How Kailee McKenzie Turned Content into a Clothing Brand
Kailee McKenzie on how she started STAATSBALLETT, a sustainable clothing brand, her style inspiration, upstate home renovations, and more.
GM everyone! Hope your Zyn container is full and your cold brew run over.
Here at Who Do You Know? I have consistently interviewed on a mix of founders, strategists, and tastemakers from across industries, in hopes of giving you readers (who I love!) some insights into the intersection of brands, commerce, and culture.
But I haven’t brought on someone from the fashion world to give their story on how they turned an audience into a platform to launch a brand.
Today we have a very special guest: Kailee McKenzie.
Kailee began creating YouTube videos when she was in middle school (you’ve definitely seen them), and is now running Staatsballett, a sustainable clothing brand and vintage marketplace. She has a keen eye for style and design.
We discussed—
How she grew her audience
Self-starting a clothing brand in NYC
Personal style philosophy
Midcentury modern home renovation
and more!
Jake Bell: What made you first begin creating style content?Â
Kailee McKenzie: I actually started creating videos on YouTube back in middle school! A different era. I grew up in rural America and I think I was searching for a community with similar interests.Â
JB: What was the inspiration behind starting Staatsballett?Â
KM: I wanted sustainable, cool, basics in my price range - we use deadstock and organic materials and produce everything small batch here in the US.Â
While Staatsballett has evolved into a totally separate entity from my social presence, I felt like I had a good idea of what my audience was looking for via analytics and affiliate marketing. I knew I could organically take them along with the journey of manufacturing in NYC and running the business out of my 400 sq ft apartment. I went to fashion school for product development and while I love my digital world, I always wanted to branch out to create something physical.
JB: What are the challenges with running a clothing brand? Was there a steep learning curve?Â
KM: Funding was the hardest to get started. I was a 21 year old college student and used all my savings from social media on our first round of sampling and development, then took preorders for production. We did $40k in preorder revenue in our first week and it was more money than I had ever seen in my life. Little did I know Paypal would hold 50% of our funds for 6 months! So that was tough. I dropped out of school immediately because I couldn’t pay my next semester’s tuition.
By our second collection I had a much better idea of what we could sell and how things should be priced. We also moved all of our manufacturing to LA, which was one of the best decisions for our business. NY is hard - every step of the manufacturing process takes place at a different location here, and it’s more expensive, too. When we were on a tight budget, I was personally lugging product from cutting to sewing to finishing in the garment district. It was a mess and I had no idea what I was in for.Â
Now I think our biggest challenge is planning production orders and keeping the right product in stock. We’ve stopped producing seasonal collections and I aim to keep our best-selling basics on the site at all times, with small drops of vintage and artist collaborations in between. I find it more sustainable this way, too. Everything is small batch, we’re not producing items that aren’t going to sell. We just started taking back old product to help customers sell on our new preloved marketplace - it’s been going really well so far! I think it’s super important for more brands to establish circular systems and take responsibility for the lifespan of the products they create.
JB: What is your personal style philosophy?
KM: I find nearly everything secondhand! I love a bit of a goth, a bit of western, a bit of minimalism. Everything has to be functional. I have a small closet and wear every piece I own.Â
JB: What are your style inspirations?Â
KM: I love 90s/early 2000s Belgian designers - like AF Vandevorst, Ann Demeuelemeester. I’ve also gotten super into Formula 1 in the last few years and have become obsessed with 60s F1 wag Nina Rindt.
JB: What are your favorite pieces for Summer?Â
KM: Linen and silk pieces, cowboy boots and Rick Owens calf hair Birkenstocks. I find summer tough for dressing!
JB: You have documented renovating your upstate home? Tell me a bit about why you like upstate, the challenges in renovating the home, and what was your interior inspiration?
KM: I grew up in West Virginia, and I find the Catskills to be a better version of home. It’s beautiful, with all the perks of being secluded in nature, but you still have access to amazing food, art and culture. And it’s only 2 hours from the city.Â
In an alternative life, I’m a homesteader on a farm (but chic)
While we have differing personal style and interior tastes, the family that owns my clothing factory is a huge inspiration for me -
My partner and I found a fixer midcentury cabin on several wooded acres and a dead-end road and we jumped at the opportunity and all the possibilities. It’s been a huge undertaking. We’re making slow and steady progress, doing a lot of things ourselves. I’ve enjoyed learning basic carpentry, electrical and painting skills in the process. One thing about me is I love a project! And I’m delusional enough to think I can do anything myself haha. We want the space to feel like a serene retreat for our family and friends. We’re building out a sauna, steam shower, and keeping the surrounding land feeling as wild as possible.Â
Thanks to Kailee for coming on Who Do You Know?
Go check out her content and shop Staatsballet.
Stay tuned for more interviews with people you need to know.
And thank you for subscribing! See you all tomorrow.
Jake Bell is a content marketing and creative strategist based in NYC. He specializes in content creation, branding, art direction, creative strategy, and making things cool.
To learn more about Jake visit www.jb.studio
Have a tip email me jake@jb.studio
Like video? Check out his TikTok
Like fit pics and pictures of chairs? Visit his Instagram.