Tara Light is a longtime friend who has been busy designing and creating her clothing while also opening and maintaining her shop Fable in Kansas City over the past year. Her designs were recently featured in the West 18th Street Fashion Show and despite her busy schedule, she is always warm and inviting anytime you stop in for a visit to her shop. Her dedication to supporting local designers can be seen in her store where she features clothing and accessories from other designers and artists among her own. Her success story is inspiring in a time of fast-fashion with cheap clothing being made overseas. I wanted to share her story to inspire people not only to think about what decisions you are making with your purchases, but to also be an example of following your dreams and making a difference in the process.
How did you come up with the name Fable?
Oh my goodness! I actually didn't even come up with the name! This was hands-down the hardest part of building my brand. I had all these images and words that described the kind of space I wanted to create, but when it came to actually finding a single name that encapsulated all those sensations, I was at a loss.
So I outsourced it! I worked with an incredibly talented creative director here in KC and she helped me funnel my vision. I turned over this huge file describing my personal history, the style of the shop, and the shop ethos, and she sent back a list of 10 or so names for me to look at. She was adamant that this was a first-round and not to be discouraged if I didn't feel a connection to any of the names, but almost 3 names in I saw "Fable" and knew the job was done.
The name has a moral slant (in keeping with one of the tenants of Fable), it conjures images of animalia and floral & fauna (an essential aspect of my taste), is a wink to literature (I have a degree in English), and seems to invite you into this little magical world I've attempted to create in a corner of KC.
I love your designs. Where do you get inspiration for new designs?
If I'm a bit stuck creatively, I do enjoy just rolling around in the Pinterest ether. Street-style photography can be very illuminating because it's capable of showing how high-fashion concepts make their way to women's day-to-day.
Where do you see your brand growing in the next few years?
Who knows! I'm not one for world domination; I'm completely content having a small shop in the heart of KC. If that's all Fable will ever be, then so be it.
However, in the future I would like to see the Fable line in a handful of other like-minded shops across the US. I love the idea of always keeping manufacturing in our KC studio, so hat means high volumes of product wouldn't be produced. We do very limited runs of most of our designs, which makes the pieces very collectable and covetable; I want to maintain the essence of that.
When did you realise you wanted to be a designer?
Ever since I was a little girl. I've always loved clothing. Dressing up my dolls, Barbies, and little sister was my favorite past-time. As I got a little older, I would beg my Dad to buy me all the fashion magazines at the grocery store and would spend the weekend flipping through them and absorbing all I could. I grew up in an extremely rural town (population 18), so a career in fashion was never really a legitimate option. I just saw it as an escape.
It wasn't until I came to Kansas City for university and started working various retail jobs that I really started thinking about a career in fashion. I truly enjoy every aspect of running Fable - designing, merchandising the shop, but my favorite part is easily when I get to sew. I feel so satisfied when I get to work with my hands and create something tangible that will hold space in someone's life.
