We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kisa Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kisa below.
Kisa, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Living with a chronic disease can be very challenging. I face major struggles every day: chronic fatigue, severe pain, isolation, and even depression. I was born with a severe hereditary form of anemia in which a mutated form of hemoglobin distorts the red blood cells into a crescent shape at low oxygen levels. I had to learn how to cope with my illness while maintaining a “normal” functioning life. I believe dealing with a chronic disease is where I find my strength and resilience.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Kisa Kisa hit the fashion scene back in 2016 and hasn’t looked back.
Her handbags are not only bold, but have vibrant colors and striking patterns. All are contained within the circular canvas of a Kisa Kisa handbag design.
When Kisa Williams created her distinctive half-circle clutch bags, she was mainly following the creative instincts that she honed in while attending her local community college, studying Fashion Design then Fashion Merchandising.
As her brand’s success grew, she came to realize a symbolic connection between her creations and the day-to-day challenges of living with sickle-cell anemia. The half-circle shape of the clutch handbags resembles the sickle-shaped blood cells of this disorder. But when they open to a full circle – they take the shape of a healthy blood cell! In this way, her designs reflect her other passion: bringing awareness to her disease.
Her handbags have been featured in Elle magazine, and Maria Claire website as well as debuting her Fall 2020 collection during Paris Fashion Week. Locally her wearable art was featured in Houston Chronicle, Houstonia Magazine which is Houston’s largest local Magazine, and has also been featured on Great Day Houston a daytime talk show that is broadcast on KHOU-2. Internationally, Kisa Kisa was featured in BAHM Magazine, a Canadian online and printed magazine that supports exciting and innovative brands that are trendsetters on the world’s artistic stage.
Her bags have been in multiple boutiques, and showrooms. Her designs have also been inquired by fashion photographers, stylists and clothing designers. Her pieces can be seen in the Houston Community College Fashion Archive.
Kisa Kisa was named by Chloe Dao (second season winner of Project Runway) to be one of her favorite black-owned fashion brands to support. Dao’s sister, Sydney also hand picked Kisa Kisa to be one of only 13 participants to showcase their work in a revolutionary, first of its kind Pop Up Shop while Houston hosted the Super Bowl.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that I believe have been most impactful to my journey are creativity skills, drive, and critical thinking. I would tell people who are entering their fashion journey is to be true to themselves. Your designs are uniquely yours, don’t try to fit into a cookie-cutter style. Let your intuition fuel your creativity.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
At the present moment, I am dealing with an issue that affects 89% of women owned businesses. Many grants and loans out there help with things in terms of, hiring, and purchasing machinery. In my case, I need funding for purchasing fabics, notions and even manufacturing. And in some insistences you must have money or assets to even qualify for a loan.
Contact Info:
- Website: wwww.kisakisafashion.com
- Instagram: kisakisafashion
- Facebook: kisakisafashion
- Linkedin: kisakisafashion
- Twitter: kisakisafashion
