Danni Little Designs

Young entrepreneurs are beginning to run this city  and of the pack is out-of-the-box designer, Danni Little. She uses her amazing talent of crocheting to create highly wearable garments. She also uses her unique artistic abilities to benefit a charity near and dear to her. Read on to learn more about the fabulous Danni Little!

How long have you been crocheting?

For over 16 years now.

How did you get started?

I was in 5th grand and my mom just called me into her room one day and showed me how to make a scarf. Then I started crocheting little things for my Barbie dolls and that started it all. That’s so cool! So when did you realize you wanted to actually turn your crocheting skills into a business? High school. I started making purses for people and I actually had a TV class and my teacher told us that we had to do a project and I did a commercial for my clothing line. I made an outfit and everything.

How do you come up with a design and what’s your process from start to finish?

Ok, first, I get inspired by random things. Either I’m on Tumblr and I see a picture…it’s just random things I see in my head and I just make it! I start off crocheting and I come up with my own patterns. I don’t use crochet patterns books or anything so I just see it in my head and start crocheting. I might have to stop and take some things down in the process but I still keep going just to figure out the pattern and then make it.

So on average, how many designs do you produce; how often do you make your items?

It depends how inspired I am. I can shell out two dresses in a week, because I did the Golden Hanger show. So two full pieces in a week or so. I did all of the accessories too though [for the Golden Hanger show]. And I gout out of the box from crocheting. I did some wooden accessories and just more modern pieces. More Earth, and I want to say, tribal inspired.

What other fashion shows have you done and do you have any coming up in the future?

The Walk Fashion show. Well I just did the Henry Golden Hanger Fashion Show, The DDD Fashion Show [Design, Define, Detroit], I did the Wayne State Fashion Show and there was an Eastern Michigan Fashion Show, and Michigan State just contacted me too so I will be doing their fashion show this year.

I know you work with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. How did that come about?

I work with them because I have Crohn’s disease. I was diagnosed young. It was in 97 so, I was about 11 or 12 so I have been dealing with it for a long time and I know Crohn’s and Colitis doesn’t get as much exposure as it needs so I just want to give back to a worthy cause. I went to camp when I was 18 and saw all the other kids with Crohn’s and Colitis and that was a good experience to know that you are not alone and you get to bond with other people who share your ailment and understand all of your problems, so I just want to give back because it’s a really good cause.

That’s great that you are able to do that! Now other than the obvious, the crochet, what do you feel makes your designs unique?

It’s a fresh poppy feel – the crochet, and instead of just a crocheted dress, there’s always some type of style or some type of flare or something that you can look at and say, “I would actually wear that” or “I want to wear that to stand out”. I have classic pieces but I also have new pieces and one-of-a-kind pieces.

So what’s in the future for Danni Little?

This year a lot of growth! A lot of growth is coming about. In the future, I just basically want to be someone that people can look to as an inspiration because I see a lot of people as my inspiration. And my main goal is to get enough exposure for myself to be able to help and broadcast the Crohn’s and Colitis foundation like I really want to and to get more research done for that so that we can hopefully find a cure. So that’s my main goal.

I love that you want to use your designs to help give back! So what’s your favorite design? What piece have you made that you are most proud of?

The piece I am most proud of, are my most recent pieces. There is a black dress from the Golden Hanger show and the girl that is modeling it has short hair and is wearing a headband. I made all of the accessories. So how she’s accessorized, I guess that’s my favorite piece right now.

You want to get more into accessorizing and making accessories in the future?

Yeah! Making accessories. I already make things like scarves and hats and things like that but I just like to be creative. So I have been branching out and doing other things like earrings and necklaces and things like that. Just a lot of great stuff.

And do you only make women’s clothing or men and women’s? Or is men’s coming in the future?

I started out only doing women’s clothing but a lot of men have been asking me to do things for them so I did a jacket actually for Karl KingSon's show.  It was like a crochet sweater type jacket that I did and I added additional detailing and intricate leather designs as well. That’s my one guy piece as of right now but there will be more to come in the future.

That will be great to see! Where can we purchase your designs?

Dannilittle.com, there’s a link to my Etsy shop. Right now I’m focusing on getting people to go to the Etsy shop because it’s all set up there. And you can also subscribe to the email list to find out about upcoming sales and things like that.

Visit dannilittle.com or follow @DanniLittleLLC to learn more and see more!