Even as a young child, the Katydid Collection owner and founder Katy Messersmith always had a flair for fashion and an entrepreneurial spirit. However, it took a volunteer trip to Ghana for Katy's design skills to truly emerge. When Katy's luggage ended up in Greece, she was left with only the clothes on her back and her savvy design skills. Each day, she worked with the local seamstress to make her design ideas come to life. While her first trips to the seamstress were out of necessity, it took little time for Katy to become inspired by the creative process. Soon she was designing handbags from the beautiful local fabrics, and the first "Katydid" creations were born.
The bright colors of those local fabrics remain a key ingredient of Katy's designs - her designs maintain a feminine quality, but always with an edge. Katy's designs have a modern edge, and her creations always include a twist - mixing popular motifs such as crosses and crowns with unexpected patterns and styling.
The Katydid Collection - including Katy's signature line of shirts - is now sold in more than 3,000 boutiques across the country. Katy's trendsetting styles have been featured in national magazines including Redbook, CosmoGIRL and Seventeen.
