Kia Biography

Born and raised in Connecticut, Kia has been creating art from a very young age; influenced by her creative family. As a child she displayed paintings, drawings and sculptures in galleries across Connecticut. She assisted her father with art lectures at local schools and helped teach art classes. As a teenager she added photography to her creative interests which lead her to Rochester Institute of Technology where she earned a BFA in Advertising Photography. 

Crafting bags started as a hobby later in life, an activity that could be added to her list of creative outlets. Kia quickly found that she really enjoyed the designing and construction process of making handcrafted bags. Jade Michael was born with a focus on quality over quantity using sustainable fabrics, unconventional elements and a bit of up-cycling. Kia designs, cuts and sews every bag in her home studio and views each bag as a functional piece of art. Utilizing her photography background, she takes her own photos for marketing purposes; often employing her daughter as her model. 

Kia is elated to be in a position where she can follow her heart’s desire and make a living doing the thing that she has always done…Create!