There’s a chapter of the Crystalyn Kae story that I’ve referenced for years, but somehow never gave a proper home: the little storefront where my first bags came to life.
Before Crystalyn Kae looked the way it does today, there was a small, slightly hidden shop called Fotos & Frocks in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle, just off Aurora avenue. It wasn’t part of a grand plan. It was simply where I landed when my apartment could no longer hold my materials, my sewing machines, and my growing pile of ideas. I didn’t set out to open a store—but once the door was open, something important started to happen.
That space became a place where people wandered in, touched fabrics, asked questions, and designed bags alongside me. It’s where I learned—face to face—what people actually carry, what breaks first on a handbag, what matters for real-life use when desigining a purse, and how meaningful it is to make something with someone instead of just for them.
Many of the values that still guide Crystalyn Kae today—small-batch production, durability, thoughtful material choices, and designing for real lives—were shaped in that building. Fotos & Frocks wasn’t just a shop. It was a testing ground, a conversation, and the beginning of everything that came next.
As we approach 25 years of Crystalyn Kae, I’m circling back to this origin story with fresh eyes and a lot of gratitude. This post is an anchoring landing space for that reflection—a marker that says: this mattered, and it deserves to be told well.
I’ll be sharing more about Fotos & Frocks, the early days of the brand, and what that experience taught me in the coming months. For now, I wanted to give this chapter a name—and a place to live here on the blog.
More soon. . . .
p.s. An archival note: A short profile of the Fotos & Frocks studio was published in 2004 as part of a local “Off the Beaten Path” feature. I’m keeping a link here for historical reference as I continue revisiting this chapter.
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