DESIGNER PROFILE

The Inspiration of Kelly Cole

There’s a million ways to break into a fashion career. For Kelly Cole of the Kelly Cole USA brand, entry was the vintage concert T-shirt.

In the 1990s, Cole—who also worked as an actor, DJ and interior designer, among other gigs—developed a sideline selling vintage concert tees. Currently, the most in-demand vintage concert tees are from David Bowie and Clash tours and typically sell for $150 to $700.

After a few years of selling vintage concert T-shirts, Cole saw that many vintage aficionados weren’t spending big cash on the nostalgia that came with the T-shirt. Rather, they were spending the money because the T-shirt got worn out a certain way.

“The perfect T-shirt is thin to the point of not being wearable. The graphic is faded,” Cole said of the look, which is almost a formula that all of his clients wanted.

Cole partnered with denim guru Sean Hornbeak to build a full line of fashions inspired by the classic vintage T-shirt, which gets worn out the right way. The debut Kelly Cole USA line was recently delivered to Cole’s self-named boutique, Kelly Cole, located at 175 S. La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles; Maxfield; and American Rag.

Hornbeak developed a loose knit fabric for the line, which is similar to Cole’s vision of perfection of a thin, worn T-shirt. However, the look is used in different T-shirt styles. There is the line’s graphic tees, which feature some of Cole’s designs such as a skull bearing peace signs and vintage-inspired crew-neck shirts. Some wholesale price points range from $25 to $36.

Cole also hopes that his shirts serve the same social purpose that concert T-shirts served in the apex of their social heyday in the 1970s. “It can be a social icebreaker,” he said. “It could start a conversation.”

For more information, email info@kellycoleusa.com or call (323) 692-5012.