Kirstie Engelke, a young entrepreneur based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has taken the fashion industry by storm with her unique clothing brand, K-APPAREL. Kirstie's love for fashion and her desire to create a sustainable and ethical brand have led her on a journey that has been both challenging and rewarding.
Born and raised in Port Elizabeth, Kirstie studied a BSC in HKE at Rhodes University, where she discovered her passion for sewing. After traveling to Europe and seeing the outfits and prints that were not available in South Africa, Kirstie was inspired to create her own fashion brand.
K-APPAREL was officially launched in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The brand produces limited runs of colorful and trendy apparel for both men and women. Kirstie wanted to create a slow fashion brand that went against the social norms of fast fashion, and that would empower the local community in South Africa.
Starting out, Kirstie made all the clothing herself, but soon realized she needed to outsource to meet the growing demand. This posed a new set of challenges, including added costs and delayed lead times.
However, she persevered and now runs her own workshop where she employs seamstresses to produce her clothing and provide CMT services to others. K-APPAREL has been able to provide jobs to women in the local community.
One of the biggest challenges Kirstie faces is competing with fast fashion brands like SHEIN. However, K-APPAREL stands out with its use of textured fabric, colors, and retro designs. All items produced by K-APPAREL, especially the glitter range, are unique and cannot be found anywhere else.
Kirstie is proud to own a female-led business that produces sustainable and ethical clothing. She has been able to achieve significant milestones, including employing local women and launching a new range of apparel that features the South African colored flag and small visuals of Table Mountain.
When not busy running her business, Kirstie enjoys organizing and cleaning, spending time with her dogs, and going for runs to relieve stress.
Kirstie's dream collaboration would be with Chad Le Clos, a South African Olympic swimmer who embodies hard work, persistence, and the spirit of never giving up. She would like to collaborate with Chad on a Proudly South African range of apparel that features the South African colored flag.