Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Phillips.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started sewing at the age of 8 when I saw that my sister’s friend made a purse from mixed fabrics. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen and my mom showed me her old sewing machine that same day. I taught myself how to sew and make patterns, making clothes was my favorite thing to do. By high school I was getting commissioned to make custom dresses–I made several wedding dresses, a bat mitzvah dress, a mother-of-the-bride dress, and other random things. And I also interned for a couple clothing labels here in Cleveland while in high school. I decided to go to college to study fashion design and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, with a mission to come back to Cleveland to join the local fashion industry that existed here at the time. Immediately upon graduating I returned to Cleveland and I launched my own clothing line called 23 Skidoo. It lasted a couple of years until I burned myself out and let it fall to the wayside. For the next 8 years I worked for a leather accessory company where I fell in love with leather craft and handbag design. As I was working in the fashion industry, I was personally educating myself on sustainability and grew in awareness of the waste the fashion industry can produce and the overconsumption it can encourage. I began to dream about building a label on the foundation of zero-waste. I also wondered how many of my materials I could realistically source from my own community. So I started small by shopping local as much as I could in my personal life, before jumping online or visiting a big box store. The documentary The True Cost impacted me, and I started to buy organic fabric to support the farmers that are nourishing our soil, water, and air. Then I wondered if there was any organic fabric that is made in the U.S., or better yet, local to me. I Googled it and after many clicks I found something called a “fibershed”, which led me to the Rust Belt Fibershed. This was the start of seeing the potential of sourcing fabrics and leathers in the way I had dreamt about. I started my business Harkin because I believed I could put these practices to the test in a functioning company. I wanted to hearken back to this way of living and creating. My business model is primarily focused on custom designed pieces because I saw there was a market for it and it aligned with my value of small-batch production. With one-off pieces the attention to quality isn’t missed or overlooked at any point. It is creative and meditative work and allows personal times of connection with each client, which feeds into the strength of our community.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Since starting Harkin, I have been amazed at what all has fallen into place and worked out for good. I have gotten a lot of confirmation that I am doing the right thing. However, I’m still fine tuning my process. I’ve been saying from the beginning that this is my “data collecting year”. I’m keeping tabs on how long each part of the process takes, how to best communicate with clients, and how to make it as wonderful and smooth of an experience as possible. I am still learning how to best juggle all the different projects at once. When I was running 23 Skidoo, I really struggled to keep it alive even though it was my dream. I didn’t know my strengths and weaknesses enough to know what would make me thrive in building my dream. I didn’t make enough sales to be able to keep investing into it. And I got exhausted running all the different aspects of it that are needed from a business owner. I eventually thought “I’m just not meant to be a business owner”. And I believed that, until I started Harkin. In this new venture I have realized that I understand my strengths and weaknesses much more now. I went into this endeavor knowing exactly what I need to feel healthy, energized, creative, and organized. I love doing all the different parts of the business. And it is a relief to know that I don’t need to pretend like I know everything.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a designer specializing in artisan leather craft and construction. I have sewn garments for most of my life and still do from time to time, but leather is my main focus. I offer a custom service to individuals to create leather goods specially designed for them. As I learn about my clients, we collaborate on their designs and make beautiful goods that will last. My service starts with a consultation where clients visit my studio and we discuss everything about the product they have been dreaming about. Listening to what people are passionate about and having the opportunity to fulfill a desire for them creates a special connection. For some of my clients, they are interested in a custom leather good because they want something that fits them perfectly and represents who they are. For other clients, a custom piece is something that would seriously make their daily lives easier and more manageable. Whatever the product is, the whole process is really joyful and unique to fit each client’s needs. I have a small collection of ready-designs that can be made to order and I am excited to continue to build the offering there. These designs can be made quicker than custom designs and are less costly than the customs because the design process isn’t built into the end price.
I am proud to be a part of the fashion industry here in Cleveland, and to be leading my company by my convictions. All of my designs are made with veg tan leather, mainly sourced in New York from Pergamena, but I also occasionally source from Horween in Chicago. Working with Pergamena means I have the opportunity to source traceable leather. That means each traceable hide has a number on it, which tells me the regenerative farm it came from. This is my ideal material because there are absolutely zero mysteries in its history or what ingredients are in it. When I’ve worked with bigger tanneries in the past, it was nearly impossible to know what farm the animal was raised at and the exact ingredients in the leather. I only work with veg tan leather because this is a completely natural material, no toxic chemicals are added to it, it is all animal (byproduct of the meat industry) and plants tannins (mostly from trees). Most leathers that are not veg tan have dangerous toxic ingredients in them. I don’t find the end result to be worth it when you could be working with a natural material like veg tan. Since there is nothing toxic in my leather, all of my scrap pieces that are too small to use in a product go into my compost pile, along with all of my scrap pieces of paper for pattern making, too. These practices make Harkin a very low waste studio, and I am working on other ways to make it even lower waste. I have been testing out cotton thread that runs through beeswax on my sewing machine instead of polyester thread. Those remnants would also be able to be composted instead of creating trash.
In the past several years I have also taken on woodworking and ceramics as hobbies that I enjoy. When I started doing those crafts, I found that leather, wood, and clay are not that different. I found the more I practiced one of these crafts the better I got at the others. They somehow translate to each other. With my wood and leather skills I have been dabbling in shoe making for a few years now and finally just completed 2 pairs that are wearable.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Up until I started Harkin last year, I worked at a job as the head designer for several years. As a career it was comfortable and stable. In a city where there aren’t many jobs for fashion designers, this was an amazing opportunity and I could have held onto it for many years. I would not consider myself a huge risk taker, but I felt a pull to embark on something new and create a brand of my own again. Since this career change was going to be a big initial risk, my husband and I simplified our finances as much as we possibly could, and surprisingly, it felt like freedom. I discovered that I was white knuckling a well-paying job with a guaranteed salary when a new perspective washed over me: I wanted to live a life that found beauty in simple things. I am releasing what I “should” do to climb the ladder of success. Since this move, my view on risk is that if it is for the benefit of my health and creativity, it is worth the leap. Concepts like “success” or “achievement” are more subjective than I allowed myself to believe. Building Harkin has breathed new life into me. The risk was worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: harkinstudio.com
- Instagram: @harkin.studio
- Youtube: @harkin.studio
