Meet Danielle Sabey

Kreeya continues its pre-holiday featured designer bonanza with a second featured designer this week: Danielle Sabey. We’re so pleased to present Danielle’s fashions at Kreeya. We just know you’ll want to rush over to www.kreeya.com after reading this to snatch up her one-of-a-kind pieces that reuse found materials. Stick around and get to know a bit more about her first.

KREEYA: Hi, Danielle! We’re thrilled to get to chat a bit with you and share what we learn with Kreeya shoppers. Tell us: where did you grow up and how did you become a designer?

DANIELLE: I grew up on a small farm in northern Colorado near the Wyoming boarder. My grandmother was an excellent seamstress and sold fabrics in her basement for years while she was a mother. She passed her skills down to my mother and I guess then it came down to me. I grew up with a sewing machine available to me and I remember even as a small child having an interest in sewing and creating. I still remember cutting a hole out of a yellow polka dot fabric to make a poodle skirt for one of my dolls when I was a tiny child.

I went to university to study math and art and recently graduated with honors with two degrees. This can be a great asset when it comes to designing and sewing. I started making things to sell when I moved to San Francisco and realized that I need to make some extra cash. I shortly realized that local designing is not about the cash, but about the passion. So that is where is started for me.

K: That passion is definitely evident in your clothes. How would you describe your clothes to someone unfamiliar with them? What is your process like?

D: All my designs are one of a kind pieces made from re-used materials. The inherent individuality of these pieces combined with the green mindset is what defines my line. They tend to mix bold and dramatic looks with the comfort and social ease of reused knits. They are are unassuming. There is something about my pieces that are a little rebellious. When you wear them you will feel different then when wearing other designer wear. You will feel a sense of freedom, like having fun.

K: That’s such a wonderful description and so enticing! Tell us about what makes you unique as a designer?

D: I love to relight the light of old clothing which has died. I like to start out with something unexpected and then see where it takes me. When sewing with already used materials there are a lot of possibilities for discovery. I like taking things out of one context and putting them into a new one, giving them new life, taking mens t-shirts and turning them into high fashion womens wear, or taking uniforms, which symbolize rigidity and social adherance and transfoming them into funky and unique pieces, shedding all previous barriers.

K: Well, obviously you find inspiration in the materials you work with, but what else helps you shape the ideas that turn into clothes?

D: I have a keen interest in vintage womens wear. I love the damn-the-man type attitudes that had to arise in oppositon to that time, as well as the roll of empowered women. I also feel inspired by the freedom of the punk rock scene as well as the fashion from the 80′s. I like to see social barriers torn down with pride. I would not say that my designs necessarily share design elements from these inspirations, but rather give my mind light to find my own inspirations inside me.

K: Who do you imagine buying and wearing your clothing?

D: Anyone with a casual confidence. I think my designs do not go well with those who are overly confident or overly shy.

K: If you had to pick, what would be your most favorite piece that you have designed?

D: The Ontrac Romper. Made from uniforms of my most hated job. Mens uniforms, that is, because I was the only girl, and they never bothered to have a womens uniform.

K: Down the road, what kind of designer do you want to be remembered as?

D: A true creator, never staying the same.

K: On a parting note, why did you join Kreeya?

D: Why not!! What a great thing to be part of, a local designers online catalog.

Thanks so much for chatting with us, Danielle! We’re so excited to present your clothes on www.kreeya.com starting TODAY!