Penn State graduate McKenna Kimmel handcrafts Penn State patchwork apparel, using thrifted materials, ensuring that no two pieces are the same.

Kimmel graduated in 2021 with a double major in Finance and Mandarin. She looks back fondly on her time at Penn State, but gamedays in particular were her favorite part.

Starting a small business in high school, Kimmel had prior entrepreneurship experience before creating Go State Designs. Once she got to college, she stopped creating.

Like many other freshmen, Kimmel would turn to McClanahan’s and buy shirts to cut up into the perfect gameday fit. But after a few games, she found herself running out of ideas. She had exhausted all her creative tweaks and was struggling to find new ways to make the shirts cuter. 

After being at college for a year, she decided that she wanted to start creating again.

Kimmel noticed the popular jean jacket trend for gamedays and figured that she could elevate that look.

“I wondered if I could thrift these [the jackets] and then rework them by painting and sewing,” Kimmel said. 

This idea got Kimmel into learning more about sewing, allowing her to bring the ideas to life.  

“I had a sewing machine that was gifted to me when I was younger, and I never got into it”, Kimmel said. “Maybe there’s something I could do with this.” 

Her first official design was a jean jacket that had plaid and polka dot fabric patterns on the back of the jacket, followed by “We Are” painted over top of it. This design set the tone for her creative style.

Shortly after creating that first jacket, she launched an Instagram account for her business, following fellow Penn Staters to start building a local following and gain attention for her work.

Kimmel noticed that people genuinely appreciated her designs, which inspired her to keep creating. Within just half an hour of posting her clothes for sale on Instagram, they completely sold out. The unexpected response fueled her motivation to continue.

“Wow, maybe people actually do like this… it could work,” she said. “I just kept going from there.”

One of her early creations remains her favorite, and, in her opinion, her most popular jacket design. It featured a hand-painted depiction of Beaver Stadium, displayed on the back of a jean jacket.

In the early days of the business, Kimmel not only created ready-to-wear pieces, but also created custom orders that she would get from people through Instagram who attended other schools.

After receiving positive feedback through her Instagram account, Kimmel began selling her clothing at every pop-up event she could find, even setting up shop at local bars on occasion.

“I didn’t have a car when I was a sophomore,” she said. “So I would just wheel the rack throughout downtown State College.”

During her sophomore year, Kimmel discovered Pop Up Ave, a local market that caught her interest.

“I thought it was so cool,” she said. “I really wanted to be a vendor there.” 

By the spring, she applied to participate in the event and began expanding her collection beyond just jean jackets.

“I started reworking, so it wasn’t just jean jackets anymore,” Kimmel said. “I was doing a lot of scrunchie crop tops, which were pretty popular back then.”

By the fall of her junior year, Kimmel began expanding beyond jean jackets, reworking hoodies and other pieces of clothing. Her focus shifted, and soon it was not just about jean jackets; it was exclusively about reworked items.

Following graduation in 2021, Kimmel moved to Philadelphia and started to work in business development while still owning and running her business. After about three years, she started working full-time for Go State Designs. 

This past January, she began expanding beyond just Penn State.

“Because I was full-time, I had more bandwidth,” she said. “I might as well start doing professional sports as well.”

The process of making each order varies between customs and one of ones. For the customs, Kimmel makes a mock-up, using Canva to create each design.

After she gets her ideas down on the computer, she starts assembling the pieces. She turns to thrifting to find logo items and patterned fabrics. When finished gathering all of her materials, she starts to put it all together.

“It’s kind of a little puzzle, so I fit pieces together and see what looks good.” She said. “Everything about them I try to make unique.”

Thrifting is a big part of her design process, but while each piece is different, she still tries to keep the pieces consistent with her brand. This balance between uniqueness and cohesion extends into her daily routine, where each day brings something different.

“Not every day is the same, but every day does consist of a lot of sewing, which is nice,” she said. “I really love it, it’s been great being able to do that.” 

While she enjoys sewing, she has found that social media is a big part of expanding her audience. “I just have to become increasingly better at creating content.” 

Kimmel has found that creating merchandise centered around Philadelphia sports and professional sports in general has been beneficial for growth.

“It’s really helpful to get more audience that way, get more eyes on the product, which is super helpful.”

She has a website for Go State Designs, but most of her traffic is through social media, which is how she attracts the most amount of people. Her hands-on approach and personal touch give each design a unique character, something she hopes continues to set her work apart as her brand grows.

You can check out what Go State Designs has to offer by visiting their website or browsing through its Instagram page.