Kiya Tomlin: From Kitchen Table Creations to Fashion Brand Success
Kiya Tomlin's journey into the world of fashion design is a compelling story of passion, practicality, and the pursuit of a dream. Launched in 2014, the Kiya Tomlin fashion brand offers practical, versatile, and stylish clothing. It is a brand born from a childhood fascination, nurtured through years of experimentation, and ultimately realized through dedication and hard work. This article explores the origins and evolution of the Kiya Tomlin brand, highlighting the key moments and influences that have shaped its identity.
An Early Spark: The Seeds of a Designer
Kiya's interest in fashion began in childhood. An image that is woven into Kiya Winston Tomlin’s ’96 mind like a well-made garment. It’s crisp and unforgettable. The image helped shape an 8-year-old girl’s view of fashion, and how it can leave an impression years after the person wearing it has left the room. She was wearing a voluminous, head-to-toe white silk chiffon outfit that was billowing in the breeze, along with an enormous halo of hair,” Kiya says. “When she saw us, she came down to the grass level and sat directly on the grass with us - in all that white silk chiffon. It was the summer of 1982 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and Kiya was away from home at a gymnastics camp. “The entire scene still replays like a slow motion dream to me …
The new sewing machine quickly became a regular fixture on the family’s kitchen table, says Susan Winston, Kiya’s mother. Winston dusted off her eighth-grade home economics skills, read the sewing machine’s manual and the two learned how to operate it together. First they made a stuffed duck in order to learn the basics. By the time Kiya reached middle school she was making her entire wardrobe, shifting back-to-school shopping from the mall to the neighborhood fabric store. Despite her natural skill and interest in making clothing, Kiya didn’t envision herself pursuing a career as a fashion designer. “I always wanted to be a surgeon,” Kiya says. “Fashion was just a hobby.
“She was an excellent student, but I didn’t see the same passion for medicine in her as I did for fashion,” Winston says. “I didn’t want to discourage her, but I didn’t see it. Kiya and her two siblings knew that to attend college outside of New Jersey they needed scholarships. “I knew I didn’t want to stay in New Jersey, so I worked really hard to get a scholarship,” Kiya says. “I had never heard of William & Mary, but I knew I wanted to do gymnastics. I was offered an athletics and academic scholarship.
College Years: Balancing Athletics, Academics, and Apparel
Kiya, a psychology major, balanced books with gymnastics, where she held the record in the uneven bars category for several years. Kiya used her spare time to make custom clothing for fellow students, including her roommate of four years, Romanda Williams ’96. “Kiya showed me a picture of her prom dress and I said can you make me that same dress in black?” Williams says. “I also asked her to make me a dress for the winter formal. I had many requests. The two have remained friends and try to visit one another at least once a year. “I think her career definitely suits her,” Williams says. “I was there for the opening of her store and got a few pieces. The fabrics are nice and the fit of the clothing is nice.
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Kiya and Mike met in the training room at William & Mary while they were both injured. Kiya had a gymnastics injury and Mike was hurt from football. The couple relocated to Memphis in the spring of 1996 because Mike was working as a graduate assistant at the University of Memphis. “I don’t think I was nervous or anxious that morning,” Kiya says. “I think I had come to the realization that Mike wanted to coach. When we got married I didn’t know Mike wanted to pursue coaching as a career.
The Coaching Life and a Budding Business
“He was already on his career path and I was just starting on the medical path,” says Kiya. “I thought, when the test rolls around next time if that’s really what I want to do, I’ll take it. The first few years of the couple’s marriage were spent moving to various cities as Mike pursued coaching positions in Tennessee, Arkansas and Ohio. Kiya continued to custom design and had customers in each city through word-of-mouth. Once settled in Cincinnati, Kiya enrolled in the University of Cincinnati’s fashion design program. “I didn’t know the technical ways of doing things,” Kiya says. “I would have an idea and search for patterns that had similar concepts and I would mish-mash them together. For example, I would take the sleeves from one pattern, the neckline from another pattern and then cobble it all together. Kiya learned the foundations of design, which included pattern drafting and draping, two techniques designers use to create clothing without using commercial patterns. The move to Tampa meant that school was over for Kiya and she needed to decide her next move. “I always thought if you can make a wedding gown, you were on top because they are elaborate and require so much fabric,” she says. “My kids always came first, the sewing and design business always fit in where it could,” Kiya says. “That was the one thing that I really liked about it. I could fit what I love to do around my own schedule. “Most brides know what they want,” Kiya says. “They really don’t want you to tell them what they want.
