Trends and Things: Spotlight on Queens designer Ka Ren.
by Vonetta Booker-Brown

Herstory:
For Ka-Ren, that walk down the runway at the end of her show actually began nine years ago, when she began sewing as a hobby and sporting her chic creations. When she shortly afterwards decided to take a class in Egyptology, classmates and even strangers on the street began to notice her style, asking her to put them on and design clothes for them, as well. At the time, however, Ka-Ren wasn’t really entertaining the thought—her thing was that she mainly sewed for herself. But not for long. When Ka-Ren eventually agreed to do a body and headwrapping workshop for an art gallery-owning acquaintance of hers, she began to see the possibilities of a clothing line. Overnight, she came up with a name and concept: Wear Kham (Wear Your History), based on Egyptian concepts she learned in class. And now, she’ll gladly break it down for you—her slogan, that is. “It’s your African Khamitic legacy: Relive It, Rewear It, Wear Kham.”

For Triscene.com, she gladly took her views on style and trends and broke them down yet further.   

How would you describe your look, and what influenced it?

 Ka Ren: “My styles and cuts are very simple. They’re based on the actual Egyptian wear. In my research, in doing homework for class, and in researching fashion in general, the Egyptian cuts are very simple, they’re very form-fitting, very sensual pieces, especially for the women. For the men—if they wore anything at all (because it was so hot)—it was always a basic tunic, simple holes for the arms, sometimes slits on the side, sometimes not. Always in natural fibers; that’s why my fabrics are always natural. I don’t work with synthetics or polyesters at all. In addition, I embroider on every piece the Egyptian [hieroglyphics], which, if you translate it, is a short story of creation.” 

What are some of the hot trends right now?

Ka Ren: “Right now, it’s skin (laughs). Skin is definitely in—a lot of backs out, cleavage out, a lot of tight metallics—anything shiny on the body. As far as for fall and winter, fabric-wise I see a lot of ‘shag’ fabrics—I call it ‘fuzz,’ because it’s furry, fuzzy-looking. That’s another thing I’ve been noticing. I notice that they’re big on coats—big coats over a simple dress, long and flowing. I guess that could also come from a lot of the sci-fi movies that happened last year.” 

What are some of the trends you see on the horizon?

Ka Ren:  “For spring…bright. Another thing, taking from history class again, we learned how the ancient ancestors aligned color with their everyday practice and things like that. Me personally, I really like to come out with something that’s bright—whether it be bright yellow or bright green for the spring—because the spring is when it’s the African time of the year—it’s our time to come out (laughs). The ancients wore a ton of white, that’s another thing. So for me, I keep white like, all year-round. In the wintertime, I’ll just wear a wool white, and more so in the springtime.” 

“Fashion Police” felonies: What’s a trend you absolutely despise—something that just won’t die?

Ka Ren: “Oh, my God! Over the summer were those Capri pants! The thing is, there are some sisters out here with the really, really cute figures who can wear them and pull it off. But then you get the other sisters who just, like—okay, butt all out in the business, you know? I’m not saying not to wear them, but at least wear something to cover that up. The whole idea to wearing Capri pants is the lower part of your legs. Not the rear-end type of thing, so wear like a big shirt over it, and tone it down a bit!

The other one was the style with getting these long pants and then folding them up so you can see the reverse side of the pants, the cuffs. Come on, now. If you’re 5”5 (laughs), buy a pair of pants that’s for [someone] 5”5! That drove me crazy, because to me, it just looked really sloppy, like you really bought it too long or something. But they really didn’t roll it up, they just made one giant fold. So it’s like you’ve got a cuff up to your knee…that kind of drove me crazy.” 

What is the typical vibe of one of your shows?  

Ka Ren: “They’re usually pretty hot, because I come out with the subtler pieces first, then I have what’s called a ‘showstopper’ at the end.” 

Do you choose the music for the show?  

Ka Ren: “Yes, I do.” 

What kind do you prefer?

Ka Ren: “I prefer house music, because it reminds me a lot of our tribal drums. Also, it’s very upbeat and spiritual. I prefer house music, because many times, there’s no lyrics, and usually if you have a popular song with lyrics in it, it tends to distract you a little bit from what you’re looking at, because you’re singing along or saying, ‘Oh, that’s my song!’ You’re not really looking at what’s going on.” 

What are your future plans?

Ka Ren: “Well, I’d like to have a store location by next summer; I want to do that move. I also want to do it down in the Village, because that’s like a central location. I think everyone kind of goes through there at some point in time, and it’s close to all boroughs. Because I have clients all over. And I would like to do more runway shows. I’d like to do some bigger runway shows—prominent people in the audience, that would be helpful! I’m not really feeling the department store thing just yet—even though I know they say that’s where the money is. Yeah, but. Your work becomes washed out, almost. It doesn’t have that personal touch anymore. Not saying I don’t want to be successful, but I’d like to do a boutique first, before I do a big chain department.”