At AZ Big Media, we are proponents of all things local. We enjoy learning about local projects, people, entrepreneurs, products – you get the idea.
At my house, we support clothing that is unique, functional, attractive and won’t fall apart in a week – if you’re a mom, you get the idea.
Admittedly, as the mother of three children, all of whom are girls and under the age of 12, I’m slightly biased … OK, in love, with this product that happens to meet all the previously mentioned criteria.
The product to which I refer? A dress – the dress in fact, that my (often time) overly-critical 10-year-old is pictured in. The multi-textile, colorful, patterned dress comes from the Tomato Superstar children’s clothing line (1-12 toddler to teen) developed by Tucson visionary Kelly Cooper, U.S. military veteran, and owner of Kelly Cooper Designs.
“I couldn’t find sensibly-priced, well-made and uniquely designed clothes that both my daughter and I liked,” said Cooper. “With a background in design and a passion for uplifting the spirit of young girls, I did my research, enlisted the help of a mentor and started sewing.”
Did she say sensibly priced? Well made? She did.
As if my affection hasn’t been made evident, might I add that Cooper is donating a portion of all Tomato Superstar proceeds to The Invisible Girl Project, a U.S. based non-profit that is dedicated to ending gendercide in India.
“I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart,” said Cooper, “and wanted to help raise awareness of cultural issues that typically go unnoticed. I also want to be able to give back to the community and be a positive role model to other young girls who may want pursue their own dreams.”
As for the future of Kelly Cooper Designs?
“My next steps are to continue designing and working on next season’s collection, as well as encouraging young girls.”
As for encouraging young girls, my praise of Tomato Superstar’s bohemian beauty is clear but did encouragement and enthusiasm translate to the wearer of the dress? Indeed. The feedback consisted of: “Wow, I can really move around in this dress,” “I love how this dress reminds me of summer,” “This dress can be worn for several occasions – birthdays, reunions and school.”
There you have it, and here, I have a happy 10-year-old, no dry cleaning to worry about and a new children’s clothing line to henceforth worship.
Usually, we give stars for our consumer product reviews, but under the circumstances, we’ll give Tomato Superstar 5/5 deliciously juicy tomatoes.
What better way to spend your weekend than by supporting local talent. Join Cooper as she debut’s Tomato Superstar Saturday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m. at Girly Girlz (15425 N Scottsdale Rd #240, Scottsdale, AZ 85254). All are welcome to join the free fashion launch and show.
