SCAD alumna sews successful career in Savannah

Photo by Dennis Burnett
Savannah College of Art and Design alumna Kendrah White (B.F.A., fashion, 2003) runs Fabrika, a fabric store and custom sewing company on Abercorn Street.

By: Jennifer Long

Published: Friday, December 8, 2006

“Every week there’s something new that I learn,” said Savannah College of Art and Design alumna Kendrah White (B.F.A., fashion, 2003), talking about Fabrika, the fabric store and custom sewing company she opened three years ago. The store, tucked into a storefront along Abercorn Street in Savannah’s historic district, has been a hit with locals, students and tourists alike since its inception.

A native of Belfast, Maine, White spent her first two years of college in Rhode Island studying architecture. But before long, she said, she was looking for a change.

“Savannah was beautiful,” she said. “That’s pretty much why I moved down here.”

White started attending SCAD as a fashion student with the idea of starting her own business simmering in the back of her mind.

“I just knew that I wanted to open a business,” she said. “I’ve always worked on my own clothing, and I thought I should learn the right way to do it.”

After graduating in 2003, White knew she would have to work for a while to save money and develop a business plan. She took a job with a design firm in Hilton Head, S.C., spending about a year building her resources and gaining valuable on-the-job experience. When a small retail space opened in downtown Savannah, she knew it was time to make her vision a reality.

Her experiences in the SCAD fashion department sparked the idea of creating a store like Fabrika. As a student, she found it hard to obtain the fabric and supplies she needed for projects in the downtown Savannah area. Today, Fabrika houses those materials in the front of the store, and White said that during the school year her shop is a regular stop for SCAD students.

In addition to stocking various fabrics and sewing supplies, Fabrika also offers custom sewing for customers interested in creating slipcovers, drapery, cushion covers and other projects. White said that the business she generates from that arm of Fabrika mostly comes from local residents.

Other popular items at Fabrika are the custom-made bags the store produces. “Customers can pick out the fabric, and then we’ll custom-make the bag,” White said. “They get to choose the color, the style of the bag, the pocket, the length of the strap.”

White said Fabrika staff members also work with visitors and tourists, creating the bags and shipping them out after they’ve been completed.

Sewing classes for adults and children also are offered, and White said the technical sewing classes she took at SCAD helped her form the class curriculum. “I’ve actually based the sewing classes that we offer here off of what I learned,” she said.

While White gained some knowledge about running her own business from her parents, who both operated their own businesses while she was growing up, she had never taken a business course. For the most part she figured out what to do on her own.

However, she also took advantage of services available through the Small Business Chamber of Savannah, an organization offering classes and counsel for individuals looking to open their own businesses. “They were definitely helpful,” she said. “I went up there with my business plan a couple of times before I actually brought it to the bank.”

Keeping in touch with SCAD professors, and therefore keeping up to date on what SCAD students need for classes, is important to White’s business. “I also try to know what classes are coming up so that I can make sure I have the materials the students need,” she said.

A true entrepreneur, White is constantly developing new ideas and ways to expand and enhance the products and programs offered at Fabrika. She and her staff are working on developing a line of children’s clothing, as well as a pattern line.

“We’re really just brainstorming right now, and playing around with it,” she said.


Fabrika is located at 140 Abercorn St. in Savannah; the phone number is (912) 236-1122. For more information, visit www.fabrikasavannah.com.


Long is a publications editor.