Kelly Miller always dreamed of living in Paris. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology, she’d already fallen in love with the city during her studies in Italy, splitting time between Polimoda in Florence and Politecnico in Milan, sneaking away to Paris on weekends. At 33, the American designer can now say she’s called Paris home, on and off, for over a decade. She first arrived with nothing more than a suitcase and $400, later studying French at the Sorbonne and building a career as a trend forecaster and consultant.
The move to Paris
“I spent that first summer crashing on a friend’s couch until I landed a job. My break came when I became the Paris correspondent for StyleSight.com, which later became part of WGSN. I stayed with them for five years before moving to London to lead a global team.”
From Paris to London
After WGSN, Kelly joined Beyond Retro, a vintage retailer with shops across the UK and Sweden. Alongside vintage finds, the brand created LABEL, a line made entirely from reclaimed garments. “They’d take something like an unsellable suede jacket from the ’80s and transform it into these incredible bags,” she recalls.
The jacket that started it all
For years, Kelly had been on the hunt for the real leather jacket. She didn’t want something new that felt too stiff, too polished. Then one day in Portland, Oregon, she found it: a 1970s classic. The fit was flawless, the leather was beautiful… but the smell was unbearable. She tried everything sunlight, lavender, even stripping the lining yet the jacket carried decades of wear. Eventually, she tucked it away in her closet and forgot about it.
That is, until fate intervened. At a wedding, she met a Savile Row tailor who specialized in leather. After hearing her story, he suggested they simply remake the jacket. Together they copied the pattern, adjusted the fit, and Kelly finally had her perfect piece. “I lined it with this rainbow-striped rayon from the 1940s, and people wouldn’t stop asking me about it. That’s when I realized maybe there’s a business here.” That moment gave birth to Kelly Miller Paris, her line of custom, sustainably-made leather jackets.
Sustainable craft
Her time at Beyond Retro left a lasting mark. Kelly now works exclusively with reclaimed leather sourced from Paris’s luxury houses such as Hermès, Saint Laurent, and others. “I only use mid-weight calfskin or cowhide, and the linings come from vintage or reclaimed fabrics I dig up at flea markets or vide-greniers, the French version of garage sales.”
How it’s made
Each jacket is an intricate puzzle of 57 pattern pieces. After cutting the leather, Kelly partners with specialists across Paris to shave down seam allowances, then brings everything back to her studio in the 11th arrondissement, near Bastille, where she assembles each piece by hand.
Orders are fully custom. Clients choose color combinations, textures, and linings whether a bold statement piece or something classic. For those abroad, Kelly mails a muslin mock-up to fine-tune the fit. For Parisians, fittings happen in person.
The cost of craft
Jackets start at €950 (tax included) and take three to six weeks to complete. “It’s a luxury piece, but it’s made to last and to evolve with you,” she explains. Her own original black jacket and now her favorite red leather jacket have survived countless rainstorms and only look better with age.
For Kelly, these jackets aren’t just about style, they’re a quiet rebellion against fast fashion. “The pace of consumption today is insane. My goal is to offer something that’s personal, sustainable, and enduring. Each jacket, whether in classic black or bold red leather jackets, uses leather and fabric that already exist, and each one is meant to be kept, loved, and worn for years to come.
