“Don’t be scared of hearing ‘no.’ The ‘no’s’ are planting seeds for something else; stay true to your vision.”
 

Kelly is a sustainable fashion designer who’s been digging through 25-cent thrift bins for nearly three decades (@_kellydempsey_). After gaining national recognition as the runner-up on Project Runway Season 14, Kelly deepened her understanding of the fashion industry’s environmental impact and found herself returning full circle to what had always inspired her: secondhand materials. She now uses thrifted and discarded items as the foundation for her designs, transforming forgotten pieces into one-of-a-kind fashion. Through her platform, Kelly shares the beauty and possibility in what others might overlook, aiming to shift how we see waste, fashion, and consumption.
 

SHOW NOTES & TAKEAWAYS

• Living out loud, manifesting your dreams, and turning fashion on its head!
• Her upcycled fashion brand, Salvage Aura.
• Her global fashion and shopping app.
• What sparked and still inspires her love of fashion and designing.
• Sustainable shopping in your own closet.
• The story of her big break and the inside scoop on Project Runway!
• Fashion’s environmental impact.
• Sustainable textiles and other unconventional materials.
• Finding, and staying aligned with your vision.
• How she uses her platform to bring awareness and keep items out of landfills.
• Secondhand is all about changing perceptions and taking something, giving it a second life by turning it into something new.
• Art should be wearable…like her “curtain pants” that were featured on a billboard in Times Square in New York City.