It would be hard to pass by Moriah Arroyo and not pay great attention, for she encompasses any frame she walks into. With her head held high, eyebrows bleached, and strictly in outfits that describe themselves as fashion, she quickly becomes the main focus of your eye line. This allurement bleeds into her personality, which I describe to be spunk. She’s the type to let her opinions be known to all without fear. A trait I wish to claim, she does so all while being kind and soft-spoken. In touch with her lack of fear, Moriah is nothing but herself when you meet her. There is no barrier to break through to see her true self as your conversations progress, she is simply all there, and this is meant in the best way possible. Her confidence, a major theme of her character and catalyst to her attraction, is firm and forever here to stay. At the end of March 2024, I got the chance to sit down and talk to Moriah about her newest endeavor, Kitty Charm, her very own clothing brand, where I learned how her confidence has bled its way into the fashion scene.
I first asked about her introduction to fashion and what lured her to the topic as a whole. “Growing up I was always into fashion. My stepmom at the time would take me thrifting…which gave me a whole new point of view. I was also a Justice girl, I would wear the furry bedazzled boots and everything.” Moriah was simply ahead of the game.
Her introduction to K-pop in 2018 helped turn the wheel of events for this brand. Not only did it provide addicting music, but fed her love of styling as the genre held looks that were severely different from what she was used to. Moriah was introduced to an abundance of patterns, textures, and trends used in a way that in retrospect seems awful, but somehow always worked. The very beginning of her likeness to K-pop started with the Red Velvet, a girl group formed in 2014 and has provided numerous hits such as “Bad Boy,” “Psycho,” and “Russian Roulette.” “I remember seeing them and thinking, ‘Oh! They eat!’ I mean obviously, I look back at the ‘Bad Boy’ music video, and seeing the fishnets, Adidas track pants, tube tops, the big hoops, it was like yes… it makes sense.”
About a year before Kitty Charm was created, Moriah worked at a clothing line that operates under the name Eat Me Plz. It’s a brand started in 2021 that is mostly known for being used in an abundance of K-pop groups’ styling, such as New Jeans and LE SSERAFIM, she mentioned that it sparked her interest in things such as designing, social media marketing, and networking. However, this came at a price. She explained how she worked under such bad management. Her boss was the opposite of respectful and would often yell inappropriate things, downgrade her work, and go as far as taking her ideas with no credit given.
Her attachment to the brand was due to its foot in the K-pop scene. However, it didn’t take long after the departure of her previous company for Moriah to realize that she didn’t have to put an end to her dreams. In January 2024, five months after departing from Eat Me Plz, she created her first three designs for Kitty Charm: Kitty Bowtique shorts, Kitty Bowtique crop top, and Kitty Charm dress.
An idea she once had in class helped ignite the fire that would turn her dreams into reality. “It took me all day to come up with [the two-piece set] and the dress. I was glued to my laptop, even working on it while I was walking. It needed to be done.”
As she talked about her design, it was apparent that comfortability and styling were a priority. When talking about the Kitty Bowtique set, she said, “I know shorts can be uncomfortable, they ride up, they’re all up in your *ss-crack. But these are made from soft materials; they’re also cute and fun for styling.”
Moriah Arroyo wearing Kitty Bowtique shorts and Kitty Bowtique crop top
Moriah explained that the pieces aren’t solely for her target audience and exposed another source of inspiration for her designs. “I create pieces that I love to wear. I’ll sometimes wear my pieces to class. As of now, I abuse the shorts; I wear them all the time.” She has made sure to show the brand’s potential in adhering to everyone in terms of aesthetics. This is apparent when comparing the shorts to the Kitty Charm dress which helps display the brand’s duality. “Something cute and something sexy. I don’t want people to look at Kitty Charm and just think it’s cute. It can be versatile like a cat is cute and also chic.”
I soon asked her why the name “Kitty Charm” and got a very simple answer, “I really love cats.” She wanted something that described the clothing she wanted to make, which is explained perfectly on the brand’s website: “The name Kitty Charm represents the beauty and confidence of a cat. We aim to make our customers feel more beautiful and confident in our bowtique pieces!”
Along with her designs, she went straight into figuring out how her creation could come to life. She instantly looked up manufacturers, ones she could trust were ethical and maintained good quality for their price. “Cause I’m still a broke college student,” she jokingly said as she fake cried. “Definitely a sacrifice [financially], but I enjoy swiping for this. In the end, it’s an investment. Even if it doesn’t take off, at least I got to start.”
