Handmade: Detroit designer recycles jeans into skirts

Krystal Brown is the Detroit designer behind many of those funky, pieced-together denim skirts that a lot of fashionistas are sashaying around town in, and she's one garment maker who really knows her customer.

"She's not the average (or) basic mall person," says Brown. "She wants to go out and explore. She's confident, she loves art and she's her own person."

And if you happen to be a frequent customer of Djenne Beads & Art (1045 Beaubien near Monroe) in Detroit's Greektown, you've probably seen, or maybe even purchased, one of Brown's specialty skirts, fashioned of gently used jeans that have been repurposed into wearable art. Her skirts have been sold at the popular African boutique for the past two years, on her Facebook page and at local craft shows. She sells them under the name Red Butterfly Designs, with prices ranging from $75-$150 each, depending on the attention to detail.

Her patchwork skirts are unique mainly because she designs for all sizes, from 4 to 24. However, she says, "I specialize in larger sizes because most boutiques have smaller sizes. I make mostly sizes 12 and up."

She also sets her work apart from similar pieces on the market by sometimes adding accents like mudcloth, vintage shirt fabric, or distressed areas created with "bleached out designs." She says, "It's like an artist with a paint brush — whatever comes to mind, I just incorporate it in a skirt. I enjoy sewing — it's like art to me." She says a lot of her creativity comes from her mood and living in Detroit, where she's inspired by the culture and all the old buildings.

Brown, who learned to sew at age 11 at the hands of her mother when she needed a Halloween costume, has always been attracted to items in the fashion world that are different. Bohemian patchwork skirts made of recycled jeans caught her attention about four or five years ago, after seeing celebrity singers Jill Scott and Eryka Badu wearing them onstage. She was prompted to visit a local boutique, only to learn they sold the skirts, but not in her size. Set on having one in her wardrobe, she says she figured she could make her own. She did, and went a step further the day she sold it off her body! "Someone saw it, and said 'I will pay you for it,'" she recalls.

Brown has now created well over 200 artsy skirts, made mostly from top brand jeans that she finds at a resale shop, where she pays between $5-$10 a pair. A single skirt may be fashioned of two or three pairs of jeans, plus additional fabric. No two are ever alike. She says, "I feel every woman should have a piece of her own that can't be copied."

The prolific seamstress occasionally accepts custom orders, and says, "One was a challenge. It was all white denim." However, she admits, "That's what motivated me to keep going."

At present, Brown sews mainly as a hobby, but hopes to branch out one day by having her own boutique. And although she's made dresses, ponchos, "easy-to-sew tops," jackets and jewelry, she says, "My focus right now is the skirts."

You can find Brown selling her one-of-a-kind denim skirts at two trunk/fashion shows, set for 11 a.m.-4 p.m. July 19 and Aug. 8, at the Jungle Juice Bar, 14929 Charlevoix in Grosse Pointe Park. Admission is free both days.

Detroit News Columnist Jocelynn Brown is a longtime Metro Detroit Crafter. You can reach her at (313) 222-2150 or [email protected].

Contact Red Butterfly Designs at (734) 757-7085, [email protected] or on Facebook.