About

As the third of four children born & raised in Honolulu–a beautiful place with very high rent–I learned about thrift at a young age. Much of my earliest clothing were hand-me-downs from my sisters &/or made by my mom. She taught me to sew at age 8 on her 1960’s pea-soup-green Kenmore machine. (I still love vintage machines & currently work on my grandmother’s refurbished ’60s Bernina!) I relished the freedom sewing brought to my interest in personal style & expression, turning the hand-me-downs into something new.

I conceived of Kula Industries five years ago as an aspirational project that would weave together my decade+ experience working in roles across “The Fashion Industry”. From costuming & wardrobe styling to luxury denim sales & custom-built wedding dresses, I’ve had a broad training! But I wanted a way to fuse my expertise with my own personal aesthetics, & ethics…

MISSION

. . .

Kula Industries is MY industry – sewing & designing, vintage slinging, occasional jewelry making, styling all the time – an eclectic, yet (here’s the aspirational part!) coherent endeavor aimed at connecting to my environment.

There are two main threads through all I do:
1. The belief that style is personal expression, central to our well-being, understanding of self, & our relationship to community.
2. A deep concern for the health of life on our planet.
In this era of fast-fashion & seemingly everything for cheap, it’s a real challenge to convince people that clothing shouldn’t be. When made from quality materials & produced by well-compensated craftspeople, clothing is an investment that can be treasured and worn for years. But this is what makes vintage so great! There’s something very special in knowing where your clothes come from, & even more, who made them.

In the Kula shop+studio I seek to incorporate multiple aspects of the #FashionRevolution / #SlowFashion mentality – producing and producing garments + accessories from responsibly sourced materials, re-designing items that may otherwise be discarded due to damage or out-modishness, and providing custom sewing + design services on pieces from your own closet.
The boutique offers an uniquely curated selection of both men’s & women’s high-quality vintage, accessories, body products + home goods from other small producers.

With love,
*Meridith Kula