Clothing designers often travel for inspiration for their upcoming lines — Mara Hoffman, for example, treks to Morocco every chance she gets to keep her inspo fresh (she even has an Instagram to prove it). But what if travel and inspiration were built in to the clothing design process itself? That’s exactly what Winsome Goods — a clothing and goods design studio based in Northeast Minneapolis, MN — is trying to do with their super sweet Kickstarter campaign.
Winsome owner and operator Kathryn Sieve is looking to turn an Airstream RV into a travelling design studio, LITERALLY mobilizing the label she started while previously working for a big-name clothing retailer. While there, she quickly realized that she missed having her hands in all parts of the design process. Looking to dive back into the action while simultaneously getting closer to her customers and everything that drives her inspiration (think: travel and craftspeople from across the US), the idea for the Winsome, and eventually Winsome Mobile Studio, emerged.
All of the materials Winsome uses are made in the US, and all aspects of the process are covered in house — everything from production to shipping — which will continue to be the name of the game with the mobile studio. Sieve bases everything she makes on the fabric she acquires. Winsome products are made in limited quantities based on each particular fabric, and each piece comes with a note letting the customer know that their particular piece is one of a batch of 15 or 20 that will never again be replicated.
She even credits her inspiration to the fabric, a big reason why she wants to take her studio on the road. Sieve dreams of vising the cities and people that supply her with the fabric she uses, getting closer to the inspiration that drives her work and adding even more transparency to her process, hosting pop-up shops along the way. It’s all going down in a 31-foot Airstream trailer that she hopes to have up and running by spring 2016… and that’s where you come in!
What Sieve needs help with is “bringing the design of the trailer to life.” She needs “to gut the existing interior and build it back up as a functioning studio space” in order to get the show on the road, according to the video on Winsome’s Kickstarter page.
There are still a few days to go until Winsome’s campaign expires. What’s in it for you? Anything from a super chic “well, shit” tote bag or a faux leather wallet to exclusive naming rights to the finished airstream. And, ladies, the designs this studio is cranking out aren’t to be missed. They’re perfectly minimal and expertly designed — “clean lines, impeccable fit and quality construction are our goals” says Winsome’s website. If you’re in the mood to support a fellow maker, this Kickstarter certainly isn’t a bad place to go.
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