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Big Rube’s Philly

Designer K.Vaughn

The iconic photographer, brand marketer and chef sits down with a self- (and Philadelphia-) made lifestyle and fashion guru

Big Rube’s Philly

Designer K.Vaughn

The iconic photographer, brand marketer and chef sits down with a self- (and Philadelphia-) made lifestyle and fashion guru

My friend Kevin Harris, aka K.Vaughn, has worn many hats. Coming up in West Philly, he switched schools a few times, didn’t finish high school, and became a payroll clerk in the Navy, where he served in Mississippi and Connecticut. He spent a decade working in Harvard Square before coming home, where he worked for the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the Cézanne and Delacroix shows, fundraised for the Academy of Natural Sciences, DJed, and sold women’s shoes. All along, he dressed to the nines.

“I always knew I was into fashion, always into design,” says K.Vaughn. “But in our neighborhoods, we don’t use the word ‘artist,’ no. Your family tells you, ‘You better get a job.’” Today, his full-time work is life insurance, but, he says, “That’s just the eight hours.” The rest of the time, “I got something else on my mind.”

K.Vaughn, a bald Black man in his 60s, wears large black sunglasses, a blue jacket, dark jeans and a colorful scarf with his side to the camera, wielding shears alongside an African American woman with short curly hair wearing several multicolor fur wraps. Behind the pair are shelves of fabric.
K.Vaughn and model Shanell Verandez.

That something else began when a shoe client told him, “‘You’re a designer and don’t know it.’ Nobody had ever said that to me. It was almost like every light in the room came on,” he says. He was 30 years old. Friends — some “punk rock boys” who hung out in his Center City neighborhood, a lady friend who worked at Urban Outfitters — helped him go for his first design idea: a man’s velvet vest.

“Back then, brothers wasn’t really rocking velvet,” says K.Vaughn. He traveled to Camden, NJ during a blizzard in January 1994 to meet up with someone who could turn that vest and other ideas into garments.

K.Vaughn, a bald Black man in his 60s, wears large black sunglasses, a blue jacket, dark jeans and a colorful scarf with his side to the camera, measuring a chevron-stripe multicolor fur wrap on a Black model with short curly hair, sunglasses and a black ensemble. Behind the pair are shelves of fabric.
K.Vaughn and model Shanell Verandez.

By March, he was holding his first fashion show, upstairs at Odeon, a now-closed elegant French brasserie on S. 12th Street. He charged $10 a ticket for “beer and wine and hors d’oeuvres from 7 to 10 in a private all-white space,” he remembers. He splurged on Italian Baci Perugina chocolates for favors. “When you launch a collection, you gotta launch it in style. There’s no time to be counting pennies,” he says.

After the show, friends asked, “How long are you going to do this? I said probably six months. That was 30 years ago.”

K.Vaughn, a bald Black man in his 60s, wears large black sunglasses, a blue jacket, dark jeans and a colorful scarf with his side to the camera, measuring a chevron-stripe multicolor fur wrap on a Black model with short curly hair, sunglasses and a black ensemble. Behind the pair are shelves of fabric.
K.Vaughn and model Shanell Verandez.

Since then, K.Vaughn has collaborated with local style icon Jimmy Glenn (aka Jimmy Red Shoes, a buyer and consultant at Joan Shepp). He became creative director for fashion photographer Tony Ward. Mounted a show at the Painted Bride. Did womenswear and menswear, mostly ready-to-wear. When he wound up with extra fabric, he started making scarves — which became his signature item.

He made (and makes) them out of luxe faux fur, bright laces, sheer metallics, unfinished wools, and other “unconventional” materials. In order to spread the word about the creations, he strategically “gave away seven and sold three.” K.Vaughn would go around town and hand them out to bartenders and people working the door at the Palmer dance club. Just like I did back in the day with my cakes and lasagna, he walked from salon to salon, selling them. When jazz trombonist Jeff Bradshaw needed styling for an album cover photo, he called K.Vaughn, who added a scarf to the musician’s ensemble. When someone tells him they’re having a private dinner party, he’s there, with his scarves — and glad to accept a glass of Champagne.

K.Vaughn, a bald Black man in his 60s, wears large black sunglasses, a blue jacket, and a colorful scarf while smiling. Behind him are photos of models, a sketch of himself, and things hanging from hooks.
K.Vaughn in his studio.

The scarves got so popular, the local fabric shops on S. 4th Street didn’t replenish their stock fast enough, so he headed to 7th Avenue, the Garment District, in New York to find more recent materials. Today, he offers his scarves online (priced from about $100 to $200). Design-wise, he’s focusing more on couture, so he can give clients exactly what they want — and get paid for it. K.Vaughn recognizes his gift and passion are unique.

He says, “I never went to design school, so I didn’t know an inch from a yard. I know: That’ll work. How I get there? I’m not sure. I can’t teach that.”


West Philly born and raised with a slosh of Brooklyn, Big Rube partnered with Mitchell & Ness in 2000 to help make it a global brand marketing and selling high-end throwback jerseys. He has been photographing Philly since 2009, including in a Daily News Column from 2011 to 2017. He’s also a chef, operating Chef Big Rube’s Kitchen seven days a week at Pitcher’s Pub in Manayunk, selling the best handmade food in a Main Street dive bar.

MORE FROM BIG RUBE’S PHILLY

K.Vaughn at work. Photo by Reuben Harley.

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