Hand Freshman, Just 15, Creates A Fashion Business

MADISON, CT — This is at once a business and education story because at just 15, Daniel Hand High School freshman Kiran Pathy is a student and an entrepreneur.

Pathy created his own company last summer called Klean Kicks, a shoe company that allows for customization of the shoes through the art of hydro dipping– a method for applying print designs to three-dimensional products. He began the street fashion company with his cousin Nik Fazio, who attends the University of Virginia majoring in commerce with concentrations in finance and management.

In an article on Hand's website, Pathy said he'd been into customizing his own clothing and wanted to find a way into the business.

“Over the summer I was watching a video of a guy customizing shoes and it inspired me to do something like what he was doing and put my own spin on it so I created this, the hydro dipping company,” he was quoted as saying. So he started painting his own shoes and while at a camp in Washington D.C., people liked his painted kicks and would buy them for themselves and, he said, "that is when I thought, 'I can scale this and turn it into something bigger.'”

According to the Hand feature news story, the business side of creating a business, all the paperwork, was a challenge, but working with his cousin Fazio, they pitched the hand-painted shoes to professional athletes.

“We got a few responses from some professional athletes and we have made the shoes and we are planning to send them out as soon as possible,” he said. “We are trying to expand the business by making shoes for professional athletes and influencers. That can be our tool to market it, get it to well-known names so that their fans can see this.”

The Klean Kicks website shop includes hydro-dipped Nike Air Force 1 and Steve Madden sneakers, t-shirts and hoodies.

It hasn't been a cakewalk starting a fashion retail business, but Pathy was inspired.

“Even if you are worried about starting – even if it isn’t a business and it is just an activity or something – just do it, no matter what because you never know if you will succeed or fail,” he said. “I know along the way I have learned so much that is not necessarily related to the shoes like how to persevere through challenges that I have faced. I think it is important to try new things, even if you are not sure about it – just adventure.”

At DHHS, students are encouraged to "explore and grow some of the attributes" as seen in Pathy's story. "If a student is interested in pursuit of developing an idea- Daniel Hand High School also offers a course in Entrepreneurship in the CTE offerings in the Business Management Pathway.