On the outside Kandis Contos' apartment looks like every other stark white four-bedroom rental. But behind the walls of this seemingly cookie-cutter home, lies what Contos describes as a hippie jungle.

The design is a true medley of the decades. A tie-dye tapestry adorns the wall in place of the typical college wallpaper of movie posters and stolen beer banners. A leopard-print blanket is wrapped around the sofa, not a person.

Mini Corona bottles hang from the cabinets lighting the kitchen counter. Snowflakes hang from the ceiling and potted plants sit on pedestals.

Her style is eclectic; a fusion of  '40s pearls, '60s earth mother and '90s grunge.

But her mix-match of patterns, colors and eras isn't limited to her apartment. As an apparel merchandising and design major, Contos infuses her off-beat vintage-modern style into all of her clothing designs.

"The combinations most find tacky, I look at it and think this is awesome," Contos, a Davison senior, said.

With this year's Threads' theme "Autobiography," however, Contos is excited to show her personal style but is hesitant to make herself vulnerable through her designs.

"The idea is that it's your story, you can tell it how you want, which at first I was really excited about but then I realized what everyone is going to see is you," she said.

While the theme asks designers to tell their stories through fashion, it is understandable why this second year Threads designer is having trouble finding the right brocade and leather to exemplify her past.

Growing up in a conservative school, Contos' after school activities were not the same as her other 7-year-old classmates. 

"I grew up in a Catholic school and was surrounded by more gay men than straight," Contos said.

After spending the day in khakis and a white polo, she traded in the stark uniform for a world of glitz and glamour. Contos spent her afternoons in her father's alternative bar where you couldn't always believe your eyes, influencing her into her future career.

"I grew up watching men transform into beautiful women," she said. "All you needed was a caboodle of make-up and a dress and you became a completely different person."

From the first time Contos glued fake eyelashes on a man in the fourth grade her destiny in fashion was set.

Despite her original major in communications, after taking a design class as an elective, Contos' love for fashion was reignited. She quickly changed her major to apparel merchandising and design and has been unstoppable since.

While many design majors have their sights set on designing in the big city, Contos' only goal has been to own her own business, designing everything from the fashion line to the floor plan.

 "As long as I could be happy and do what I wanted to do everyday, I'd be happy wherever I'm at," she said.

Small town or big city, Contos will be happy as long as she is following her dreams. And when all is said and done, isn't that what defines true passion?

GCM photo by Jillian Pekel

By Kristen Newhouse

Editor-in-Chief

Major: Journalism: News Editorial

Minor: Family Life and Human Sexuality; Women's Studies

Hometown: Three Rivers

Year of Graduation: 2011

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