week was much harder than I thought. I had to advertise, be the cashier, make merchandise, run all social media’s, be customer service, be the accountant, pack and ship online orders. Open and close from 10am-8pm Mon-Sat and 11-6 on Sunday for two weeks straight. I quickly learned that I wanted to go another route. After the shop in the mall, I lost courage and stopped working hard on my brand and just did custom shirts for people and organizations at my school. It eventually became overwhelming and I shifted my focus back on what I truly loved and wanted to do.
So I started creating again in 2020. Business was slow for a little while, but I kept promoting my company. I ran a 60% off sale for 45 min once I got to a certain number of followers on Twitter. That sale changed my life. In less than 3 minutes, I made over $1000, and it may not seem like a lot, but my business had never made that type of money in that short amount of time. In 45 min I had made over $4500. I had customers from all over the country purchasing my handmade and designed merchandise. After that day, I have had customers ever since. My clothing brand in over 40 states in the US now. I even wrote a book/planner to help other entrepreneurs by telling them what I knew. With the momentum I had, I decided to what’s next in my career. I had done pretty well in Texas, so I thought which state has most of my customers. It was Louisiana, then Georgia. So in April of 2020, I made up my mind to move to Atlanta. In August 2020, I moved here. It’s been really difficult living here with no friends or family, but somehow I have maintained. Being in Atlanta has really helped me find my true self. I have always wanted to design clothes from scratch, not put designs on shirts and shorts, which is what I was currently doing. So I sat down one day and designed my first piece of my luxury brand called Khomela Kouture. In the midst of designing my first piece, I reached back into my inner childhood dreams of always wanting to have this big fabulous fashion show.
In September, I searched and searched venues in Atlanta one day, with $10 in my bank account until I came across one. I found the venue and visited it, and fell in love with it. At the time, I didn’t know how I was going to pay for anything, but I know I’d make it happen. So I eventually booked the venue in February and decided to get my first piece I designed into production. After many failed attempts and manufacturers telling me my design was too complex, I found a pattern maker in LA. I hopped on a solo flight to LA and walked around the fashion district to find the right fabric to bring my first piece to life. After finding the right fabric and many days and hours of endless communication she had completed my first piece. I got the pieces in the mail and did a photoshoot to advertise my fashion show this October 23. I started advertising my pieces and went semi-viral on TikTok and sold out of all of my VIP tickets. I now have attendees from all over the country flying in to see the debut of my fashion. I am still currently working endlessly to sell tickets so the entire world can see my creativity.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been very rough. Starting everything from scratch, having to start over many times, encouraging myself to stay motivated, trying to run a business while being a full-time college student at a four year university, and working two jobs at the same time, moving ten hours away from my family and friends and being in Atlanta all alone.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a fashion designer. I pride myself on creating unique original pieces. I am also a graphic designer/website designer and self tougher photographer.
How do you think about happiness?
Being able to accomplish my goals because every goal I have set, I face many obstacles before being able to achieve them and I achieve them alone with no help. Also, designing clothes makes me happy, I can put my thoughts into a piece of clothing and bring it to life.
Pricing:
- $30 general admission no seat
- $65 general admission seat
Contact Info:
- Email: thekhomela@gmail.com
- Website: thekhomela.com
- Instagram: @khomela_
- Facebook: Khomelá
- Twitter: @khomela_
