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American designer Kate Pankoke is smart, talented and impressively savvy about the business of fashion for someone so young. Kate, the founder and chief designer of bridal line Elaya Vaughn, is a two-time veteran of US channel Lifetime’s TV programme Project Runway, a competition for young fashion designers. Kate has garnered a bit of recent media attention over her unexpected departure from the show.
As American fans of Project Runway are aware, Kate Pankoke has a signature point of view with a fundamental understanding of tailoring, structure and essential femininity. This makes her work as a bridal designer for her own line Elaya Vaughn much in demand in her resident city of Chicago.
A native of Florida, Kate studied apparel design and technology at Florida State University. During her time at university, she became concerned about the lack of support for potential young designers, so launched an initiative to teach fashion design classes to high school students wanting to pursue a career in design. She also tutored fellow students when FSU threatened to shut down its design programme. In 2010, Kate made the decision to start her own bridal line, Elaya Vaughn, and eventually moved to Chicago with her fiancé.
Kate participated in Season 11 of Project Runway and became known for her well-structured pieces, particularly evening wear. While she was sent home in episode seven of Season 11, producers made the unprecedented decision to bring her back for Season 12 based on a fan favourite vote. In spite of being among the favoured designers to win Season 12, Kate was sent home in Episode 11, just before the decision was made on the designers chosen to develop and show collections at New York Fashion Week. However, Kate nevertheless showed a collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week in September. Although she was not in the final four, she presented a decoy collection in the Project Runway Fashion Show
Glass caught up with Kate fresh off Project Runway as she was planning a November wedding while juggling bridal appointments and the craziness of the fall bridal market trade shows in Chicago and New York.
How did you get your start? From where did you get inspiration to become a designer?
I started designing at the age of 14. Strangely enough, I was inspired to learn to sew from Disney’s Cinderella. As I learned, the scene in which the mice and birds make Cinderella’s initial dress for the dress is surprisingly accurate on the process of making a garment.
But, I mainly started sewing, draping and making clothes out of frustration at not finding what I wanted to wear at the mall. Soon enough, I was making holiday dresses for myself and things sort of grew from there.
You embrace structure and have a core femininity in your designs that is both refreshing and signature, which is impressive for a young designer. How do you define your aesthetic? Who is your ideal consumer?
Like most designers, my aesthetic is continually evolving. At the centre of everything for me is the feminine form. I want to make high glam clothes that are low maintenance. I want women to look put together without trying too hard, particularly women who don’t want to spend a lot of time on hair and make-up but still want to look amazing.
Your designs are amazing but some look very complicated. How do you feel about accessories when designing bridalwear, in particular?
I don’t spend much time worrying about accessories. I feel like my gowns are elaborate enough as it is. I am thankful for my assistant who can help make decisions on shoes, necklaces, etc. when accessorizing my wedding dresses. Yet, this is why the Diamond challenge on the recent season of Project Runway was so amazing for me. It provided a solid focal point in the necklace – but reminded us of the importance of designing around the person wearing it rather than designing simply for design’s sake.
You launched Elaya Vaughn in 2010 after several years designing commissioned evening wear. What inspired you to choose bridal? Did you think the bridal market was missing something?
Bridal is difficult but well worth it! When I graduated from college, a lot of my friends were getting married but were having trouble finding dresses that they really liked. I chose bridal to create dresses for strong, educated women who know what they want. The modern bride wants to be unique, classic yet fashion forward. They want to be blog worthy, essentially, so that they can feel like a celebrity on their wedding day.
What is the story behind your brand name, Elaya Vaughn?
The name comes from my family – the first name is from a great aunt and the last name was my grandmother’s maiden name. When I decided to launch my line, I sat down with all of my girlfriends and a bottle of champagne to brainstorm the name. We, of course, didn’t come up with anything. So, we called my mother to see if she could think of any elegant but unusual family names and eventually came up with Elaya Vaughn.
How you balance your own point of view as a designer with what the customer wants, particularly brides who are notoriously picky?
It is always a compromise, to some extent. What sells, particularly in bridal, is something traditional. It is my job to push them a little to try on something more modern perhaps, so they can have that wow moment and look and feel amazing. For me, it is all about the fit of a gown. I use a lot of corsetry and metal coiled boning to make a dress really close to the body.
Now to talk Project Runway – was it hard to do twice?
It was really amazing to participate in both seasons of the show. But, definitely challenging as my fiancé and I already put off our wedding once last year so I could participate in Season 11. So, when I got the call about coming back for Season 12, I definitely had to make a decision, since I had to be essentially locked down for two months. In the end, I agreed to take part but we are going ahead with the wedding, anyway, which is happening in November.
Any advice for young designers wanting to get noticed?
Fashion is hard for young designers because it is an expensive art. Fast fashion has made people forget how expensive it is to buy material and the time it takes to make clothes. Yet, I think people are starting to remember that fashion, as an art, is worth the price to get something handmade and unique.
On the other hand, young designers also have a lot of issues with setting themselves up, finding stockists and establishing a good customer base. Schools should assist more with encouraging students to get a business degree in fashion or at least taking more business courses to get a better understanding of marketing. I learned everything I know on the job, which made it more valuable to me, yet difficult.
Finally, what is your take on the advantages of digital for emerging designers? Good or bad?
The digital age has made it easier to be more visible. But, you definitely have to do things strategically and to think outside the box. It’s easy to get lost.
For instance, in 2011, when I was first setting up my line, I held a “Flash-ion Mob” on Navy Pier in Chicago. It involved hiring a limo, getting a bunch of models wearing my latest line of dresses and sending them out at a specified time to do a spontaneous runway show on Navy Pier on the busiest day of the year. Ahead of time, I called a bunch of media outlets to get coverage. While we didn’t exactly have approval, it proved a great way to be noticed and get myself on the map.
Young designers need to have a good understanding of marketing to get known. To me, it’s all about creative thinking and creative marketing.
by Jessica Quillin
Follow Kate Pankoke on twitter @KatePankoke