Everywhere Kit Demko travels, she pops into local consignment shops looking for unique finds. Once, while vacationing in Lake Como, Italy, she scored a pair of Gucci by Tom Ford side-zip pants from his 2001 runway collection. A love for Colorado’s natural beauty and big-city offerings prompted a move from New York City to Denver in 2017, but when it came to brick-and-mortar, she couldn’t find the luxury consignment experience she’d always loved. So, she created her own.
At the confluence of Holly Street and Orchard Road in Greenwood Village, Kit’s Boutique is “a client-focused boutique that offers quality pieces in mint condition that are at an attainable price point,” Kit says of her eponymous shop. “We have over 2,000 pieces from the best of every decade and designer.”
From ready-to-wear to handbags to jewelry, the shelves are indeed well-stocked inside Kit’s—you might notice a vintage Rolex before your gaze shifts to a gorgeous Gucci bamboo top handle tote or a chic Ralph Lauren houndstooth blazer. Appointments are required for interested consignors so that Kit and her team can pay special attention to each item clients bring. Kit’s team also guides clients along their journey to discover a personal style.
“That personal relationship with our clients is integral to our culture,” Kit shares. “Also, by focusing on higher quality pieces that can be loved, lived, and consigned over again, we facilitate the individual's moral consumption of fashion, which stands in stark contrast to the environmental impact of fast fashion.”
Kit’s foray into fashion came during her previous career as a merger and acquisitions lawyer, working on deals resulting in the formation of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. More than a glimpse into a glamorous industry, it provided insight into the business of fashion and its slightly less attractive side, specifically just how much waste it produces. In 2020, Vogue published a report that the fashion industry consumes about 93 billion cubic meters of water per year (that could fill 37 million Olympic-sized swimming pools). In 2021, a study published in the Materials Circular Economy journal found that clothing and footwear end up in American landfills at a rate of one garbage truck per second. It is stats like these that encouraged Kit to continue buying consignment herself and to open her store as an extension of her belief in sustainable shopping.
Rather than focusing on current trends, Kit’s team selects pieces for the boutique that are classic and everlasting. “We encourage the individual to say goodbye to disposable, fast-fashion trends and embrace the enduring allure of quality and elegance,” she says. “Our mission is to celebrate the individual, from a fashion as well as a moral consumption perspective.”
Recent movements like slow fashion and quiet luxury have also embraced an ethos of spending money on well-made, timeless pieces, but the virtuous cycle of consignment is the only one that promotes true sustainability. Exceptional treasures, Kit believes, are in the eye of the beholder.
“It could be anything from a limited-edition Hermès Birkin bag to a pair of jeans that finally fit just right,” she adds. “I love to see people stretch their fashion possibilities and bring pieces to life.”
To learn more, visit KitsBoutique.com