Lake Charles native to head to New York Fashion Week

American Press

19-07-2025

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Lake Charles native Katie Fusilier will be in New York City for New York Fashion Week in September. (Special to the American Press)
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Lake Charles native Katie Fusilier will be in New York City for New York Fashion Week in September. (Special to the American Press)
Katie Fusilier was born and raised in Lake Charles and is a St. Louis Catholic High School graduate. Nowadays she resides in Covington and is busy preparing to head to New York City for New York Fashion Week in September. She is the founder and CEO of Cosmic Collective, a brand she started in 2022.
She has been selected to showcase her work at Flying Solo's 'Ones to Watch' runway show during New York Fashion Week.
Fusilier will present eight original looks at the invite-only event being held on Sept. 14 on top of the Vanderbilt Rooftop in Manhattan. Her collection is inspired by the vibrant world of Louisiana and features a bold color palette and rich textures. The show is part of the official NYFW calendar and is a highly regarded platform for emerging global designers and will be covered by outlets like Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Harpar's Bazaar.
'I'm so excited, a little nervous, but once I commit to something it's like I have blinders on, I am going for it!' Fusilier said with excitement.
She is confident her looks will be noticed. She said how her looks are so unique and one of a kind.
'I want to pay homage to Louisiana, I want a lot of color, I want mixed patterns, I want to stand out, but I also want to pay tribute to home and that includes marching bands, berets, marching band hats, fringe and feathers,' she said.
Prior to her plans for New York Fashion Week she was in New Orleans Fashion Week last September.
'New Orleans Fashion Week gave me the confidence to dive more into this, the reaction and the community response I got after NOFW was crazy,' she said.
Fusilier's plans weren't always in fashion. It all began in 2020 when the world was wearing masks. Fusilier was wearing bandanas. When the pandemic started letting up she would still grab them just to wear as a fashionable ascot.
'I did not plan this, I was never the girl that was like 'I want to be a fashion designer', I had no clue this was going to be my path,' Fusilier said.
Fuselier was drinking during the pandemic and went to rehab in 2020 and became sober. After rehab is when she started tapping into the idea more and became motivated to turn the idea into a reality.
'When Covid hit I was drinking a lot and ended up going to rehab for 50 days and in 2021 I got out of rehab and was on this journey of redefining myself and in that time that's when I was wearing the bandanas,' she said.
She said she didn't even know this drive was inside of her until she got sober. According to her, once she was sober the idea of this excited her, she will be five years sober in November of this year.
'I always say that Blingdana and Cosmic Collective was like the Phoenix of my sobriety, I would not have done any of this if I hadn't gotten sober,' she said.
She said the bandana had become a staple in her wardrobe. That's when the thought of 'fancying' up her staple might be a good idea. She even wondered what a crystal fringe would look like attached. Time marched on and about six months later was when she walked into a boutique and saw the new trend of 'Disco Cowgirl' and that's also when she noticed how Nashville themed bachelorette parties were becoming more and more popular. That's when she thought, maybe I'm onto something.
'I saw crystal fringed jackets and shorts, that's when I went up to a worker at the boutique and told a little lie, I told her I had been making these bandanas and asked her if she thought they would sell and she said yes!' she said.
That's when she immediately went home and ordered plain bandanas and started her LLC and made them. She said her friends questioned her decisions and her response was, 'I don't know but I'm doing it, I have ideas!'
She first started her company under the name 'Blingdana'. That's when people started noticing what she was doing and she said people started telling her how she was onto something. Someone mentioned to her how she should go to Dallas and do the Dallas Market to sell her Blingdanas.
Since she went to Dallas Market, boutiques from all over the country started buying the Blingdanas. At this time she's proud to say places like the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium are carrying Blingdanas. Fusilier rebranded to Cosmic Collective once she began doing runway shows. As she says, Blingdanas are a product not a whole fashion line and she wanted clothes to go with the Blindana.
'2022 is when I started shipping the product out all over the country and started going to markets in Las Vegas and Nashville and in 2024 I started doing hometown runway shows,' she said.
