“The Papa & K brand means family,” says Kamea Bitton. And as the sales and marketing director of the accessories line, as the “K” behind its name, as the daughter to Papa & K’s husband and wife designer team, she means it.
Papa & K’s brand of belts, cuffs, and necklaces—each hand-painted fingerprint-unique—began with a flip through family photos. Three years ago, Kamea was at her parents’ home, sifting through an old album when she came across a snapshot of a woman wearing hip, hippie belts. “My dad confessed that she was his girlfriend at the time,” says Kamea, “and that the belts were his creation—and a very successful business.”
Kamea convinced her parents to rebirth the line, beginning with the original belts. The creative marriage of the husband and wife team was natural: the two lifelong designers ran an art school together, held numerous exhibitions, and created furniture bought by hotel tycoon Steve Wynn. “My dad is very technical; he knows how to make the artistic functional,” says Kamea. “And my mom can sculpt anything you can imagine. As a jeweler’s daughter she knows her stuff.”
Kamea grew up in a home of art, she grew up wearing her mother’s designs, and now she wears Papa & K accessories herself, as part test drive and moving showroom, and all honest enjoyment. “My buyers can read that I’m not just trying to make a sale,” says Kamea. “My family designs the line together—every one of us is involved somehow.”
It’s natural, then, that the Papa & K customer is also multigenerational: “When I get to meet our customers,” says Kamea, “I see a huge range of girls: moms and daughters and even granddaughters swap our belts. The Papa & K buyer is simply someone who loves beauty, Quality and craftsmanship. She could be wearing couture or jeans and a T-shirt with the same belt. She could be in high school, or a soccer mom with three kids.
Still a tot in the fashion world, Papa & K has been featured in fashion bible WWD, the TOBE Report, Cosmopolitan, Bazaar and WGSN, which reported “discovering Papa & K belts was one of the high points for WGSN at [Project Las Vegas]. The collection of belts and cuffs hit the mark when it comes to directional accessories… And are clearly a labor of love.”
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