I went along to the Erdington warehouse of Kate’s Clothing, a local alternative clothing company that operates completely online. Run by 27 year old ex-engineer Kate Seagroatt and her husband Ben Pusey, 26, the company caters for those who look just that little bit further when buying clothes. “I’ve never been normal, ever since I can remember,” Kate told me. “I wanted to make something different, something that I wasn’t going to see someone else in.” Chemical engineeringHaving finished a degree in Chemical Engineering, Kate went on to work in the industry whilst designing her alternative fashions as a hobby. Not before long, though, she left it all behind and decided to make her dreams become reality.  | | Bianca Beauchamp in pvc skull dress |
“It was just a job really,” she said. “I got promoted out of the practical hands-on part of the job and I just got bored. I love what I do now.” Ben also left his engineering career to work full time in the business, taking care of the wholesale side of things. While Kate conjures up the ideas for new items and designs them on paper, Ben turns them into patterns and makes a prototype to send off to the manufacturers. Learning processUsing a textiles book, Ben taught himself how to turn the designs into patterns. Leaving what they knew behind and running their own business is a learning process for the young couple, and it all takes time. “It hadn’t occurred to me to be self-employed until I was,” said Kate. “We’re working things out as we go along, we’re engineers. It’s stupid hours and every penny we make goes straight back into the company but I love it.”  | | Bianca Beauchamp in pinstripe outfit |
Ben added, “It takes quite a long time to design a new garment, three days from the drawing to the pattern and it can take up to two months to design a range with 20 pieces.” Unlike other alternative clothing brands, Kate’s designs focus on the cut and shape of the garment rather than the accessorising aspect of it all. Lumpy bitsWhere most alternative clothes sold on the internet are one size standard garments with zips, buckles and patches sewn on, Kate’s clothes are made to fit different body shapes, flattering even the lumpiest bits and bobs that us girls so truly despise. “One size fits no one,” said Kate. “You’re either bursting at the seams or it’s like a sack. I like to show off the shape, most people forget women have a middle.” Kate told me how exciting it is when she sees people in town wearing her clothes. “People compliment me on my clothes and then tell me they got theirs from Kate’s Clothing and I’m like ‘that’s me!’ It’s a real buzz.” Kate also has a thing about boots and hopes to indulge this passion in a future line of funky footwear.  | | PVC dress |
“I badly want to do boots; I’ve got a few ideas under my hat. I love heels, I wear them all the time, I even drive in heels.” Cage dancersKate has now been selling her designs and other alternative brands on her website for three years and has big ideas for the future. She revealed plans for a new brand which she hopes will “take the market by storm”. Armed with strong designs and a big publicity drive, including a launch party with cage dancers and wrestling, this new top secret brand will no doubt leave the more adventurous fashion freaks reeling for more. Check out Kate's website at www.katesclothing.biz | 