That's when she questioned what would the models wear with the Blingdana and was told they could put the models in all black. She thought about it and decided that wasn't her style and that's when she started thinking outside of bandanas.
'I started thinking how could I play with clothes to make it work, I didn't really know how to sew or anything, I was playing with upcycling stuff to go with the Blingdanas on the runway,' she said.
'I think it's my responsibility now more so than it was before to really focus as much as I can on sustainability that's in my power because right now clothes is kind of like the number one pollutant and we see all these landfills of clothes and people doing clothing hauls,'
She said how it's created this culture of 'buy something now, throw it away later'. She admits to beijing guilty of this as well, and now that she's where she is now she's reflected on it and has decided to be more aware. For all the caplets on her website she will be using upcycled jackets.
'I just look for a certain style jacket, cut it to where it will land on your shoulders and will build off of it,' she said.
She also will be upcycling jeans for her newest item on her website. The new item is her metallic fringe chaps. She thinks upcycling is important and now more so than ever and a way to be more cautious when creating her fashion line.
New Orleans Fashion Week was the next step in her journey. That's when she came to the conclusion she had to learn to sew.
'I googled 'where can I learn how to sew', and this was just last year in May, I found a nonprofit sewing organization in Covington called Seauxing Seeds Foundation and I decided to go and it was the sweetest older ladies who taught me how to sew,' she said.
The ladies even came to New Orleans Fashion Week to support Fusilier. She said after the show in September 2024 is when things started taking off with her career. Project Runway even reached out to possibly have her on the upcoming season. At this time is when she also realized she needed a new name for her company that would include her clothing, not just Blingdanas.
'I knew I needed to rebrand and create an umbrella, which is where Cosmic Collective came in,' she said.
According to Fusilier, Cosmic Collective is a play on Cosmic Cowgirl with bright colors and 'neon vibes', she says the theme is all about having fun.
'The look is very ethereal and a lot of my clothes represent that and my brand is just fun and kind of out there, some people don't really know what to think about it, but they also love it because it has a local cowgirl theme too,' she said.
During this time she also started making custom clothing pieces for individuals. One of the individuals was Harmoni Kelley, who plays the bass for Kenny Chesney in his band. Fusilier made her pieces for their show at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Harmony has since reached out and is already asking her to create some looks for the upcoming stadium tour where she will take the new looks on the road. 'Anybody can reach out, it's a very intimate process where it's one-on-one, the client will tell me what they want, what colors they want, the inspiration and from there I handpick everything and show them and then we go from there,' she said.
'Everyday is a cosmic adventure worth celebrating' is something Fusilier has on her website. She said it comes from people saying how they like her pieces but would often say 'I don't know where I'd wear that' and her response is – you just need the confidence and you can wear it anywhere.
'The core and my belief is that It doesn't matter what you're doing, if you take it full force, then you can have the confidence to do and wear whatever you want,' Fusilier said.
Fusilier is excited for the reaction from NYFW and will be participating in NOFW again this September. She looks forward to building a name for herself and hopes to one day be reached out to celebrity stylists and musician stylists to reach out to her for custom pieces for red carpet events.
'I'm surrounded by so many great friends who believe in me, I have such a great support system who actively help participate in my growth,' she said.
Fusilier has pieces on her website shopcosmiccollective.com. Pieces include the new metallic fringe chaps, Cosmic Cowgirl slip dress, Cosmic Cowgirl pajama short set, Cosmic comfort dress, blazer capes, the original Blingdana that started it all, and more! While Fusilier has made custom pieces for musicians, she will also create something custom for you as well. The best way to contact Fusilier for a custom piece is to email her through her website.
Anybody can reach out, it's a very intimate process where it's one-on-one, the client will tell me what they want, what colors they want, the inspiration and from there I handpick everything and show them and then we go from there,' she said.
Fusilier says how it's never too late to turn your life around, it's never too late to tap into a dream you might have.
'I just say do it afraid, just keep doing it,' she said.
'I'm grateful to be from Lake Charles, my family is there and it's really amazing to have a hometown that supports your dreams,' she said.