Olivia Bythell is making waves in the fashion world with her stylish sportwear brand Caos-Kit, designed, as the name suggests, for those leading a ‘chaotic’ lifestyle.
Olivia found inspiration for Caos Kit after noticing a gap in the market for sportwear that can be worn throughout the day – smart enough to meet your friends for a coffee, but comfy enough that you can still do your lunges.
“In this day and age, everyone is rushing about from one task to the next. I wanted to create clothes that can be worn from dusk to dawn and look stylish as well! You can incorporate Caos-Kit pieces into your regular wardrobe without them looking out of place.”
With a clear vision in mind and support from her family around her, Caos-Kit was born in 2018.
Finding clarity in the Caos (Kit).
Olivia’s motto in life is the same message that she conveys through her clothing brand: work hard, play hard and party hard, but do it in comfort as well as style.
The 22-year-old is an active sportswoman and personal trainer herself, and has translated her passion for hockey, skiing and sports to create a unisex athleisure line, which she runs (for the moment) out of her bedroom.
Although based in Lancashire, many of Olivia’s designs have been influenced by her time spent in different countries – the Caos-Kit logo was created during a family holiday on a beach in Spain and represents the fluidity and motion of the waves in the ocean.
Armed with her family and a great community supporting her, Olivia is building her online empire from her home in Burnley. Her sister is the unofficial Caos-Kit photographer and takes snaps for Olivia’s website and social media channels, and the marketing department is her dad, with Olivia at the helm, remaining the driving force for the entire operation.
Burnley Business
Being based in Burnley has helped develop Caos-Kit as a brand, and Olivia thinks her hometown sets her apart from other designers in the UK.
“Starting my business in Burnley has played a part in growing Caos-Kit. People have been so supportive of me. I’d be lost somewhere like Manchester, but here everyone supports each other, and the people of Burnley want to see their own businesses thrive.
The most rewarding part of designing my own clothes is seeing people out and about wearing Caos-Kit, it’s all the proof I need that I’m going in the right direction.”
Olivia already has big plans for the future; a year into launching her website, Caos-Kit already has a strong consumer base in the North West, with hopes to expand nationwide. There are also talks of developing ‘Caos-Kids’, which brings Olivia full circle to her job (is there anything this girl can’t do!?) as a PE teacher in a primary school.
Social Media Whizz
Caos-Kit has also exploded on social media, attracting hundreds of followers organically on Instagram within the first year.
“I wanted to show everyday people wearing my designs on social media, rather than using Instagram almost as a catalogue – real people can interact with my products and see what they actually look like on people.”
Although Olivia juggles a chaotic lifestyle herself, nothing is stopping this entrepreneur from ‘causing caos’ over the world.
