One of Anna’s earliest memories is embroidering a heart with her mom and then moving on to attempting to make doll clothes. Sewing has always been a part of her life. With fabric, she always felt like there were endless possibilities.
“I’ll always be grateful to my mother and grandmother for giving me the tools to be creative and for being a huge reason why I do what I'm doing now. I wouldn't have the skills required to sew and design as I do currently without their guidance. To this day, I use bits and pieces from my late grandmother's stash,” Vogel says.
Vogel credits her father, a successful entrepreneur, with encouraging her to pursue her dreams. She believes she may not have had the confidence to dive into a real business without his support and belief in her.
After the birth of her daughter in 2014, Vogel started working on little pieces for her baby and decided to take the plunge with her own label, GoldyBelle.
“My first business prior to my clothing line was a pottery and gift boutique that I named Florence Adams after my grandmother, so it only seemed natural to name my next venture after grandma Florence's mother, my great-grandmother, GoldyBelle,” Vogel explains.
Living and studying for a couple of years in Europe shaped a lot of Anna’s design sensibilities. She leans toward classic, timeless looks and updates them in ways that are both practical and contemporary.
“I know the general shapes I like to use in kids’ clothing and enjoy the process of making samples. More often than not I end up tweaking and adjusting a rough pattern until it has the look I'm trying to achieve. Then my very talented pattern maker takes it and streamlines the look for production.”
They started by making everything locally, but as they grew, they moved some of their production to Los Angeles. They soon found that it's harder to keep a close eye on the process from beginning to end from afar. Although Vogel was generally happy with the production, there were often delays and problems she couldn't address from such a distance.
“Before producing in Los Angeles, I searched for local manufacturing. At that time, there was nothing. I am thrilled that we are now able to move everything we produce to local Kansas City businesses. It's not only practical and much easier, but it fills me with so much local KC pride. That being said, I will always use any local help with seamstresses who like this kind of work that lets them stay at home if needed for unique small batch and/or heirloom quality looks.”
They often use vintage materials for these pieces and have so much fun working on these creative looks. Having both truly handmade pieces and local production is a dream come true for her.
While Vogel loves creating the really unique and special looks, she’s been moving toward styles that are both more practical and pretty. She focuses on high quality from her local handmade seamstresses, which is immediately evident in GoldyBelle products. They line their knits, try to hide interior seams when they can, and add unique details that you won't find elsewhere. Other ways that Vogel has made these pieces practical can be seen in one of her most popular pieces, the Heidi Dress which features leather details that snap off and on for easy laundering.
“It's a tremendous help to have my daughter, Clara, as my own little model to try designs on. In fact, because she isn't really interested in "modeling” for me, it actually helps me to know when something is practical or not. One of our most popular designs, the Sophia dress, has been tested up and down by her which led to a few design changes over the years,” Vogel explains. “Clara is very independent and loves to dress herself, which led me to realize that a dress that is the same in both the front and back is truly helpful.”
The Sophia dress has a design that has proven to be really popular, especially because this dress is suitable for playing at the park or going to church, and the little wearer can slip it on and look perfect with ease.
“My hope is that when your daughter wears GoldyBelle, she is both comfortable and stands out a bit for her unique yet classic look,” Vogel says.
_________________________________________________________
You can find out more about GoldyBelle at GoldyBelle.com, @goldybelle on Instagram, or on their official Facebook, GoldyBelle. Vogel loves to chat and share behind the scenes with her customers in an additional Facebook group, so search GoldyBelle Chat and B/S/T and join the fun!
