Hi!  I’m Karen Huskins, Owner of KSH Couture.  As cliché as it may sound, fashion is truly my passion – I eat, sleep, and breathe it.  I never dreamed I would be a fashion designer.  I studied Marketing in college and Marketing was my core career post-college.  While working in corporate America, I would always be in search of the “perfect” cocktail dress – something fun, unique, colorful, trendsetting.  I didn’t want the cookie cutter look, I wanted something different and I just wasn’t finding it.  So I would go home and sketch...and sketch…and sketch.  My sister bought me my first sketch book so I began transitioning from a spiral notebook to something a little more professional.  One night at my parents house, I randomly sketched my initials with a hot pink highlighter (see picture in left column) and little did I know, this would soon become the face of my brand. 

 

Inspired by the clean, tailored cuts from old movies that I grew up watching with my mom to the vibrant, bold colors I would see when visiting Miami and Los Angeles, I wanted to combine the classic look from the Ginger Rogers era with the bright, bold colors of our generation.   One of the most memorable pieces I purchased out of college was a sleek denim trenchcoat with a satin leopard lining from Express.  I was so drawn to the attention to detail in this jacket, that although you couldn't see the lining from the outside, it gave it a more luxurious feel.  That attention to detail is how I design each of my KSH pieces from the lining to the trim, to the zippers.   

                                                   

Not long after I began sketching, my marketing colleague pushed me into entering my first fashion show and to her, I am forever grateful.  Hilary - thank you!  Hilary stood at my desk until I completed two sketches and an application to submit for the show.  I was accepted and on the night of the show, I had this overwhelming feeling of pure joy, contentment, and excitement of seeing my vision of these beautiful dresses go from a sketch to walking the runway.  It was then I knew this was the beginning of an incredibly large dream - I didn’t know exactly where it would lead me, but I knew God didn't plant this desire in my heart without a purpose.  It was clear to me that bigger things were coming.

 

After entering my second fashion show in 2010, I designed what is now popularly known as the “Fuschia Giraffe” dress (see picture in left column).  The minute it hit the runway, it had people talking.  My phone was ringing off the hook the next day with girls wanting the dress, something I was completely unprepared for.  After all, this was just a hobby for me, right?  Or was it.  Interest in my designs began to rise along with this burning passion for designing, so it only made sense to start my company, KSH Couture.

 

Since the only training I had in fashion design was a couple of sewing and fabric classes in college, I began teaching myself from scratch.  How to mass produce dresses, best avenues for sourcing fabrics, accessories, manufacturing plants local, nationwide and international, government regulations around garments, and so much more.  I was soaking up knowledge from seasoned professionals, seamstresses, those working in the fashion industry, doing endless internet research and magazine articles, anything and anyone I could learn from, I did…and I still am! 

 

Starting out in women’s couture and ready-to-wear apparel, I began showing collections at Raleigh and Charlotte Fashion Weeks, designed custom pieces for local clients, and  mass produced the Fuschia Giraffe dress in sizes 2-10, selling online and in local boutiques.  This burning passion for designing left me craving more.  So in 2013, I tapped into menswear starting with luxury pocket squares, also manufactured in North Carolina.  The pocket squares were selected by MTV to be added to 100 Celebrity Gift Bags given to performers, presenters, and other VIPs at MTV's Video Music Awards. 

 

Since I began designing, I have been in over 20 local and regional fashion shows, was chosen as a semi-finalist in Belk’s 2012 Southern Designer Showcase Competition, was named by Carolina STYLE magazine as one of the "25 Most Stylish in the Triangle", and and have been featured in multiple charity events, high-end boutiques and style-centric publications.

 

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as I document this incredible journey.  So thankful for this opportunity and excited to see where it leads.

 

Jeremiah 33:3

Jeremiah 29:11

Genesis 11:6