Fashion

Kaneisha Lynn

Kaneisha Lynn hates boundaries. Maybe that's because one of her fashion goddesses and key influence is Betsy Johnson. "There are no rules or regulation for her. And who comes out of the run way and do cartwheels?" Kaneisha said, laughing out loud as we sat down to chat barely two weeks after her designs graced the runway at the Columbia University F.I.E Inc Fashion Show.

The edgy and daring designs of the pieces she displayed at the show revealed a lot about how Kaneisha loves to go beyond expectations of what vintage and classic means.

Driven by the mission to fuse vintage, couture, and the circus theme of the show, Kaneisha put together a collection that was delightfully outlandish but gracefully feminine. There is no doubt that 80s Baby Vintage, Kaneisha's fashion line, is the place where crazy meets fabulous.

80s Baby Vintage spots collections that vary from classic to bohemian to punk rock. Kaneisha draws inspiration from everything-people around her, images on the television, music videos. But, the true core of her inspiration is the 60s, 70s, and 80s. "I love old cloths and vintage...The fact that it's a secret. Like it's not so revealing, but it's still this sexy silhouette, Kaneisha explains.

Like many stories about creativity, 80s Baby Vintage is a child of necessity. "I'm tall and of course I'm not like the average person, so it was hard for me to find things to my liking so I started altering things like cutting a pant's leg off or tying it up on the side," she details. She has since gone from cutting up cloths to fit her unique body style, foraging thrift stores, restructuring the old things she gets from there, to offering styling consultancy services and creating a fashion line. "I kind of tried to find a way to turn my shopping habit into an income," Kaneisha says.

Though Kaneisha is a promising fashion designer and a student of the International Academy of Design and Technology, she does not downplay the importance of family in her growth as a fashion designer. "I did grow up with my grandmother sewing my clothes. I grew up with it and now it's kind of just like me nurturing it," making it clear that she has not forgotten her roots.

The business of fashion is bringing Kaneisha lots of happy surprises. She was all smiles when she said to me, "Majority of the time [sales] is by referrals, but I have no idea how people are finding me. I have like random people calling me all the time."

With Kaneisha, though, success is not all in the price tag and hitting it big is not about celebrity endorsements. "For me it's not so much about celebrities. I would love for an average person to have on my outfit," Kaneisha insists, "I don't just want to give you clothes I want to give you passion."

Believe it or not Kaneisha's got the price tag to back that statement up. Most items at 80's Baby Vintage cost less than a hundred dollars. Keeping things affordable is definitely one way Kaneisha is preaching her philosophy of fashion: "Believe in yourself. Don't over think it."