Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesley Sedgwick
Lesley, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
House of Ke`Chic was established in 2007 in the Greater Washington DC area. Lesley, whom always had a unique fashion sense, became bored with seeing the same items in every store. As a result, Ke`Chic was born!
In 2014 the Ke`Chic Chicks relocated to GA and re-opened in the Greater Atlanta area. Carrying ready to wear casual & contemporary apparel designed to give our customers the ultimate Ke`Chic fashion experience, we wasted no time taking advantage of all that HauteLanta had to offer. We help our clients define their “Chic” fashion style with our collection of exclusive clothing and accessories for women sizes X-small-3X, with some clothing items available up to a 6X! We keep our inventory on the cutting edge of the fashion scene to bring you the freshest fashion trends and accessories from various boutique lines and up and coming designers.
Lesley Sedgwick is the head Ke`Chic-anista in charge! With her daughter Ke`Niya assisting by her side, the Ke`Chic Chicks have become published and award winning fashion stylists with an impressive collection of celebrity clients. They have worked closely on runway shows with the world renowned Harvey Star Washington, Ean Williams of DC Fashion Week and Glynn Jackson creator of the Golden Scissor Awards. We have graced the runways of Richmond & Maryland Fashion Weeks, Crystal Couture, the Lifestyle Beauty Expo & For Sisters Only as a featured stylist. House of Ke`Chic is a regular attraction at The Ultimate Women’s Expo all across the country!
They were the special guest stylists for Celebrity hair stylist Tim Johnson fashion birthday extravaganza. Lesley has served on the model selection panel for the Fashion Designers Expo in Atlanta. Celebrities styled by Lesley include the amazing motivational speaker and star of “The Secret” Lisa Nichols, R&B vocalists Jazmine Sullivan, Melanie Amaro and other Grammy Award winning artists. Lesley has provided styling for various music videos, TV & movies and red carpet events.
She was the head stylist for JustLookTV and participated annually in Crystal Couture. Lesley also served as the fashion stylist for Kiana Dancie, comedian and talk show host on TV One’s hit morning talk show The Sister Circle.
After relocating in 2023, House of Ke`Chic launched in Knoxville, TN with a mobile boutique on wheels! You can also find their fashions at Painted Tree’s Knoxville location on Kingston Pike.
Life Is Too Short To Wear Boring Clothes! #ShopKeChic
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road! There have been bumps and wrong turns throughout the years. Being a business owner is tough. Some days we’d easily make a thousand, some days not even clear $100. We had trial and error with finding quality pieces and good manufacturers. Marketing and finding events was sometimes challenging. We opened and closed several brick and mortars due to various circumstances. We barely survived Covid because no one was shopping for clothing because we were quarantined. We actually shut completely down from late spring 2020-2021. During that time I put all of my focus on my other business venture because I wasn’t sure if the boutique would survive.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Our motto is “Life is too short to wear boring clothes!” We love colors, dramatic prints and fun fabrics. Our goal is for you to turn heads when you enter a room. We want people to tell you that you look great and ask where did you get that? Our brand has evolved over the years, our style offerings have grown as well. We love to give back! We have fundraisers, we donate to organizations, we volunteer, we support our communities. We now offer fashion parties via our mobile unit. The party host can earn Ke`Chic Kash to shop with during their event. We’re also available for events, fashion shows and more.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’m a Maryland girl forever! My hometown of Annapolis is surrounded by water. I’m actually a Capitana and I still have a small charter service in Maryland, so I love being near water. The thing that I like most about Knoxville is that I still have water access. It’s my peaceful place. It makes me feel like I still have a peace of home with me.
My least favorite thing is kind of a catch 22. I love how peaceful and quiet Knoxville is, but in comparison to the MD/DC area and Atlanta where I’ve previously lived, Knoxville has been a huge adjustment for my family. There just aren’t as many things to do here based on what we’re accustomed to. It’s a lot slower here for us, but we’re adjusting well. When we need a little more excitement, we travel to Chatt or Atlanta since we have family and friends there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shopkechic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopkechic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopkechic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/shopkechic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shopkechic
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopkechic
