Notes from the Designer -- The A

March 2019 - All is tumbling inside my head as we prepare for the next stage of Christina Karin's history. Fixtures, details, furnishings, collections, it all must be perfectly executed, with rapturous elegance.

We are moving to our first Flagship retail location which will serve as both a storefront and design headquarters.

A dream I never thought would become reality. And here we are.

Moving, shaking, building -- it all takes great leaps of courage, and countless amounts of support (mainly from my anchor, my husband, and business partner) along with high doses of continual learning, creating, betterment of oneself and one's potential. But I think what I really am discovering is that change isn't bad,

it isn't good, it just is. Inevitability. Life's way of keeping everyone in check. It's the navigation that counts, and how you make your way through the waters. One oar at a time. With every step forward (and step back) knowing, it will be ok.

Realizing that leaving the comforts of my current safe studio space, uprooting the habits, unearthing the rolls of fabric and cartons of past collections that lie buried deep in my back room, isn't naturally electrifying for me -- in fact I prefer to keep it all there, where it is, in the past, nestled in a safe zone where it no longer defines me or my past, no longer representing my ideals, vision (or lack there of, it was 2007 you know, and I was fresh out of SAIC). Yet knowing it's there is like warm first memories of summer. That young budding girlish insecurity.

Oh how far we've come.

I also know that through discomfort, through challenge, one grows. And it's time. Bigger, grander visions for the future endure, and I must shake all warmth for the invigorating feeling of triumph, of scaling to the top, of continuing to empower women to march on, to play by their own rules, to dress for the life we want, and to thrive, and thrive we shall. In the end, the most gratification comes from seeing women wearing the clothes we design right here in Chicago. The clothes that make them feel good, special, different, and allow them to be themselves, with a little fun in the meantime. That's been my mission from day one and we've only become stronger. Now we embark on this next chapter, and we celebrate and honor the city that started it all, Chicago. A fashion capital, no less than any other. One we are proud to grow in, both here and beyond.

Let the art of change ring proud and clear.

-xx