The Fashion Records Spotlight: Catherine Addai

Designer Name: Catherine Addai – Designer and Creative Director of Kaela Kay

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tell us about your collection and the designer behind the brand:

ABOUT THE KAELA KAY BRAND

Kaela Kay is a fashion house of creative and eclectic clothing with strong roots in beautiful African prints and textiles. Our success is due in part to the unique and ultramodern coupling of style and prints; the attention to intricate detail and creative symbolism catapult Kaela Kay into the realm of luxurious fashion.

The premise is simple: turn African fabrics into ultramodern, classy and chic silhouettes and bring a fresh perspective to traditional African clothing. The brand primarily uses African prints and fabrics to show the world the beauty that can be created with cultural fabrics.

THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BRAND

Catherine Addai is the designer behind Kaela Kay. Catherine Addai lives on creativity, modernism and staying true to her roots. Her motto is “wear you”, and she strives to make each garment a piece that she herself would wear; this ensures her personal style is always represented in her clothes. The grass roots of our brand’s longevity are to offer a powerhouse of style without definition and to keep all the clothes modern with a touch of culture.

Catherine Addai the designer.

Who inspires your designs?

I am inspired by women – all women. I am inspired by my mom in her youth and the fashion that she used to wear – which, believe it or not, is not that different from my personal style. I am inspired by elegant, chic and strong women who are mothers, wives, and corporate workers who manage to look great doing it all. I design for this type of woman.

What is your target audience for your collection?

The Kaela Kay Woman is a confident, self aware woman who loves to play with prints and color; she is refined, sometimes edgy and always looks effortless. A broad range of women fall into the target audience and Kaela Kay has no age barrier or skin color – it’s all about identity.

Where can people buy your items?

Currently, you can make your purchase exclusively through Tumblr.

Where are you based?

I am based in beautiful (and vibrant) Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Who are your favorite emerging designers and what is it that you love about them?

All of them! I think the entire up and coming designers are great and everyone has their niche and something special they bring to their collections; I like different things about everyone.

If you had to give men and women advice on style what would you say?

As cliche as this may sound, just be yourself – my tagline is “wear you”. I don’t follow trends, I design clothes that I would wear and I wear what I want, when I want. Clothes are an expression of your personality and fashion is not about looking like, and dressing like, everyone else. It is about thinking outside of the box – you can wear the same dress/suit as the next person and totally own it and make it your own.

What items do you consider a fashion crime?

Oh gosh, I have so many! But my top three are:

Wearing stockings/panty hose with open toe/strappy shoes.
Over accessorizing – it hides who you are.
Clear bra straps that show – it takes away from sensuality.

In moments of weakness you…

Close my eyes and take a breath. There are times when I think I don’t have enough energy or I get frustrated and just want to scream; and in those moments, I just close my eyes, and sigh. Stressful situations always seem more dismal than they really. There is a solution for everything and God will never give you more than you can handle. Just relax.

What is your best attribute?

My mind. I have a great sense of creativity – my mind creates wonderful fashion -art. My mind helps me pick colors, fabrics, textures, and silhouettes. And this doesn’t only apply to my fashion business but, this plays into my personal life as well. I am very intuitive, rational, and very open minded to people and experiences.

Favorite quote:

“Thank God” – I don’t know if it is owned by anyone, but I say this quote almost every day. Life gets so hectic sometimes, but in the end everything in my life always works out the way it appears it should. And all I can say is “Thank God”.

Words you live by….

God will never give me more than I can handle. Everything always works out.

Complete this sentence: I’ve learned most from….

My personal life experiences and from my strong, wise and beautiful, mother. I love experiencing new situations (good or bad), meeting new people, going to different places and trying new things. Life has so much to teach and with every new experience I get wiser, stronger, learn more about myself, other people, and the world.