Kimber Watson of MAEK Shift
Kimber Watson of MAEK Shift - Throughout Kimber Watson’s upbringing, two things were consistent—a quirky personality and an attraction to fashion.
Photo:

MAEK Shift: Craft Lake City Vintage Vendor

By
August 3, 2022

Art and Fashion

With the largest number of vendors to date, The 14th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Presented By Harmons returns to the Utah State Fairpark with an exciting variety of homegrown DIY-ers. In the following pages, we’ve highlighted some craft foodies, inventors, performers, vintage curators and members of the next generation of artisans that will be participating in this year’s bustling event. Check out craftlakecity.com for more information about The 14th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival.

“I grew up in a house where we were supposed to take ourselves pretty seriously. My mom never could quite wrap her head around my quirkiness, even still to this day,” Kimber Watson says.
Photo: John Barkiple

Throughout Kimber Watson’s upbringing, two things were consistent—a quirky personality and an attraction to fashion. Watson now runs the SLC-based queer, vintage shop MAEK Shift, upcycling pieces that would be on their way to landfills and giving them a new look and purpose.

Watson always had a soft spot in her heart for retro looks and patterns, inspired by the Barbies her aunt had gifted her at age seven. “I grew up in a house where we were supposed to take ourselves pretty seriously. My mom never could quite wrap her head around my quirkiness, even still to this day,” she says. “I was totally and completely obsessed with the old sitcoms—I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Bewitched.”

For some MAEK Shift pieces, Watson will refashion garments that are “on their way out—holey, stained, etc.—and redesign them so that they don’t head to the landfill,” she says. “I will take those items—doing my best to keep within the era the garment is from—and rework them so that they are more comfortable for the wearer,” citing her work with head-to-toe polyester garments as an example of how she finds new uses for potentially impractical garments. “One of my recent … loves is to take old patterns, redesign them a bit, then sew them out of vintage fabrics and notions. I love that so much because I’m essentially creating vintage items, but it’s new, so the longevity and practicality are there,” she says.

You can find MAEK Shift at The Hive Market in Trolley Square and Park City. Catch her monthly at the Urban Flea Market, exhibiting at this year’s DIY Festival and on Instagram @maekshift.kimber.

Check out more on Past Craft Lake City Vintage Vendors here:
Abode Vintage: Craft Lake City Vintage Vendors
Kissing Whiskey Vintage: Craft Lake City Vintage Vendors