Pittsburgh and the Birth of a Brand
In 2007 the family relocated to Pittsburgh when Mike became the head coach of the Steelers. In a place like Pittsburgh where Steelers football and history define its identity, fashion is not a main attribute of the city’s DNA. “There is a very small fashion demographic here,” Kiya says. “People are just more practical. Kiya designed the Game Day Collection with the Pittsburgh demographic in mind. The first design idea for the Kiya Tomlin fashion brand came years before she officially launched her business. It stemmed from the absence of Mike’s clothing in the couple’s laundry bin early in their marriage. Kiya observed Mike’s routine, which included leaving their home before sunrise and returning around midnight. Every day he would wear sweats - the same sweats. “He and the team would work out three times a day and they would have all the laundry and shower facilities there,” Kiya says. “So when he came home, he would have just had a shower and put clean clothes on. and puts on the same clothes and goes to work. There was no thought to it - he would just get up and go. He gets to wear sweats every day and he wears the same sweats every day.
The Signature Dress: A Uniform for Life
A RELAXED FIT: Kiya Tomlin’s designs accommodate the everyday woman who wants her clothing to provide both style and comfort. Mike’s routine sparked an idea. “I decided to just make myself a uniform,” Kiya says. “Something that I could put on every day that I didn’t have to think about. It needed to be practical. Something I can run around with my kids in or dress up for a client. Or if Mike and I wanted to go out at night, I could just throw on some heels or some jewelry - all in the same outfit. The Signature Dress wasn’t intended to be the start of the Kiya Tomlin clothing brand, but it was. To Kiya, it was a comfortable dress to wear in her busy life. “I would wear that dress all the time, with tennis shoes, heels, over leggings or jeans,” Kiya says. “People would stop me everywhere I went to ask about that dress. “A lot of women who stay at home to raise their kids do an amazing job,” Kiya says. “But some of those women really struggle with what they are going to do after the kids leave.
The Kiya Tomlin Aesthetic: Comfort and Style
Kiya’s designs are loose fitting and soft to the touch but durable. Her designs are simplistic without sacrificing style. The clothing is comparable to the comfort of a sweatshirt, but does not feel like a traditional one. The most popular garment is the French Terry Peep Shoulder Tee, which has an elbow-length sleeve and exposed right shoulder. It retails for $138. The average garment sells for around $150. Several celebrities have found comfort in Kiya’s designs, including Robin Roberts, Kaley Cuoco and Gayle King. But the accolades do not influence the next design for Kiya. The customers do. “When I see different body types in my pieces, the custom designer in me always wants to make it work,” she says. “If you have an hourglass figure, the Signature Dress is for you. If you have a pear shape, the Signature Dress is for you. If you have an apple shape - the Signature Dress is not for you. What can I make for the apple? That is really the inspiration for all my designs.
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The Work/Shop: A Dream Realized
In August of 2018, Kiya expanded her business by selling and manufacturing the brand’s clothing under one roof, opening the Kiya Tomlin Work/Shop in Etna, eight miles north of downtown Pittsburgh. “In my heart I felt if I could design, manufacture and sell in one place, that would be a dream,” Kiya says. The Kiya Tomlin Work/Shop is a modern storefront in a quite rustic strip of downtown Etna. The mom-and-pop shops that are open nearby have preserved the small-town charm of this borough. Prior to opening the Work/Shop, Kiya had a storefront in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh and a separate manufacturing location. “When we had two locations, I couldn’t be at two places at once,” Kiya says. “When I needed to be at the factory, I would have to close the store. There were times customers would come by and say your store wasn’t open. The Work/Shop is an open contemporary space with exposed brick and drop light fixtures. There are also subtle art elements in the design of the Work/Shop that make it aesthetically unique. The manufacturing area is adjacent to the retail space and gives shoppers a front-row seat to how designs are created. The words “I made your clothes” are written on a back wall. Everything is done from scratch in the Work/Shop. Kiya and her staff draft designs by hand before cutting them out of cardboard to make a template. “I wanted to open the store up to manufacturing so people can see what we do,” Kiya says. “I think we lose sight of all that goes into manufacturing by buying our shirts at fast fashion retailers for $2.
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tags: #freshman #1996 #clothing #brand #history
