Meet Kimmy Jamison | Apparel & Accessories Designer

I’m an apparel and accessories designer with a very diverse background. Growing up, I was an ice skater, which gave me an early appreciation for luxe fabrics and super dramatic styling; I’ve also been super into heavy metal music since my teenage years and all the badass, eccentric fashion that went along with it throughout the decades. In high school, I used to tear up and sew my clothes back together and deck out my jackets, hoodies, and bags in studs, spikes, and remnant leather to really give it that authentic DIY vibe. Leather, studs, denim, vintage rock n’ roll, grunge, and goth fashion – it never gets old or goes out of style, I will forever love it and be inspired by it. I attended FIDM Los Angeles from 2010-2012 and got my AA degree in Product Development, which gave me the technical skills to put my creativity to good use. I started working in the industry immediately and haven’t stopped since. In this ever-changing industry, I’ve been through various layoffs but always managed to land on my feet through persistence and willingness to take on different design roles, ranging from apparel, accessories, footwear, to homewares and various licensed products. The creative journey is not an easy one, but I’m absolutely enjoying it – and anyone who is truly passionate about what they do can completely relate. I started Violet Black Design in 2016, which, at the time, was just a portfolio website of my favorite industry work, with a few of my own personal designs (just digital mock-ups at this point) thrown into the mix to fill in the gaps of the aesthetic I was trying to convey. I eventually sewed up some one-of-a-kind clothing pieces and took pictures to add to my website. Using my industry knowledge, I realized that I had the technical skills and resources to bring my own vision to life. It evolved to be me doing freelance apparel design for some niche brands with a darker, moodier vibe, while simultaneously working on my own projects – I turned my own artwork into enamel pins, and collaborated with some amazing artists, rendering their artwork and putting my own spin on it to create something absolutely killer together. Violet Black Design is not limited to one medium, nor do I solely work alone – I paint, I sew. I create tech packs, and I do digital renders. I collaborate with other artists whenever it seems fitting, and I create artwork for other people. I’m passionate about it all.