Since its launch five years ago, contemporary clothing brand Cara Cara’s warm, sun-drenched prints have provided a source of light for shoppers. Co-founder and UGA alumna Katie Hobbs’ BBA ’01 eye for fashion and skills in marketing have helped the brand flourish from the beginning.
Hobbs took her first steps into the fashion industry at the University of Georgia, where she earned a degree in marketing. After graduation, she moved to New York for an advertising sales position at New York magazine.
“Fashion had always been something that I loved and appreciated, and I loved clothes, putting together outfits, following trends, and reading about fashion,” Hobbs says. “I didn’t know anybody in the industry. I had never lived in New York City. I really didn’t know how to get there, but it was a path I was passionate about pursuing.”
Throughout her early years in New York, Hobbs cut her teeth at a variety of coveted, fashion-focused brands such as Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and Carolina Herrera. She became skilled in e-commerce and digital media and content, and the experience gave her some insight about where she wanted to go next.
“I was at Elle during the first season of Project Runway. I made a lot of amazing connections and learned so much about the industry,” she says. In 2019, Hobbs decided to take a big chance. While her UGA education gave her the foundation for her career, her experience on campus—she served Panhellenic as VP of recruitment and was a leader in Greek life—provided the confidence she needed to do her “own thing,” as she says.
With the help of friends Julia Brown and Sasha Martin, the trio began brainstorming what would become Cara Cara out of Brown’s Upper East Side apartment. Brown was skilled in fashion design while Martin came from the financial giant Barclays. With Hobbs’ marketing background, digital and otherwise, they formed a dream team of sorts.
“The stars aligned in terms of each bringing something unique to the brand. And it just worked,” Hobbs says.
Fashion and media are changing daily. You need your team to be super engaged in what’s happening and to keep everybody on their toes.” — Katie Hobbs, co-founder of the contemporary clothing brand Cara Cara
Cara Cara’s first collection was released in March 2020. The brand’s bright floral signature prints provided a welcome contrast to shoppers’ gray, pandemic-driven, work-from-home sweatpants. The dresses and sets served as happy reminders of summers to come. This success inspired the team to release more collections that same year, which they have continued in the following seasons.
As Cara Cara grew, Hobbs wanted to celebrate the work of women entrepreneurs and instill that feeling into the brand.
“We started as three working moms,” Hobbs says. “We now have a diverse team that includes some fabulous men. But the brand was founded and funded by women. We’ve taken no outside investment.”
Cara Cara celebrates its fifth anniversary this spring and plans to open a storefront in New York, its first brick and mortar presence. Hobbs hopes the brand will continue to grow.
“Fashion and media are changing daily,” she continues. “You need your team to be super engaged in what’s happening and to keep everybody on their toes.”
