When the doors of Designed to Flaunt swung open for the first time on a frigid Friday at the end of January, some visitors walked in just to warm up.
Others saw the Kansas City-themed clothes and accessories and thought they were stepping into the space’s former occupant, We Got Your Back, that had simply been revamped. After all, it hasn’t been very long since that store’s closure in the downtown Overland Park space.
Either way, co-owners Kimberly Grewing and Chelsea Pike were ready to greet them — and to explain that the space is now theirs. After initially getting its start in Olathe, their locally-themed apparel shop began a new chapter in downtown Overland Park at the end of January.
Designed to Flaunt opened at 7940 Santa Fe Drive
- The shop opened in a space just off 79th Street and Santa Fe Drive in downtown Overland Park, near Ink & Page (formerly The Pretty Posy) book boutique and The Peanut.
- We Got Your Back occupied that space for roughly four years before closing at the end of 2025.
- Designed to Flaunt is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Designed to Flaunt offers a slice of Kansas City pride
The store is full of items reflecting Kansas City pride in various forms — including some Overland Park-specific accessories.
For Grewing and Pike, Designed to Flaunt was born as a pandemic hobby in 2020. They began by working with third-party suppliers to design and drop-ship T-shirts and some earrings.
Ultimately, though, the sisters found that the more they sold, the more discomfort they felt over how little control they had over various parts of the operation.
“With dropshipping, we had no control (over) how quickly we got things, and how good the product was,” Grewing said.
Thus, Designed to Flaunt became a more hands-on operation than before. The sisters purchased a laser engraver and a hat press, and began cutting their own earring blanks.
Today, Designed to Flaunt offers a wide variety of custom goods, from earrings and hats to T-shirts and hoodies. The space also offers a charm bar, where visitors can build their own charm bracelets and necklaces with help from staff.
In addition to their own goods, the sisters are actively recruiting local makers to sell in the shop — from soap and body care businesses to clothing, glassware and hand-sewn goods.
The space doesn’t just house product, either. It also doubles as a production space.
“If someone wants a personalized, full-color or laser-engraved product, we can usually do that here (on the) same day,” Pike said. “People can even bring in their own designs.”
Designed to Flaunt has former ties to downtown OP
Before Designed to Flaunt relocated to downtown Overland Park, Grewing and Pike spent about a year running Designed to Flaunt out of a storefront at 411 S. Parker St. in Olathe.
At the same time, the sisters worked a vendor-event circuit that took their brand as far as states like Alabama, Texas, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
The new Overland Park storefront offers something new; a much-appreciated size upgrade.
“We used to go to shows with a 10-by-30 booth and then tell people that when they came to our store, they’d only be able to shop a 10-by-10 space,” Pike said. “Here, we can finally show everything. Before, maybe we’d have 10 pairs of earrings out. Now we have thousands.”
The new storefront technically isn’t the first time Designed to Flaunt has set foot in downtown Overland Park. The duo also previously were partners at Home Town Collective, a now-closed boutique just down Santa Fe Drive from Designed to Flaunt’s new space.
“For us, it just kind of felt like fate that this spot opened up when it did,” Pike said. “It’s like it was bringing us home.”
In the long term, Grewing and Pike said they hope the shop serves as a space for both retail and creativity. Plans are underway for classes to make hand-painted signs and stained glass goods, taught by fellow makers.
“Our goal is for it to be a place where you can come and be creative, not just shop,” Pike said.
Ultimately, while the upgraded space itself is a nice bonus, Grewing said the most exciting part of this venture is the people who walk through the door.
“You never know what kind of people you’re going to meet, or whose story you might be part of,” Grewing said. “We are very excited to see where the journey takes us and who we meet.”
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