Daily Inspiration: Meet Raven Kidd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Kidd.

Hi Raven, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I created Fivefootseven a year ago. As cliché as this may sound, I’ve always had a passion for fashion. I graduated from FIDM with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication, and for the longest I thought I’d be a stylist. That was until I realized us taller girls weren’t really getting the recognition we deserved in the fashion world. I guess you can say my line was created on frustration of never being able to find clothes to fit my body and I knew I wanted to change that. Fivefootseven is a brand that enhances the simplicity of fashion while allowing my customers to make a statement. I wanted to make sure I created pieces that can be worn in our everyday lives whether you dress it up or down.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While starting Fivefootseven a year ago, I can honestly say there has been a couple of bumps in the road but nothing that I haven’t been able to handle. Living in LA you would think it would be easy to source fabric and find manufacturing companies, but that’s honestly been my biggest obstacle. Trying to find the right people who understand your vision and can bring it to life is actually harder than I thought. There have been multiple times where I have meetings with different manufacturers and we will thoroughly go over the vision I have for my new collection and it’s not at all what we discussed. Unfortunately time and funds had been wasted while creating my sample. With fabric sourcing I can say in the beginning it was really difficult trying to find quality and quantity especially since we are in a pandemic. Overall I can say since I’ve been doing this for a year finding the right people has gotten easier, but I’m sure there will be many other obstacles to overcome and I can say confidently I’m ready.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Fivefootseven is a brand that focuses on essential pieces that’ll still make a statement if you were to pair it with a luxury brand. When creating my brand, I made sure to specialize in elongating each piece. I knew I wanted to make clothes for not only every woman but to make sure I emphasized on making clothes for women 5’7 and up. What I’m currently focused on is a revamp of the first collection I dropped, which is my FRAME collection. This collection was an idea I had in mind for years, even before creating Fivefootseven. My first limited drop of FRAME did so well I figured I would bring it back with some upgrades. As of today I have the manufacturers working on a sample and I have the fabric at a dye house. I’m taking my time with this collection because the first one didn’t receive enough recognition.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Some of the changes I’m expecting to see over the next five to ten years is having my brand sold on different online platforms such as SSENSE, Farfetch, or FWRD. While giving my customers luxury pieces I also want to give them a luxury experience and by having my items available only online especially with these companies will be doing just that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.5footseven.com/
• Instagram: fivefootseven_