iaME: spHOTlight: Krooked Kulture

This month's spHOTlight features Krooked Kulture. I first came across the line at the Fashion Massacre2 and was blooooown away by the pieces! Each and every piece seemed to speak directly to me. The pieces were funky, eclectic, and intricately designed and styled! I got a chance to ask the talented individuals behind Krooked Kulture a few questions. Check out the interview below.

ME: Who are the faces behind the line?
KK: Ourselves! Meagan Lyles, Alyssa Solomon, & Robert Smoak

ME: Who brings what to the table in terms of creativity, inspiration, and influence among the members?
KK: We all collectively bring our ideas to the table in an intriguing way. The three of us are so different but so much alike, more importantly we inspire one another. Each individual is crazy original and our personalities definitely show through the line.

ME: Who rocks Krooked Kulture? (Give me a synopsis of who your pieces target)?
KK: Our target market is girls & guys ages 14 – 25. Our line offers a 1980-90's twist, with our crazy, spontaneous color scheme it attracts the eyes of teenagers who like to STAND OUT. We call them the “KOOL KIDS” the ones that are not scared to be different no matter what other people might say or think. It’s all about expressing individuality.

ME: Outside of the custom made travel pieces that I absolutely adore what other types of pieces do you offer?
KK: We offer t-shirts with our Credit Cards & Cartwheels line, accessories (jewelry, sunglasses, head bands, scarves, rings, belts, hats etc). We also offer dresses, skirts, shorts, jackets, basically everything under the sun. :] We are working on our own denim line as well.

ME: Tell me about the stand-out details of the pieces...I remember a lot of intricate designs

KK: It’s just all really funky there is almost no boundaries if we can think it be sure it will be tried. Krooked Kulture is a little vintage grunge, 80s twist, Cali swag, sprinkled with high fashion. We like it big, loud, and different…let’s just say OVER THE TOP 2X. We like to step outside the box; mixing different patterns and techniques

ME: Do you have any specific designer influences?

KK: Meagan: Oh goodness, this is a tough one! The list could go on forever, literally! Lol, but off hand I would have to say Christophe Decarnin, Alexander Wang, Dianne Von Furstenberg, Rachel Roy, and Alexander McQueen (just to name a few) .

Alyssa: yes of course... we wouldn’t be who we are today if we had no outside influences, where do I start, the late great Alexander McQueen, Betsey Johnson, Marc Jacobs, and Marlaina Stone.

Smoak: Too many to think of Matthew Williamson, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, John Paul Gaultier and the late Alexander McQueen and there are so many more.

ME: What else is in the works for Krooked Kulture?

KK: Krooked Kulture has many upcoming events! We will be featured in Wayne State University’s spring fashion show in April and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor’s “Cosmopolitan” fashion show the last Sunday in March! Currently we are in the process of getting our website finished so our supporter/customers can purchase Items from our line as well as order any custom made pieces. Our 2^nd fashion show will be in July, if you attended our first, you will definitely be blown away by our 2^nd.

ME: Sounds GOOD! Please keep me posted on the happenings with KK! I'm waiting on my custom piece :). Thanks again so much guys, iaME wishes you nothing but SUCCESS!

Alyssa Solomon (left) Robert Smoak (center) and Meagan Lyles (right)
THE TALENT BEHIND KK

Krooked Kulture Works! This is why I fell in L<3 VE... Check the pics of their line below...

No Words! ...okay well yeah maybe a few! Check the knitted cropped sweater vest with the geometric shaped buttons ANNND the UBER destroyed boyfriend shorts!