“The café was full of people and I had no idea what she looked like but somehow I knew exactly who she was when I saw her and I walked straight up to her,” said Kay Reddy, hyponotherapist by day and fashion designer by night.
Two local fashion designers, Reddy of El Varamo and Genevieve Tomkinson Daw of Tas-a-ver, were brought together by fate- a match made in heaven.
The two designers have since married their two complementary fashion products together making them a powerful fashion team.
Reddy designs and hand makes crocheted ‘barefoot sandals’, an accessory that is hooked on one of the toes, laid across the top of the foot and then tied behind the ankle.
Daw designs and hand sews her own range of crocheted bikinis, full costumes and dresses.
Both ladies found their inspiration for their separate fashion products inside the pages of magazines.
Reddy was reading an article on the benefits of connecting with nature and how us as humans have taken ourselves away from the energy and flow of Mother Nature.
“This concept resonated strongly with me and an idea popped into my head. I thought the best way of reconnecting with nature was to be barefoot and so the pretty ‘barefoot sandal’ accessory was born,” said Reddy.
Daw was reading a health magazine five years ago when she came across a photo of a crocheted bikini. She cut the photo out and stuck it on her inspirational mood board in her kitchen and set out to find herself one.
She searched everywhere but was unsuccessful.
“No one was doing it. I could not find one branded crocheted bikini. My husband told me that if I could not find one I should just design and make one myself and I thought why not,” said Daw.
She put a business plan and presentation together and went to an elderly ladies crochet circle.
“I introduced my idea to the ladies who all looked at me with stern looks over their glasses and I asked for their help. It took about a year to get my product to a marketable stage,” said Daw.
Both of these talented ladies were scared and unsure about their products and held back on fully launching their fashion brands.
One day Reddy was waiting for her next appointment of the day while reading an edition of the Ridge magazine.
She came across an article which mentioned Daw and her crocheted beach wear label.
“I got so excited and called her up straight away, random I know. She answered and I explained that I had about her in an article and I have a fashion idea I’d like to bounce off of her. Gen asked when I would like to meet and I answered yesterday !,” said Reddy
“When we met it felt like I was meeting a friend from a past life, like I had known her forever. It felt like we were reading each other’s minds. We were both one man bands with fashion products and ideas worked beautifully together. Even the Hullet sugar sachet that I selected had a quote printed on it basically saying ‘take a leap of faith’,” said Daw
The duo recently collaborated for the Mr Price Pro Costal Living Bru Facing the Elements Fashion competition and managed to grab first place giving their partner ship a great start.
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