Keari Shibuya is the founder and designer of the quick growing boutique fashion label, Those Seen Dancing.
Within a few years, the Hawai’i based Those Seen Dancing has gone from zero to an established and rapidly growing brand that is changing the face of the fashion industry.
After earning a degree in Environmental Sciences from San Diego State University, Shibuya spent seven years working in the environmental consulting, engineering and construction industry. Proving herself as an integral part of a team that secured over $2B in federal contracts, Shibuya not only learned first-hand how to grow a business, but learned of her deep burning desire to start her own one.
Shibuya soon ditched the office for the beach, and moved from her home in Honolulu across the world to Bali, Indonesia with one goal in mind:
To create a brand that offers a distinctive combination of understated tropical glamour with a modern edge, while remaining as ethical and eco-conscious as possible.
But unlike other entrepreneurs, Shibuya did not start her brand for the sole reason of earning profits. Fashion “has always been my obsession, passion, and ultimate goal for as long as I can remember. I feel fortunate because not everyone has a clear idea of what they want to do in life, let alone the courage to go out and do it. That’s where I hope Those Seen Dancing can inspire people. I believe we all have something unique to share with the world in one way or another, and the world is a better place with us sharing these things than without, even if it means that we’ll look insane to some.”
Shibuya built Those Seen Dancing upon her Hawai’i roots, selecting bold colourways and fabrics to create truly versatile pieces that empower the wearer to feel confident and comfortable.
“As a designer, it’s easy to get caught up in chasing trends as well as trying to create styles that will please everybody. Today the market is hyper-saturated with brands that all offer styles that are more or less the same and use big factories that can pump out production in the blink of an eye. I still want to be a brand that uses creativity and brings different and exciting ideas to the table.”
A brand loved by customers is without a doubt the key driver behind the success of Those Seen Dancing. But an important note has to be made to the ethical nature of how her business is run.
From partnering with local Indonesian entrepreneurs for production to her efforts towards eliminating single-use plastics from her supply chain, Shibuya has built a brand that not only provides a world-class product, but a brand that puts ethics at the top of their list of priorities.
Yet despite this strong ethical and environmental focus, Shibuya doesn’t like to call Those Seen Dancing an “eco-friendly” brand, because she believes being environmentally and socially responsible should be a core value of ALL brands.
Navigating a business this way can be challenging and incur additional costs, but is a way of doing business that Shibuya will never leave behind, as she believes this is the future of the fashion industry and simply the right thing to do.
Those Seen Dancing is a brand to look out for in the coming years and is a perfect representation of the shifts the fashion industry is being faced with in 2021 and beyond.
Media Contact
Company Name: Those Seen Dancing
Contact Person: Keari Shibuya
Email: Send Email
Phone: ?(661) 458-9277
Country: United States
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kearishibuya/