At this point, I saw a pattern of independence. I asked if she would ever have a team or has been working with a team, to which she replied, “Just me, myself and I. It’s me, I want to do it. If it’s me, I feel like I’ll be satisfied doing it and I love working on the brand. I love creating designs, social media and emails. I wake up looking forward to it.”
To promote her brand, she used the connections mustered up over the past year at her old job and reached out to social media influencers on her own. She says, “You have to message them in a way in which it’s all about them because that’s what they care about. If I say ‘Can you model for me?’ they’re like ‘What?’ But if I say ‘Can I send you my clothes? I love your style and it will look great on you,’ they’ll say yes.”
She also lets them choose outfits, as she understands the influencers she reaches out to. “Some like the more sexy look, some like the cute look. If I send one who has more of a sexy look, my Kitty Charm hoodie, they’re gonna be like ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’ But if I send them my dress, for the t*tt**s to be out, oh they’ll eat it up.”
I asked her what was the moment it all clicked that what she yearned for had become a reality. She responded by saying, “When I had my first photoshoot with the clothing. I was walking around with the model because we were trying to find a place to shoot and people would comment on her dress, saying ‘I like the dress’ and I’d think ‘Oh sh*t that’s my dress, I created that.’ I thought that was unreal, I felt like a CEO!”
Moriah Arroyo wearing Kitty Charm dress
As the brand developed, Moriah found that her style changed along with it. “If I’m gonna make my own brand, I’m gonna become who I want to be. When people see Kitty Charm and then see me, I want them to be like ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ I once had dark hair because my ex said he liked girls with dark hair, my style rotated through what my roommates were wearing. Once I broke out and created this brand, I changed everything: my hair, makeup, and styling.”
I asked her what hardships were faced and still ongoing as Kitty Charm is taking off. She replied with a handful of issues such as watching her past brand succeeding, influencers not responding, or stylists not reaching out. All of which appear to be minuscule when compared to the rate of her progression but are considered to be setbacks. “There’s always some dead ends, but you gotta keep going.” She revealed that sometimes she would get discouraged because of the brand’s production (designs, manufacture, photoshoots, selling, etc.) being so quick. The idea for this brand sparked in January of this year and the first launch was February 13th. With her hardships came a realization. As Moriah was talking, she reiterated how her dreams are finally coming true. “I’d been promised to be a design artist at my old brand continuously, but they fell through or were taken credit for by someone else. I feel like I’m getting what I’ve wanted for so long,” she emphasized.
As Kitty Charm’s launch date approached, a day that I would imagine to be exciting, it was actually quite the opposite for Moriah. I was eager to know how she celebrated the launch, but it was soon revealed that it was spent alone. “I launched the line by myself, crying. I felt a lack of support. Even now, I get more support online from people that I don’t know compared to the people closest to me. I try not to think about it. At the end of the day I’m not doing it for them, I’m doing it for me.”
Although there has been a lack of support in friendships, Moriah has gotten abundant support from her family. “When I first mentioned the brand to my dad, he sent it straight to the family group chat and said ‘Look at what my baby did!’ Also, my mom is writing a book right now and she tells me, ‘My main character is gonna grab her Kitty Charm jacket.’” She emphasized, “Family is the best support you can have, so I’m glad to have them.”
It didn’t take long for Moriah to come up with ideas when asked about future plans for Kitty Charm. As if the question was predicted, she started listing out milestones for the brand such as doing pop-up stores, photoshoots with influencers and a bathing suit line, “I’m ready!” she exclaimed after her listing. There are many ideas and hopes of where she wants Kitty Charm to be as the brand is moving forward. “I want to get to the point where K-pop artists are regularly wearing my outfits and I’m regularly producing stuff. I want to make this an actually online successful brand, something that will uphold.”
Moriah Arroyo wearing Kitty Girl Top, part of the brands second collection that was released on April 3rd, 2024
I ended the interview by asking Moriah what people should know about the brand. “It started from butt-f*ck Virginia, and I did it all on my own. I’ve been through the gutter and back. I kept pushing and the fact that I’m at this point is pretty impressive. I want people to see my brand and know that I kept going and that I’m here.”
I mean this with all of my heart when I say I hope Kitty Charm continues to grow as a brand. Moriah’s devotion and ability to take action is inspiring and qualities I hope to reflect one day. To say it was a pleasure to learn more about her and this brand through our interview would be an understatement. To Moriah, I wish you nothing but the best and I am very excited to see what Kitty Charm achieves!
Photos by Julie Dinh
Graphics by Sydney Folsom