Her devotion to fashion, her clients and philanthropic causes sets this designer apart.

The secret to Kelly Flynn’s success as a clothing designer, she says, is her ability to effectively sell the pieces she creates. “For the last couple years, I’ve focused on working with my clients,” she told me over coffee at downtown Seattle’s Café Zingaro. “It’s nice because I get to work with people. I spend all this time working on something, and I get to see where it’s going.”

This duality has served Flynn quite well, and earned her the reputation of a designer that values customer satisfaction. She began designing clothes independently in 2008, but for many years prior to that, she gained valuable experience with the commercial aspects of fashion.

After earning a degree from the Art Institute of Seattle, she found work as both a designer and the West Coast sales manager for Punch, a junior clothing line based in Seattle. “I focused on volume and commercial design, communicating with factories and negotiating with larger specialty and department store buyers,” she explained.

This work gave her insight into aspects of the clothing industry with which most designers are unfamiliar. “My travels and experience helped me see what consumers want, and the importance of captivating the needs and spirit of the clients,” she said.

The position at Punch led to jobs at other labels, such as Animale and Lauren Vidal, which further familiarized her in the areas of merchandising and determining fashion trends. “The clothes were funky and arty,” she described, “but they were practical, and had a unique flair to them. They were very well-made.”

These edgy, inventive designs served as an impetus for Flynn’s own creations. In the last two years, she has created a wide array of designs, meant to encompass different moods, styles and personal statements.

“I think if you feel that you are wearing something that is a unique modern fabrication and compliments your style, it has a much longer shelf life.” There is also a strategy to her customized craftsmanship. “My clients get something that is unique, and not a throwback to something else,” she explained. “It enables me to learn more and become a stronger designer, and forge past the recession.”

She classifies her past designs into two different categories, which reflect both personal attitude and seasonal relevance. Her aptly named Tempest series features a selection of unconventional, highly stylized coats, sweaters and pants.

She describes these works as “against the storm,” adding they are “designs that have been created obviously for weather purposes, or have an aura of edge and confidence that sets you apart.”

The other collection, Radiance, is an elegant, more minimalist ensemble of dresses, skirts and men’s jackets, intended for use in spring and summer. This series “reflects styles with a warmer feeling, that often emulates light within the fabrications or designs with a chic feel.”

Flynn has also distinguished herself as a philanthropist throughout her career. Her work has been featured in several benefit shows, including the 2008 DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) Benefit in Seattle, the Seattle Fashion First Gala for the Humane Society, and the Fashion First Charity Event to benefit the Starlight Foundation.

While with Punch, she also spent time with students at Seattle Girls’ School, sharing her knowledge about shopping and clothing trends with the girls in a classroom environment. Flynn is passionate about charity work.

“We’ve all struggled with personal battles,” she said, “and I think it’s important to treat others with compassion. With children and animals, they’re so innocent, and you can’t go wrong doing something for them.”

In addition to other designers, Flynn says she is inspired by art, music and poetry. Among her greatest influences, she lists Alexander McQueen, “and how he cut a garment a thousand ways and kept art and edge in his work until the end”; Gregory Colbert, creator of the Ashes and Snow art exhibition, for his “interaction between humans and animals”; and poet Pablo Neruda, “and how he described women and love in such a beautiful way.”

She also praises her parents, saying “they have been wonderful about emotionally supporting and understanding me, and I am forever grateful for that.”

To impressionable up-and-comers in the design field, Flynn encourages them to “find [themselves in their] passion, and push [themselves] to evolve. Ambition can be tiring and tedious; think about having an end result without any regrets.”

For a designer with such commercial and artistic presence, Flynn defines achievement in relatively simple terms. “I live for finding or creating fabrics with unique textures,” she said. “I love the idea of seeing my work take on a different ‘light,’ through shape or sheen in different environments. I want wearers of my clothing to get stopped on the street and complimented.”