Knotzland and Knots Landing; a serendipitous connection
Some of the best stories are happy accidents. The name Knotzland has a certain whimsicality to it that perfectly captures the essence of their bright patterns while representing their classic and traditional sensibilities. The Knotzland name is so strong it might be hard to believe there was a time it was called something else, but it is true says Founder Nisha Blackwell;
“Knotzland started as ‘Have Knotz’, and it was based in this idea that Knotzland was going to be a streetwear brand that was representative of the place that it came from. I had always thought of Homewood in the frame of ‘haves and have nots’ because you would go across Penn avenue and you would see this immediate shift from a community in Homewood that was a little more blighted to Point Breeze which is only across the street and this beautiful pristine well kept thriving community
”The name change was something kind of forced on the new entrepreneur. When Nisha took her idea to a startup accelerator, her mentor told her that there was already a company with a similar name, and that for the good of the business she should consider changing the name. “I was distraught” said Blackwell,
“I was so attached to Have-Knotz because it was this thing that I had built, even though I was only a couple months in, but I was really attached to it.”
Faced with the task of renaming, Blackwell struggled. It wasn’t until a company event hosted at her late grandmother’s house in Homewood that she found something that gelled with the attitude of the company.
“We were on top of this hill where she lived, she had lived there my entire life and it was a spot that repeats itself in so many childhood memories. From the top of this hill you can see all of Homewood, so I stood there and I told myself I was going to come up with a name before the end of the day. I stood there and I looked over this hill and I remember thinking to myself; ‘ What is happening right now? We’re picking up momentum, we’re about to form an LLC. so maybe we’re going from the have nots to the land of the knots.’ And really, what spurred from it was looking over this hill and seeing all of Homewood and saying ‘ok, how do we go from this feeling of less-than, to the feeling of abundance and create a space that we really want to see in this world’. So that is how the name Knotzland came to be.”
“how do we go from this feeling of less-than, to the feeling of abundance and create a space that we really want to see in this world?’ So that is how the name Knotzland came to be.”
From a forced change to an indisputably recognizable name Knotzland was born. What surprised Nisha, was the recognition her brand garnered from a 1980’s soap opera.
“Very early on. We would be at trunk shows and pop up events and it was our older customers that were attracted to our nostalgic items, vintage phones, suitcases, and we’d always have different records and vinyl laying around so they were excited about that. Then we would tell them our name and they would always say “oh like Knots Landing.”
Suddenly Knotzland had a following of customers who remembered and referred to them as ‘Knots Landing’. At first it was frustrating being called by the wrong name for the young company,
“When people started calling us Knots Landing, I was protective of the name, I would think, ‘no it’s Knotzland, I named it Knotzland for a reason, I came up with this name by myself ‘' But, so many people recognized us by that so I knew there was something to it. One day I got curious enough to type it into a computer and low and behold there's this soap opera called Knots Landing and I thought “oh my gosh we’re connected to a soap opera?”
Connected indeed, Knots landing ran for 14 seasons from 1979-1993, eventually outlasting Dallas, the show it was a spinoff from. Nisha saw this as a happy accident, saying at the time;
“ ‘wow this is interesting that we’ve sort of tapped into this culture of something that existed before us.’ So, for our 5th year it was a challenge of ‘how do we lean into, and just have fun with this idea of Knotzland and Knots Landing?‘.”
And so, the ‘Knotz Landing’ Collection was born. A way to lean into their origins while using the show to explore fun and non-traditional design as it relates to Knots Landing and the 80’s;
“Knots Landing is this show with a fun color palette, crazy patterns and a vintage aesthetic. I really challenged Nicole (Production Manager) to think and design for a modern version. We’ve kept the base of the collection focused on ‘what if Knots Landing was to take place today’.”
Stay tuned to the Knotzland Blog for more on the upcoming Knotz Landing collection releasing on National Bowtie Day August 28th!