Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Horton.
Sean, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a kid around the age of 11 or 12, I discovered I could draw or paint almost anything, people, plants, animals, etc, about anything I put my mind to. I gravitated towards comic book characters creating my own characters and comic books.
In the ’90s, my mom (Oliver Jean Patterson) always being pretty creative when it came to anything was making custom-painted t-shirts as well as custom fur hats, Mink stoles, and jackets by hand with fur she purchased from Alaskan fur for Alaskan fur clients.
She would have me draw characters like Bart Simpson, Betty Boop, or anything she came up with that she wanted to paint on a t-shirt and she would add glitter, sequins, Austrian crystal, etc. To the designs in the t-shirts, and I was intrigued by that.
I started designing clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc, and my mom would make some of the clothing for me that I designed for me to wear to school, and that started my passion for fashion so for that I credit my mom. It wasn’t until about 2007 that I enrolled in school at Johnson County Community College to get my degree in fashion design, at that time I was a full-time student and worked 12-14 hour days at my full-time job to take care of my family which was challenging and required a lot of sacrifices. But it was well worth it, it was at Johnson County Community College that I really learned the complete process of designing and sewing clothing.
After Johnson County Community College, I maintained working my full-time job and would make custom clothing for clients part-time in my home, and I did this for about 10 years. I eventually quit my full-time job on a whim and decided to dive into my dream of being a fashion designer. In 2019 with the help of my girlfriend and business partner Denira Dedeaux, we opened Sean M Horton Atelier where we custom makes wedding gowns, suits & tuxedos, button-down coats, and jackets. Immediately after opening the business covid 19 hit and brought our business to a standstill with weddings and other events being canceled nationwide.
Now we were in survival mode along with a lot of other small businesses and even large businesses going out of business. Being a new business we were not able to get the business loans or PPP loans that were being offered for small businesses during covid so my business partner came up with the idea at this time of making masks, this was before masks were readily available anywhere, so we pivoted to making custom masks and this allowed our business to survive through the hardest times during covid.
Eventually, after the mandatory business closure was lifted and people were able to have events and weddings again without restrictions, we went back to our normal business operations. We were blessed that in 2021 we had enough clients that the business was able to sustain itself and pay its own bills. Now in 2022, we look forward to growing our business, taking on new clients, and showing the world what Sean M Horton Atelier has to offer to the fashion industry.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, the road has definitely not been smooth. After opening our business in 2019 using our own personal funds to renovate our space and get the business ready to open, Covid-19 hit soon after opening our doors. Being a new business we were not able to get a lot of the small business grants or take advantage of the PPP loan programs that were available to businesses.
So we had to pivot to making masks in order for our business to survive which we did but as with other businesses we are still recovering. Another obstacle is mastering Marketing and advertising now and creatively coming up with the funding to pay for it. Being a small black-owned business it’s also a lot harder to get access to some of the resources that other businesses are able to get, but that’s another story within itself.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My name is Sean Horton and I’m the owner of Sean M Horton Atelier. I specialize in making Custom Gowns, Suiting, and Tuxedos for weddings and special occasions. What sets us apart from other businesses is that we are 1 of the only few businesses in the midwest that provides custom-made wedding gowns as well as custom-made suits and Tuxedos in 1 location.
We are well known for the spectacular fit of our clothing and your ability to customize every facet of your custom gown or suit, so when we say fully custom that’s what we mean. Every garment at Sean M Horton Atelier is custom made from scratch taking 28-30 measurements to ensure the perfect fit.
Every service is by appointment only so that we can dedicate ourselves to each client and their needs without interruption. We guarantee the perfect fit and we make sure that no client leaves our fashion studio without loving everything about the custom garment that we have made for them.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I like best about Kansas City is that Kansas City people support their small businesses, and a lot of small businesses that are only in Kansas City have been able to grow and strive here for many decades. And we also have great food here!
I mean, who doesn’t know about Kansas city Barbq? What I like least about Kansas city is that we are so behind fashion-wise when it comes to other cities, which makes people here uneasy about really stepping out of the box they are in when it comes to fashion. People here have a fear of being different or even dressing differently and coming out of their shells.
So many people tell me that they wish they could wear the clothing or styles that I wear, but they feel like they can’t pull it off. I always reply “it’s just clothing, you should feel free to wear what you want, whenever you want, and when you do decide to be yourself and wear what you feel, then people will start coming up to you and saying that same thing” I wish I could wear that.
Pricing:
- Custom gowns start at $1800
- Custom suits start at $699
- Custom tuxedos Start at $799
- Custom shirts start at $175
- Custom coats start at $499
Contact Info:
- Email: Contact@smhatelier.com
- Website: Smhatelier.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/smhatelier
- Facebook: Facebook.com/smhatelier
