Hi, I’m Kristen, and ssstudio sullivan is my research and design studio. I partner with brands, organizations, and institutions that are building equitable creative economies. My work spans product design & creative direction, research on women’s entrepreneurship in creative sectors in the Global South, and curriculum development on fashion, culture, and sustainability.

What I Do

I work at the intersection of fashion, artisan enterprises, and creative economies, bridging fashion industry experience with research and systems thinking.

For impact initiatives and NGOs: I provide research, strategy, and program design support focused on women-led creative businesses in the Global South. This includes market analysis, coaching, and field-informed insights.

For brands: I offer creative direction and strategic consulting , from product development and seasonal direction to artisan collaboration strategies.

For universities and educational institutions: I design courses and teach on sustainable fashion, artisan collaboration, and creative research. My recent work includes guest lecturing with the London College of Fashion and Texas State University.

What I Don’t Do

I don’t sell products or broker transactions between artisan brands and buyers. My work focuses on strategy, research, systems, and education.

The Artisans Bureau

I’m currently developing the Artisans Bureau, a member-owned organization co-created with women-owned, design-focused artisan enterprises in the Global South. The Artisans Bureau provides collective bargaining power, peer knowledge exchange, and revenue diversification.

After a decade working with artisan enterprises, I kept seeing excellent design work undermined by lack of visibility and undervaluation. The Artisan Bureau creates that missing infrastructure.

The Artisans Bureau connects member artisan enterprises for shared resources and coordinates collective support functions (bargaining, shared knowledge, apprenticeships, and circularity protocols). Member data flows into aggregated benchmarking reports that generate shared revenue.

Currently in the research phase, seeking:

• Founding member enterprises: Women-owned, design-focused artisan brands interested in co-creating the pilot

• Funding partners: Organizations committed to cooperative models and equitable creative economies

• Research collaborators: Expertise in cooperative/network economics, data cooperatives and platforms, or cultural and creative economies development