LHS, GRCC, FIT, and NYC! Daniel Vosovic’s journey as a fashion designer
By Bill Lee
Contributing Writer
When Daniel Vosovic attended Lowell High School in the late 1990s, you could say it was not your typical high school experience. Vosovic didn’t attend football games or hang out with friends on the weekends because he was a competitive gymnast from the ages of 6 to 18. Most of his weekends were spent training for many hours or competing in meets throughout the country.
Vosovic, who is now a successful fashion designer in New York City, remembers his school days as bittersweet. He fondly remembers some things, like his relationship with his sister and his very supportive teachers, but there were also bullies. Being different and gay (even though Vosovic did not come out until he was 20) seemed to make him an easy target. Although high school was at times a difficult experience for him, Vosovic credits those experiences for his work ethic, spirit, and fearlessness when facing challenges.
“I think a lot of this actually has to come with coming out,” said Daniel Vosovic. “With being closeted. I think there was a built in ‘I will show you’ that I had early on. Being bullied. Being pushed into lockers and being called ‘fag’ when you are growing up. Young kids are just the worst when it comes to mob mentality. It will either break you or make you really strong. Growing up, I knew who I was and I was going to shove it down their throats. I think that’s where it came from. I think it is a little bit of baptism by fire. If you can survive the bad, you are unshakably confident of who you are and what you want in this world because you’ve hit so much conflict at such an early age.”
Not to say that all of his experiences were tough at LHS. In fact, Vosovic remembers some of the great teachers who supported him along-the-way; people like Christine and Phil Beachler and Laurie Kuna. In August, his fashion company, called THE KIT, decided they would celebrate inspirational teachers, “Bright Spots”, in their lives, by providing some free outfits designed by his company. Vosovic chose Christine Beachler. “My team chose a teacher or coach, or someone who had meant something to us in our youth, and we reached out to them and asked what are some selects that you love,” said Vosovic. “We’d love to support you in being a bright spot in our lives and being a bright spot in your daily life. It’s the least that we can do, is to give you an outfit or two… Christine was a bright spot in my past and I felt very safe when she was the head librarian. It was a great place for me to go and have a reprieve from daily high school life.”
In fact, Vosovic remembers some of the great teachers who supported him along-the-way; people like Christine and Phil Beachler and Laurie Kuna. In August, his fashion company, called THE KIT, decided they would celebrate inspirational teachers, “Bright Spots”, in their lives, by providing some free outfits designed by his company. Vosovic chose Christine Beachler.
Vosovic was a creative person growing up but being a fashion designer in NYC? Never crossed his mind. Instead, after high school, Vosovic had plans to attend a Big 10 school and compete as a gymnast and take courses in architecture. The injuries to his body, in the 12 years of competing, were too much, so his scholarship dreams vanished. Begrudgingly, instead of a Big 10 school, he enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College. The experienced changed his life. “It was the best decision I made, and I loved it because it took away the barrier to entry; the risk of trying something I was interested in was so much easier,” said Vosovic. “I did in a single semester: photography, art history, psychology, and on a whim, a sewing course. It clicked for me that a lot of the same attributes of architecture, whether it was the three-dimensional design or the textural experiences, are relatable to fashion. So that sewing course became the spark that ignited a flame to say, wow, this could be an interesting career goal.”
From there, he was admitted to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. During his time at FIT, he immersed himself in all of his classes, oftentimes pulling all-nighters to finish projects. In 2005, as he was about to graduate at the age of 24, a unique opportunity presented itself. There was a new television company called Bravo that was starting a show called Project Runway. They needed contestants, and Daniel needed a job, so he decided to give it a shot. Because of his time at FIT, he already had his own designs, a portfolio and the other components to be on the show. Not only did he become a contestant on the show but he came in second place. The whole experience changed his life. “Runway opened the door because people now had an understanding of who I was as a human and had a perspective as a designer and how I worked under pressure and was I creative. Those normal things are not part of interviews or resumes. They now had a very intimate understanding of who I was behind closed doors and that was the advantage.”
THE KIT, which is Vosovic’s second fashion company, has survived many challenges, including Covid, a time where all industries were stopped in its tracks, including fashion. Fortunately, THE KIT is unique in that it is a robust eComDirect-to-consumer-model, a place where customers can choose their sizes, colors, shapes, and styles and have a designer complete the custom piece and send it out within a 10-20 day period. The brand has become so popular that it has grown over 150 percent each year for the last few years.
Vosovic has reached a point in his career where he feels as though he can branch out a bit. “I feel like I’ve been sprinting for about six years now,” said Vosovic. “And this year is truly like Daniel, you built something from nothing and is stronger than you ever thought it could be. Where I’m at right now is, where is the next spring going? Is it home, men’s, kids, expansion line, collaborations, licensing, wholesale…I’m very proud of myself for getting to that point of choice because most people don’t have a lot of choice, and I love being able to figure out where I’m going to sprint next.”
Although he had some difficult times while he lived in Lowell, he does have good memories too. His parents still live here and he visits one to two times a year to see them and his extended family. “I love to see that Lowell has grown in so many ways,” said Vosovic. “People often don’t love to change unless they are forced to change. I’d like to make sure that both the dark and the light is shared in these stories because it’s a part of what brought me to success and financial success, and living the life that I want is, I think, born from frustrating turmoil.”
And a message to high schoolers trying to find their way in the world? “Who knows what they want to do and knows what career is at 16 or 17 years old, but the idea of saying what you are interested in and to think that there is not more out there… there is literally so much out there that you could be interested in, and that then becomes a path.”
To find out more about Daniel Vosovic and his company THE KIT, please visit his website at www.thekit.com
