Meet Kat & Ally Cacho of City Market

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kat & Ally Cacho

Hi Kat & Ally, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Kat: I’ve always loved thrifting and sustainability, expressing myself through fashion and art, and working with my hands. Creativity has been a constant in my life: whether it was making things as a kid, studying fashion design in school, or later finding ways to turn that passion into something tangible. In 2022, I started Kut the Knit as a creative outlet where I could sell my handmade pieces and vintage finds at pop-ups around Kansas City. As Kut the Knit grew, my sister moved to Kansas City and started helping me with pop-ups.

Ally: I have been crocheting since I was very young. My mom, my sister, and I all learned together. Throughout the years I’ve done projects such as blankets, tops, and bags just for myself. The more I crocheted, the more I came to love it! Now, my favorite thing to do is crochet things for other people! I started my brand “Fairy Shop Collective” when I was living in Wisconsin in 2022. The idea behind this brand was to make things I personally would love to have with a focus on the “cottage core” aesthetic. I started with purses with cute colors and patterns like wavy and checkered, and then made the iconic mushroom bag. I made one for all of my friends and they were just as obsessed with them as I was. Eventually, I ended up moving to Kansas City June 2024, and ever since then, I have continued to expand my brand and products I sell as well as working with my sister during her pop-ups.

We quickly realized how much we loved thrifting and curating vintage together, so we decided to launch Alleycat Vintage as a joint project. It gave us a dedicated space to focus on vintage fashion while allowing Kut the Knit and Fairy Shop Collective to be its own thing . Now, our brands have become an extension of who we are; blending our love for fashion, nostalgia, and creativity into something that keeps evolving. It’s been a wild ride, but we’re having so much fun working together on something we both love.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were of course some struggles along the way. We both had spouts of losing motivation and creativity. Since there is a lack of direction coming from someone else, we had to figure everything out ourselves and find ways to stay motivated. Some days we were full of energy, and other days it was hard to push through. We both naturally have more of a creative brain, so learning the business side of everything was also challenging and overwhelming at times. Despite these challenges, it has been incredibly rewarding learning new things and overcoming it all.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are best known for creating the viral Taylor Swift 87 beanie. During one of the Kansas City Chiefs games in 2023, Taylor Swift ordered and wore vintage Chiefs pieces from Westside Storey, the store we both work at, as well as a white and red beanie Kat made and threw in the package. Even though we were really hoping she would wear it, we didn’t actually expect to see her wearing it! When she first wore the beanie, we had over 200 orders in 24 hours, and we likely would have gotten more if we didn’t close orders for a period of time since they are all hand-made. As of today, we made and sold over 500 beanies online and in store. As for Alleycat Vintage, we meshed our two styles together finding pieces that match Kat’s 90’s/grandma aesthetic and Ally’s Y2K girly flair. It’s incredibly rewarding to see customers wearing unique pieces that they love, whether it’s vintage or something we handmade, we get excited whenever we see one of our pieces in the wild. We also feel so lucky to be working alongside other women and Asian owned brands in this community.
I think what sets us apart is our commitment to being sustainable in not just our thrifting, but our art. We use secondhand yarn and supplies whenever possible, giving new life to materials that might otherwise end up in a landfill. Even the smallest scraps of yarn are saved for stuffing in other projects. We also started including a “Pay What You Can” rack during our popups, where people can buy pieces for whatever price they want/can, whether it be $10 or $1, we wanted everyone to be able to purchase something from us no matter their budget.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson we’ve learned is that you don’t always need to have everything figured out to start. Waiting until you feel ”ready” can hold you back and you can’t be afraid to make mistakes, because it’ll happen anyway and that’s how you learn and grow. As long as you just start something, you’ve already done the hardest part. It is also really important to build friendships with those in the community, whether it be other businesses, or the people that buy from us. We have met so many great people and we are always learning from everyone.

Pricing:

• Taylor Swift 87 Beanie: $65
• Crochet Bag Charms: $10-$16
• Vintage Pieces: $1-$150

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kuttheknit.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alleycat.vtg
• Other: https://depop.com/alleycat_vtg