Love, and a little Harry Styles, highlighted in student business

Junior graphic design major Kaile Leong is the founder of Lovers in Lace, an online business that sells anything from journals to t-shirts — all encouraging shoppers to spread positivity. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, photo editor

At the peak of quarantine in 2020, junior graphic design major Kaile Leong decided to give her dad's embroidery machine a try. 

After staring at this chunk of metal in her house for days and with nothing else to do except learn new hobbies, she decided to turn it on — keeping her fingers as far away as possible from the needle. 

Having never embroidered anything in her life, she wrote the phrase "You are loved" on the center of a pastel pink and purple sweatshirt. She quickly posted a picture of the item on Twitter to see if it gained any interest. Little did Leong know that she would soon be up until 5 a.m. most nights fulfilling hundreds upon hundreds of orders of these same sweatshirts. 

Izzy Petraglia, Kaile Leong and Liz Gonzalez

With that, her online business Lovers in Lace skyrocketed. 

"Someone wants to spend money on something that I created, that's crazy!" Leong said. "This person works $15 an hour and they're going to spend $100 on an order? The people that support Lovers in Lace are very loyal."

Lovers in Lace is an online storefront that strives to "spread love and kindness throughout the world." Leong started out with just an Etsy shop in 2018 and now the store has its own website with over 1,000 orders on an average day and over 20,000 followers on social media. The site offers anything from posters, t-shirts, stickers, keychains, totebags and journals all designed by Leong. 

Leong told The Panther that her business feels like a "dreamworld" where she can showcase her growing knowledge on graphic design and let her imagination run wild. 

"It's the place where I feel like I can be completely creative with my ideas and I can create whatever I want," Leong said. "My big thing is just making people feel seen and heard and use my creative ideas to put that love into the world." 

Leong said the idea for starting a business partly sprang from her love of One Direction and wanting to acquire sufficient funds to see Harry Styles in concert. But, the main reason was that she wanted people to feel less excluded than she felt during high school by extending love to anyone who needs it. 

"I hated high school so much — I just felt like I didn't fit in," Leong said. "I was like, 'Alright, I can use this business as a way to spread positivity for people who are feeling the same things that I'm feeling.'"

Most of the products by Lovers in Lace contain quotes or phrases by Styles himself, either from previous interviews or lyrics from his songs. Leong, who has seen Styles in concert dozens of times, said she finds comfort in his personality and that's why she decided to base her brand around him. 

Several of the store's previous collections, including "This is The Home I've Been Searching For" and "Welcome Home," connect to Styles' Grammy award winning album "Harry's House" — with stickers saying, "Take care of you first, fill your own cup and let them fall in love with the overflow" and posters with the quote, "You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring the sun to the darkest days."

"I know a lot of people like (Styles) for his looks or his music, but personally his shows have always brought me that sense of community that I've always been looking for," Leong said. "Being in that space of love, being happy and forgetting about everything else is what drives me and makes me want to continue making Harry (products)."

With each design including anything from quirky fonts, bunnies or rainbows, Leong said she is influenced by what she sees both on social media and in person. While the territory of fan-made merchandise could lead to duplicate designs by different people, Leong said it's important to brainstorm new ideas that are exciting for the niche audience she adheres to.  

"I'll be shopping around at a mall and see something, and I'm like 'Oh, that's really cute, but I can make it better,'" Leong said. "A lot of (inspiration) comes from things that I want that I don't see in the market."

Even though she has created dozens of products over the years, Leong said her two favorites thus far were the "LiL Lovers Necklace" and the "Life is All About Moments Journal." The necklace, which was Leong's first time designing jewelry, features individual charms relating to her and her friends, including a horseshoe that connects to her friend's tattoo, a spider web that represents Leong's love for "Spider-Man" and, of course, a Harry Styles initial charm. 

The journal, which can serve as a memory book to house photos or ticket stubs, includes a linen backing and quotes like, "The moments in our lives which have brought us the most joy are the small ones."

"I actually cried making (the journal), — it has meant so much to me," Leong said. "The quotes in it warmed my heart and made me really happy. That's probably my favorite product that I've made."

With the increase in demand, Leong decided in 2021 to hire a team to help manage her social media. Liz Gonzalez, one of the social media managers for Lovers in Lace, began as a customer simply in love with the brand who wanted to add every single product to her cart. Her and Leong became fast friends online, which soon led to Gonzalez managing the Instagram account for the business. 

Despite being a part of the business now, Gonzalez said she always resonated with the significance and dedication put into Lovers in Lace.  

"Kaile has created such a special brand with such an important message behind it," Gonzalez said. "Even when I was just a customer, I loved the meaning behind everything she did. Everyone loves the brand for the positivity it spreads. We need more of that."

Although the products sell out instantly upon release, Leong said the thoughtful messages she receives from customers is what gives her the validation to dedicate her time to Lovers in Lace. 

"My old manager at my job DMed me today on Instagram and said, 'Hey girl, this is so random. But I work at a mental health hospital now and I've been wearing your 'You're Loved' sweatshirt recently, and all the patients love it. They keep telling me it brightens up their day when they see it,'" Leong said. "That's everything that I've wanted my business to be. It's such a surreal feeling to know that you have an impact on other people."

Even if she is up until the early hours of the morning fulfilling orders, Leong said her main goal is always to make her customers feel the utmost love. Leong said even the little things can bring the most amount of happiness, even through a simple pink Poly Mailer envelope or a personalized note in each package. 

While she is not sure if Lovers in Lace will become a full-time role after college, Leong hopes that customers recognize the importance of opening up your heart and letting love in, because you never know what might happen. 

"Being there for your friends and telling people you love them and being able to put that love into the world and doing things that make you happy is so important," Leong said. "Life is so short, so do it. No one is going to remember it in 100 years."

Leong is currently studying abroad in Florence, Italy for the remainder of the spring semester. Lovers in Lace will resume production in June 2023. Updates can be found on their Instagram page.