Montclair Business Gets Backing on Kickstarter.com

A Montclair start-up that merges art with fashion just got the kickstart it needed.

With only a handful of days remaining, VōTLO Couture has surpassed its fundraising goal on Kickstarter.com, raising just over $30,000 in pledges. 

VōTLO Couture, or Vessel of Things Less Ordinary, is the vision of Montclair art dealer Kathy Imlay who is taking art off the walls and infusing it into women’s wardrobes.

But the goal of VōTLO Couture is much more profound than fashion.

Imlay wants to use the brand to create awareness around a key issue of our time—empowering girls and women around the world.

"Each design we make delivers a powerful message to inspire hope in a brighter world, while informing about issues such as child marriage," Imlay said Friday. “Reaching our goal means that we can go into production on a larger scale and get our costs down."

Imlay has partnered with acclaimed artists whose designs will be featured on silk scarves, wraps and more. The collection debuted with the work of Janet Taylor Pickett, a former Montclair resident who Imlay has represented for seven years.

Taylor Pickett’s art draws inspiration from a variety of sources, from Matisse to Ethiopian scrolls. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions around the United States and she is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Studio Museum in Harlem, Newark Museum, Montclair Art Museum and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum.

While the $30,000 pledged on Kickstarter means Imlay’s vision will move forward, she hopes to use the remaining five days of the campaign to take VōTLO Couture even further.

“Surpassing our goal in the next five days will allow us to begin experimenting on new fabrications (we want to print on stretch knits, linens), and we can begin working on our VōTLO Lifestyle Collection (wallpaper, bedding, furniture),” Imlay said.

Kickstarter.com is a website that enables creative projects to get off the ground by providing a platform to secure backers. Pledges start as low as $1. Visit the VōTLO Couture Kickstarter page to learn more.