Our Mission
At Kaden & Kai, we believe it is important to extend the useful life of materials that can be recycled and repurposed. Our vibrant, stylish, high quality bracelets, necklaces and earrings were created to be beautiful and, most importantly, purposeful.
We also believe it is important to drive demand for eco products in the broader marketplace and to incorporate sustainable business practices throughout our business and the businesses we work with. Our goal is to "do good" while "doing well" so we can continue to grow, expand and evolve.
Our Origin Story
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The first Kaden & Kai bracelet was created in 2020 was the Daisy for me. I was on vacation and thought I saw a bracelet made out of bicycle tubes. I was disappointed to find out it was made from silicone. So when I got home I decided to give it a go!
After heating and flattening the tubes under several books for about two weeks, I attempted to make the first Daisy Bicycle Tube Bracelet with my Cricut. It worked on the first try!
Perfecting the
PROCESS
Although the first bracelet was an instant success. Needless to say, that was the last time it would be that easy. I would spend the next year jamming and ripping bracelets while cutting into them using the Cricut or while weeding them by hand.
Used bicycle tubes have a lot a variability which lead to a lot of failures. But I had a lot of people giving me ideas about how to improve my success rate. I thank them all. It worked! I now have a system that can scale.
ASSESSING
DEMAND
After talking to about a thousand people across six months at the Boston-based markets, I learned that there was a lot of interest in what I was doing. I also learned that there was some things that needed to change. I used the markets as a way to test and refine ideas and designs.
The three biggest things I learned was thinner was better, the clasps needed to be stronger and I needed more holes to accommodate a variety of wrist sizes.
It eventually all came together.
Causes We Support
1% for the Planet represents a global network of businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations tackling our planet's most pressing environmental issues. Kaden & Kai is proud to be part of this exclusive group. We have been a member since 2020.
We have also been supporting The Water Project since 2019.
About Our Name
Kaden & Kai are the two middle names of my sons. I liked the idea of using a name that sounded like a fashion brand, but had some personal meaning. Kaden stands for companion or friend and Kai means sea. It was a great fit for the vibe I wanted to create for the shop (and it didn't hurt that the domain name was available! ;).
Video Tour
In this 10 minute video, I walk you through how the initial Kaden & Kai bracelets were made, changes I made along the way and how I prepare orders.
