A local mom – an Arizona mom have launched a clothing line just for young girls, we have models in studio this morning so you can see the spring/summer fashion line.
Catherine Anaya (Daily Mix Reporter): I am so excited to introduce to you an Arizona mom who's launched her own clothing line, please say hello to Kelly Cooper. She is the owner and designer of Tomato Superstar, nice to have you here.
Kelly Cooper (Founder of Tomato Superstar): Thank you very much, thanks for having me.
Catherine: So, you have launched this great clothing line, before we get into the clothes themselves, I have to ask you what is behind the name Tomato Superstar?
Kelly: My daughter actually came up with a name, she was inspired by the show "Veggie Tales." To me, though, the name actually embodies empowering and encouraging little girls to be their unique selves.
Catherine: I love that and we are going to meet your daughter – the inspiration behind it in just a moment but let's talk about the line itself, it's your first girls clothing line, what was the inspiration behind the idea?
Kelly: When my daughter was a baby and a toddler, I couldn't really find what I wanted for her to wear, so I decided to start my own clothing line and I designed the clothes that I actually wanted to see her in.
Catherine: And how would you describe those clothes to the audience?
Kelly: They are boho chic and a lot of the clothing will last a very long time. I designed them in a way where they will grow with the child, they're not just going to last one season and as you know the bohemian chic look never goes out of style.
Catherine: Absolutely, so we're calling it a spring/summer fashion line that we're going to show you right now but as you mentioned you can wear them pretty much year-round out here especially in Arizona, so I'm going to let you take it away introducing our models.
Kelly: Okay, my first model is the beautiful Violet and this dress here is the Mixed and Mingled Dress in Black and as you can see it's a very artistic looking dress. We have a tribal print on top made of polyester and the bottom skirt is made of cotton. It’s very easy to take care of, perfect for the Arizona summer.
Catherine: Can we have you turn around so we do a twirl. Oh, that's beautiful and so it wears very well in the summer.
Kelly: It does, it's very easy for parents to wash and take care of it. There's no dry cleaning involved.
Catherine: Oh, that's perfect. So, who do we have next?
Kelly: The next model is Hannah. This is my daughter Hannah.
Catherine: This is the inspiration behind the clothing line.
Kelly: And this dress is called the Beautiful Mess Dress in Rainbow and I love this dress particularly because you can also wear it as a skirt, the top here can be used as a skirt and sometimes she will wear a tank top with it, so it's very versatile. She can wear it as a shirt when she's a lot older, it'll just last a really long time.
Catherine: And I noticed you use a lot of vibrant colors too.
Kelly: I do, I love vibrant colors because I think that helps people express themselves and their own spirit and she is a free spirit.
Catherine: I love that. Okay, who do we have next?
Kelly: Our next model here is Eva.
Catherine: Oh, she doesn't want to come out. So, how would you describe her dress?
Kelly: Her dress is called the Dress to Empress Dress in Green and Red and it also has elastic on the back so she can grow into it and it’s just the two different colors wouldn't typically go together but somehow; they just work together and…
Catherine: Oh, it's fantastic.
Kelly: Thank you very much.
Catherine: Now, you should mention that you did not design the headbands but that is in your future, right?
Kelly: It is, I really want to.
Catherine: So, how do you foresee yourself expanding?
Kelly: I just want to continue growing, I have an e-commerce site – www.tomatosuperstar.com and I would just like to continue outreaching to different cities in the United States and because you know with e-commerce you can go anywhere.
Catherine: Absolutely, which is so phenomenal, so how can people find the clothes?
Catherine: And we're also going to have a link to that by the way on our website aztv.com but how affordable are these clothes because as you mentioned they last a really long time so it is a great investment.
Kelly: It is, at $29 to $45 and so it's a medium price point, it's reasonable.
Catherine: And they can grow into.
Kelly: They can and its very quality cotton, very quality material.
Catherine: Okay very important to mention that part of the proceeds from your sales go to benefit a very good cause, tell me about that?
Kelly: The name of the cause is the Invisible Girl Project and that project is actually an US-based nonprofit, they're based out of North Carolina and they help fight gendercide in India.
Catherine: Mm-hmm and what made you decide to align yourself with them?
Kelly: I've always had a passion for the country and the people and also the clothing as you can see is very hippie bohemian with is the style over there as well but I've always had a heart for that country.
Catherine: It's perfect. Thank you for sharing your clothing with us, we appreciate it and girls – thank you so much for being here.
Kelly: You are welcome.
Catherine: You're so sweet and you look adorable. Fantastic, great job! Okay, if you want more information – tomatosuperstar.com or you can go to aztv.com for more info. Thanks so much.
Kelly: Thank you.
Catherine: We'll be right back.
To see a televised version of this interview, please click here.
