Knee Deep Denim
MEET RAEANN – OWNER AND DESIGNER OF THE FRESH AND DIVERSE BRAND, KNEE DEEP DENIM
Let’s face it, jeans are not always women’s best friend. Finding a good pair of jeans can be tough, as we all have our favorite brands and fits that we feel comfortable in, along with what colors and washes mesh with our style and wardrobe. Given women’s preferences for jeans that are comfortable, provide stretch and movement and complement their style and body type, it’s not surprising most women have difficulties finding the right pair of denim.
RaeAnn Luksza, owner and designer of Knee Deep Denim based in Arizona, aims to have women feel comfortable and confident while wearing her brand – no matter their size or body type. RaeAnn, who describes Knee Deep Denim as diverse and fresh, created the brand in 2012 and began by selling her clothes on Etsy.
Since starting the business, RaeAnn has amassed 12.5K followers on Instagram and frequents many pop-ups, such as events and markets, in locations across Arizona. In addition to designing Knee Deep Denim brand jeans, RaeAnn also sells vintage t-shirts, tank tops and accessories all with the intent for women to feel beautiful, comfortable and confident.
“I consider Phoenix home, so it was a no-brainer to continue to work on what I had essentially been thinking of my entire life. When I was younger, I thought the idea of a clothing designer would be Vera Wang or nothing, I didn’t really know there would be such a demand for a local business brand,” RaeAnn recalls. “I started in 2012 when Etsy.com was very popular. My sisters and I had found these DIY shorts on Pinterest and we decided to create some ourselves, then we messaged our aunt — who happened to be a co-owner of a boutique in Denver — saying, “Hey, look at these shorts we made, aren’t they cute?” and her response was, “Oh yeah, those are really cute, do you know how to make anymore?”
RaeAnn says her aunt explained that her boutique in Denver was looking for some vintage DIY shorts to sell, so she told her aunt she would make some for her store, to which her aunt said, “Make as many as you can and we’ll pay you $9 a pair.” Her aunt sold out of RaeAnn’s jeans shortly after and her aunt convinced her to open an Etsy store; not long after RaeAnn began taking custom orders in 2012, Knee Deep Denim was established.
“The store on Etsy was a big hit, I think a lot of people jumped behind the store on Etsy because it was women-owned, it was here in Phoenix, there was a lot of good feedback on our store, there was a lot of sales going out. At the time I was still in my teens, and running a company I was selling almost 1,000 pieces a month, it was a lot and it was in our very early stages when Etsy had just been started, so from there we progressed into a place where Etsy didn’t fit what we wanted to continue to do,” RaeAnn says. They parted with Etsy and started KneeDeepDenim.com in 2013.
RaeAnn Luksza, owner and designer of Knee Deep Denim.
“If there’s not people on Instagram digging what we’re dishing out, then I need to go back and recheck what we’re dishing out.
I’m so grateful for our Instagram following, for anyone who checks the website every now and then, and for our friends of friends — these are the people that keep the brand alive.”
About 80 percent of the brand is handmade in Phoenix and the remaining 20 percent RaeAnn says they want customers to purchase existing items and make it their own.
Knee Deep Denim manufactures their denim in Phoenix and Mesa and their clothing is sold inside Open Mind Emporium, a co-op at Scottsdale Fashion Square, and at Open Mind Emporium on Mill Avenue in Tempe.
“We have many suppliers for our vintage denim, my number one goal is to get the denim at an affordable price so that we can keep the customer’s price affordable. I’ve walked into some stores and it’s so expensive for a pair of Levi shorts. I just can’t wrap my mind around paying $80 for a very regular pair. I want my clothing to be very affordable because when I was younger I was one of those kids that had a very limited budget and I’m grateful for being raised that way so that I can be conscious of the price range for my clothing and base my company around that.”
RaeAnn says she looks for affordable prices and quality of the denim she buys. “They’re simultaneous, because you can’t have one without the other. When I’m looking for vintage denim, I can feel it and know if it’s what I want — a more durable denim; when I’m looking at our personal line of denim (Knee Deep Denim or KDD Brand), I look for a lighter, thinner, more modern fit. I want the KDD Brand and vintage denim to have two separate purposes, but I still want them to be very wearable.”
Knee Deep Denim also sells vintage t-shirts, tank tops and crop tops. RaeAnn says she kept seeing sports jerseys for women sold in the color pink, as opposed to a specially-designed jersey for women, which prompted her to start selling tops a few years after starting the brand in 2012.
“I wanted to bring that vintage feel and style to my apparel line because I personally believe that’s the best looking and I wanted to bring in a different fit,” RaeAnn says. “I care about repurposing and reusing fabrics, and redesigning so women feel comfortable, sexy, covered and that it’s unique so no one they know has a shirt like that.” The owner and designer describes her brand as diverse and fresh, and wants customers to see something new when they visit Knee Deep Denim at a pop-up.
She says social media has positively impacted the success of the business as well. “If there’s not people on Instagram digging what we’re dishing out, then I need to go back and recheck what we’re dishing out. I’m so grateful for our Instagram following, I’m so grateful for anyone who happens to check the website every now and then, I’m so grateful for friends of friends — these are the people that keep the brand alive.”
RaeAnn also acknowledges how social media has helped increase the brand’s exposure to reach a wider audience of fans and customers . “I know that running a small business for seven years doesn’t happen without that support of even a follow… even a follow button is a big deal for our company, because essentially it can lead to other follows, which leads to them finding the one item that they love and can tell their friends about, even if their friends don’t buy anything, that’s a customer that’s happy and satisfied, and that’s what keeps us going.”
“Offering a diverse range of sizes has always been important to me because I come from a family full of women and we’re all different shapes and sizes. I’ve always wanted to be able to represent each shape and size the way they feel most beautiful. If I could have a size zero, a size five and a size 15 come shop in my store and all leave saying “This is the best I’ve looked.” then I’m absolutely doing my job.”
Knee Deep Denim has shorts, jeans and skirts in various washes, fits and sizes, so there is something for women of all shapes and sizes, which has always been important to RaeAnn since starting the brand.
“Since the beginning I started with a zero to 15 size scale and I now offer a double zero to a 17...and this has been very important to me since the beginning because I come from a family full of women and we’re all different shapes and sizes and I’ve always wanted to be able to represent each shape and size the way they feel most beautiful. If I could have a size zero, a size five, a size 15 come shop in my store and all leave saying “this is the best I’ve looked,” then I’m absolutely doing my job.”
