I write about the intersection of craft, fashion, entrepreneurship, and sustainability and I’m on a mission to eliminate textile waste

Did you know the fashion industry produces 150 billion garments per year, and one piece of clothing is worn only seven times on average before it's discarded out of our closets, ending up in an open burn pit or on the beaches across the ocean?

We are drowning in clothing, and while the statistics are dire, I see a tremendous opportunity to drive impact by eliminating textile waste at the industrial level through communicating and sharing best practices and promoting circularity.

Learn more about my writing on the intersection of craft, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.

Biography

Kelly Rand is on a mission to eliminate textile waste globally. She is an author, creator, connector, and sustainability advocate. She is focused on using her expertise in writing and communications to help eliminate textile waste in the textile and fashion industry.

As founder of Handheld Handmade, Rand connected enthusiastic customers to local and sustainable goods through an innovative mobile-commerce platform. Created from the desire to find the best sustainable artisan-made goods without the overwhelm, Rand carefully curated a collection of beautiful products from high-quality designers in an easily digestible text message format for five years.

Rand writes about the intersection of textiles, the environment, and entrepreneurship. She has published work in Handmade Business magazine and the Craft Industry Alliance; her work has also appeared in Bust magazine, Studios magazine, The Crafts Report, and Etsy. Rand once served as arts editor at DCist (part of the Gothamist group) and as editor of Crafting for a Green World.

Rand is the lead author of Handmade to Sell: Hello Craft’s Guide to Owning, Running, and Growing Your Crafty Business (Potter Craft, 2012). She contributed to Crafter’s Market: The DIY Resource for Creating a Successful and Profitable Craft Business (Fons & Porter, 2016). As co-founder and executive director of Hello Craft, a non-profit trade association for independent crafters, Rand hosted the Summit of Awesome, a business conference for crafters and makers, for five years. Rand also spent several years serving on the jury of Crafty Bastards, Arts & Crafts Fair, one of the largest indie craft fairs on the East Coast. She also has juried for Baltimore’s Artscape and served on the jury for Monroe Street Market Artist Studios in Washington, D.C.

Rand has a BFA in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design, a Business of Fashion certificate, and a Sustainable Fashion certificate from the Parson’s New School. She has lectured and provided workshops for the American Craft Council and provided guest critiques for students at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Rand frequently consults on elements of craft and sustainable business.

Rand resides in Portland, ME, with her husband, daughter, and two cats.