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Katelynne Halliday said she uses her business to counteract pollution of fashion industry

Katelynne Halliday sells her clothing at the BYU–Hawaii Farmers Market.

What started as an activity to fill time while she was recovering from a broken and dislocated elbow has turned into an effort to have a positive impact on the environment through selling repurposed, bleach-dyed flannels, said Katelynne Halliday.

Halliday, a recent graduate from Utah majoring in painting, said she makes all of her bleach-dyed flannels out of repurposed clothing because she wants to raise awareness about the pollution created by the fashion industry. “Something I really wanted to emphasize with my business is trying to get people to be more aware of the things they purchase and consume and how they affect the environment.

“With these shirts, I wanted to make a company that is affecting the environment in a better way. I wanted to find a way I could pull away from the big fashion industry and be able to make a clothing line that impacts the environment in a good way.”

According to Kristan Tiritilli, a junior from California majoring in exercise and sport science, Halliday is a fun-loving person who likes to inspire others to try new things. “Katelynne was one of my roommates a couple years ago, and we clicked and have been pretty close ever since. She started talking about making flannels during this past summer time.

“Katelynne is the sweetest human. She wants the best for people and is a great listener. She is always looking for ways to make people laugh and to help them take life a little less seriously. She is down for adventures and spontaneous things, which makes it fun to be around her. She also is open to trying new things and it inspires me to be like that too.”

Working for a cleaner fashion industry

Halliday said she learned about the harm caused by the fashion industry through social media. After researching, she said she decided to buy the shirts she bleach dyes second hand instead of buying them wholesale.

“I feel like [wholesale] is almost an easy way out but also not as good for the environment. I decided to get all the clothes I bleach dye as resale clothes, so thrifted or second hand … It’s a little more of a hassle on my part because I have to take this extra time to go find the shirts instead of just ordering them online.”

Halliday said, “It makes me feel more at peace and feel better about my business. It is a business supporting a better environment. I’m just trying to help people be more aware of the clothing they’re purchasing and how it’s affecting the world around them.”

Starting her business

She said she originally began bleaching shirts with friends. Her creative mindset is what pushed her to start bleach-dyeing flannels, and her injury was what pushed her to start the business. “Over the summer, I ended up dislocating and fracturing my elbow. When I’m back in Utah, I normally work for a catering company my aunt and mom run. That’s a lot of heavy lifting. You need to be able to move things around and carry things. I couldn’t do that with my arm, but I could dip a shirt in bleach dye.

“I had this in the back of my head, this idea that I could sell these shirts. I had friends who liked them and said they would buy one. Being out of work, dislocating my elbow and not being able to do what I normally could was the extra push to do this. Why not take this extra chance, start a business, and see how it goes?”

Ana Mendoza, an alumna from California who majored in psychology, said Halliday started talking about this business over the summer, and her crafty nature helped her make the business a reality.

Although she didn’t know anything about how to start a business, Halliday explained how the internet was a huge help to her starting her business.

“I don’t really know anything about business, marketing, or anything. Honestly, thank goodness for the internet, Google, and even YouTube, because you can search anything. You can figure out how to do anything and learn from other people who have gone through the same process.”

As for where she sells her clothes, “Etsy is where my business is right now. I also sell locally at farmer’s markets and pop-up markets. I’ve done the farmer’s market here at BYU–Hawaii. When I go back to Utah, I want to pursue some other markets there.”

The learning curve

Halliday described how the first time she bleach dyed a shirt, it didn’t go as planned. “My first time dying a shirt was actually kind of a fail, but also a step in the right direction. I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I can just dunk it in the bleach and it will be all fine.’ I sat in the bleach, and was like, ‘Oh, it probably needs to bleach for like an hour.’ I hadn’t really looked anything up the first time. I thought I knew what to do and could figure it out.

“When I came back to check on it, I lifted it up, and it just fell apart into the bleach. My friend was with me, and I was like, ‘Umm, this is embarrassing.’ I learned later when you’re bleaching clothing you have to dilute the bleach.”

After she learned how to properly make her shirts, she said she realized what it was actually like to start a small business. “I realized you want it to grow so quickly, and you think, ‘Oh yeah, I can make it grow so quick.’ I think with any start-up business it’s a gradual incline.

“I’ve created social media pages, like Instagram and Facebook. I have way more followers than I did at the beginning.” Halliday said her customers motivate her to keep going. “I’ve had committed followers. I’ve had people who have bought shirts and come back to buy another shirt because they’re so satisfied. That’s been really cool to see people who have purchased my merchandise and liked it enough they want to come back and repurchase.”

Another thing keeping her motivated is her drive to be successful. “I’m a person who doesn’t want to fail at things. Sometimes in some ways I have a fear of failure. If I do pursue something, I’m going to pursue it and put everything into it. I don’t want to fail because I don’t want everyone to see me fail.

“The things I do, I want to be able to be successful in and feel accomplished. That’s something that keeps me going with it and not giving up is that I want to be able to find success in it. I feel like the time I have been able to put into it, I have been able to see success. It’s been slow and gradual, which is common with any small business, which I have to remind myself sometimes.”

Her creative process

Halliday described how she makes the shirts. “To start off, I’ll go get a shirt. My favorite thrift shop to go to is Savers … I’ll get home, and I’ll set up my bleach station. I have a big container I put the bleach in.

“I’ll put my gloves on and my mask on. Then I’ll get a shirt, and I’ll gradually move it into the bleach. I’ll splash it up in certain spots and smooth it in and rub it in. I’ll rinse out parts of the shirt to get more of a faded look and let other parts sit longer. Eventually, I’ll rinse out the whole shirt and set that shirt aside until it’s ready to be washed. I’ll do other shirts in the meantime, so it’s a big load with multiple shirts.”

Once the shirts are done, Halliday said she’ll usually photograph the shirts so she can put them up on her Etsy site. “If I don’t have time, I don’t get to photographing all of them. I’ll just take them to the farmer’s market even if I don’t have photos of them yet. Sometimes they’ll sell before I take a photo of them, which is nice. I just find my friends, or sometimes even acquaintances, where I like their aesthetic and look.

“Then I’ll edit them, which can be fun and a pain at the same time ... I don’t try to over edit it because I want them to look how they are. People want to purchase what they’re seeing. Then I’ll post them on my site. Once I’ve posted them on my site, I feel free to post them on social media as well. I try not to post anything on social media I haven’t posted on my site first.”

Explaining some of her specific techniques, Halliday shared, “You do one-part bleach, two parts water. You can even do more water. It’s safer to add more water to the bleach. I also don’t just dunk it in the bleach anymore like the first time ... Bleach is a really strong chemical, so you have to be really careful with it.”

The long run

Pursuing a minor in psychology as well, Halliday shared, will hopefully lead her into the field of art therapy. “In the long run, I want to go into art therapy and counseling, so I’ll have to go to a master’s program for that. Right after I graduate, I want to take a little bit of a break before I jump right into school again and work.

“I’ll be able to put more time, effort, and commitment to my small business I’ve started up, which will be kind of fun and exciting. I definitely want to find another job as well that will be like a stepping stone for me in the direction of art therapy, whether it’s something more art related or psychology related. I’m not completely sure yet, but that’s the direction I’m going.

As for incorporating her business into art therapy, “I definitely feel like it could be incorporated, doing some creating of clothing and art therapy. I haven’t really thought about it. I don’t know how long I’ll be doing this business.”

To see more of Halliday’s products, follow her on Instagram @made_bykate_ or visit her Etsy shop MadebyKShop.

Writer: Haeley van der Werf