OUR BLOG
Carla Harris, Vice Chairman at Morgan Stanley, Loves Blended Designs
Carla Harris, Vice Chairman at Morgan Stanley, Loves Blended Designs
Blended Designs had the absolute pleasure of presenting to Ms. Carla Harris, Vice Chairman at Morgan Stanley, who is known world wide as an entrepreneurial leader and investor in early stage disruptive solutions. Ms. Harris runs the Morgan Stanley early stage investment fund and is always looking for deals across many industries.
Blended Designs founder was introduced to Ms. Harris though Jim Stallings and PS27 Ventures. Ms. Harris loved the backpacks and resinated with the Blended Designs Delta bag, the 'Devastating Divas Duffle Bag' pictured below.
To shop the Delta Soul Sister - Devasting Divas Duffle Bag click here.
Rockets' James Harden Gives Blended Designs
Blended Designs gifted two backpacks that were filled with school supplies for a giveaway at the J-H Town Weekend Celebrity Basketball Game. The backpacks were spotted with James Edward Harden Jr., professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association.
Blended Designs Grand Opening
We are so exited to announce the grand opening of our first location in Jacksonville, Florida.
Blended Designs on WJXT 'The Morning Show'
Blended Designs founder, Casey Kelley, and her son Carter were featured on WJXT Channel 4. 'The Morning Show' showcased Blended Designs mission and showed Blended Designs backpacks that are filling a void in the market.
Blended Designs Featured on NPR
Founder Casey Kelley was interviewed on 'First Coast Connect' with Melissa Ross.
As Featured in the Houston Chronicle
Get Ahead of the Class
Adding to the list of trends is a growing demand for ethnic diversity. Take the Blended Designs’ 1954 backpack collection. It’s the brainchild of Casey Kelley, a former consumer analyst in Florida who decided to create a line of backpacks at the request of her 9-year-old son, Carter.
“My son wanted one with his face, or someone who looked like him, on his own bag,” Kelley said. “I did the research and found only 2 percent of character bags on the market feature children of color.”
Within three weeks of her son asking for his own bag, Kelley launched the 1954 collection in March 2017 on Facebook. After several celebrities posted images of her bags, the line sold some $250,000 bags in several months. The backpacks start at $34.95 and come in 14 styles and three sizes.
Kelley regularly attends expos and trade shows where she finds the backpacks have a mass appeal. “Kids recognize at a young age that this isn’t normal to see a face that looks like them on a backpack, so they grab the bags and hug them,” she said.
She named it the “1954 collection” after the Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka case, a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.
“If you change the images, you can change the narrative,” Kelley said. “I hope the bags will help build their self-esteem, and I hope they make children feel they can do anything.”
Read the full story here.
Yandy Smith Harlem Bag Drop
Yandy Smith best known for her role on Love & Hip Hop: New York did a bag drop giving out Blended Designs backpacks to kids in Harlem.
Hancock Whitney Featured Business
As featured on Hancock Whitney.
1954 by Blended Designs Donates $20,000 and Backpacks to Single Mom-Turned Community Caregiver
1954 by Blended Designs as seen on ABC's The View. Watch full episode.
Jax Entrepreneur, Backpack Maker Sees Success While Helping Children
Last March, Casey Kelley’s 9-year-old son Carter took her to dinner and pitched her an idea: he wanted a bag with his face on it. He would wear it to school and put his books in it, he said, and everyone would love it.