Rising Stars: Meet Paris Knowles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paris Knowles. 

Hi Paris, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At just 19 years old I decided I wanted to pursue my dreams of becoming a full-time entrepreneur, fashion designer, and creative director. I started my business in 2018 and to be completely honest it was a pretty complex project. I didn’t go to school for business nor did I have any training on how to properly build a business. When I first started out, I was teaching myself everything. I didn’t have any investors, loans, or financial support from family and friends. All I had at the time was me and my determination to build a fashion empire. I was working full-time at a local hospital and any extra money I made I would put to the side so that I could one day fund my business. When there was finally enough money in the pot I immediately got to work. Spending countless hours trying to find a manufacturer that would work with me and the small order I would be able to place was a task. But once I locked my manufacturer in it was go time! I sent over some sketches, we discussed fabrics, turnaround times, and price. Within 12 weeks I had my first bulk order of 50 swimsuits. I proceeded to let the world know there was a new fashion designer on the block. I posted the swimsuits to Instagram and maybe 5 sold that day. I continued to promote them and eventually all 50 were sold within 2 weeks. The business started to grow overall. All the money the business made I would put back into the business. I went from 50 swimsuits to hundreds of swimsuits. To being sold out in a few hours. Fashion is changing every second so I have to stay on top of my creations. It’s my desire to inspire people to be fashionably different and confident when it comes to swimwear. 

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?
Being a business owner comes with a lot, there’s definitely some challenges you’ll have to face along the way. The biggest challenge for me was having no prior experience and knowledge of running a business. I had no idea what I was doing at all and I still run into problems today. So, it was extremely hard at first because I didn’t know what my next steps were. I had no idea how to deal with all the legal stuff when it comes to running a business. We all face adversity from time to time rather it be in a business setting or a personal setting. As long as you work through or around the problem that’s all that matters! 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the owner and designer of Blvckout Swimwear. I develop all the creative projects for Blvckout Swimwear and design all things swimwear! My business is a women’s swimwear business but more importantly, it’s about what the swimsuits does for the women wearing it. I use my expertise in fashion design to bring everyone sexy and affordable swimwear. My biggest goal for my brand is for people to feel confident when they’re wearing my swimsuits. When my customers send me pictures in their swimsuits, it truly makes me happy to know that I made them happy. 

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success to me is just being able to live a healthy balanced life. For me, that’s enjoying the work that I do, being able to spend time with family, travel the world, and experience new things. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://blvckoutswimwear.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blvckoutswimwear/?hl=en