Today we’d like to introduce you to Lihui Ke.
Hi Lihui, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up with a family of seamstresses including my mother and my father’s five sisters. Our family moved around a lot in my childhood. From the age of seven, I was suddenly plucked from my humble life with Grandma in a tiny village on the outskirts of Wenzhou, China to the city of lights in Paris, France. This was my first Latin Alphabet language.
Five years later, work opportunities lured my parents to NYC where we settled for 16 years. All throughout those migrations, sewing machines cranked while the steamers roared and the trimming scissors snipped in the background as my parents produced clothing for various local brands. It was a daily fashion production “concert” – especially in smell & sound – steered by many tireless hands at endless quick-paced tasks. During my mom’s free time, she loved to take my brother and I shopping in the city. This was my first education in fashion, design, and architecture. Exploring the city through her lens, taking the Paris metro and NYC subways was a people-watching feast. The array of personal styles, people of all shapes, color, and economic background was on full display.
I learned to embrace diversity and individuality from those formative years. It stayed with me and is a big part of my personal style and everyday expression. Through my explorations of versatility and comfort in knitwear design, I found my medium and format…in essence, I found myself and my unique design lens that supports and connects the women of the world who continually inspire me with their creativity and their nuanced individual process.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a small business serving primarily ‘mom & pop’ retailers nationwide, we are directly impacted by economic slowdowns. These last three years have been unpredictable with sudden production halts, retail closures and lackluster trade shows. We are still rebuilding our business back up to pre-covid numbers by expanding our retail e-commerce front and future local offerings.
In addition, it can be difficult to remain professional in a family business setting with four adults. The generational gap of two decades between our parents and my brother & I naturally set different professional working standards. Personal boundaries are easily crossed which can cause emotional flare-ups. Overall, we are continuing to learn and grow together. We feel stronger navigating the KERISMA ship together than to go our separate ways, which is always an option. We have to remember that we are all choosing to be in this.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about KERISMA?
Back in 2009, at the age of 27, I took a major leap of faith and moved from NY to LA to start a fashion company with my family. I left my five years of professional practice in Architecture & Design to focus on creating a fun, sensible & accessible women’s knitwear line called KERISMA. I consciously chose knitting fabrication because of its low waste (compared to cut & sew construction) ratio and its architectural challenge in marrying color, shape, and texture to the fluid movement of the female human body. It felt like a good challenge and a natural transition as I craved intimacy and connection in my personal design work. In essence, it was (and continues to be) my unique way to merge fashion and architecture by shifting scale & speed.
The label was founded in the Spring of 2010 by father & I – from our combined passion, charisma and professional practice in fashion production, design and architecture. Our trans-continental upbringing in Wenzhou, Paris, and New York allows for unique designs to emerge through form, scale, material and color considerations.
KERISMA celebrates the diversity in women through comfort & versatility in modern knitwear. We aim to bridge the gap between disposable fast-fashion brands and inaccessible premium labels in the contemporary knitwear market. Today, over a decade later in Downtown LA, our family-owned & operated business proudly continues to support small independent retailers & select boutique chains nationwide.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Everyone who helps keep the KERISMA wheels well greased and cranking from inception to the individual wearer who consciously adopts or is gifted a knitted piece. I am super thankful for my beloved family, my wonderful in-house team, my sales reps, our production partners in China, our loyal customer base, my therapist, business coach, my teachers, and always, my dear friends and the KOZY collaborators who continually inspire me with their powerful essence, creativity and cross-cultural outlets. We’re a whole ecosystem as a community of artists and voyeurs.
Pricing:
- $80 to $200 retail
Contact Info:
- Website: shopkerisma.com
- Instagram: @shopkerisma
- Facebook: shopkerisma
Image Credits
Cameron McClarty for portrait and SS23 Lookbook Images James Mountford for AW22 and AW20 Lookbook Images
