About Us

Most of Gary’s career has been in consumer products: with a focus on strategic matters, product development, and execution. In addition, he has considerable understanding and experience in purchasing and importing products from overseas. Gary also started A & F Designs, based in Manila, Philippines. This company was founded in 2012 to produce products for the global consumer seasonal market and product development also focused on holiday decorative items.
Gary lives in Cleveland, OH and has active interest in music, travel, and spending time with his family. He received an undergraduate degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA and an M.B.A. from the Weatherhead School of management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Lynn’s responsibilities include; oversight of the product development and buying process, management of national accounts, direct accountability for the showrooms, all IT functions including digital activity and coordinating all sales and marketing activities. Ms. Labes has been with the Company since 2012. Earlier in her career she was a buyer for Bergdorf Goodman and a department manager at Jacobson Stores, both of which provided excellent experience and understanding of retail and the importance of developing products to meet the customer’s needs. Lynn received an undergraduate degree from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, and an M.B.A. from the Weatherhead School of management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Lynn lives in Cleveland, OH and enjoys spending time with her family and her 3 dogs. In addition, Lynn is a total ‘nerd’ who tutors math and physics in her free time.

Carol’s passion for design began when she was a young child, sewing clothes for her dolls with scraps of leftover fabric from her mother. Together, they would handmake each of Carol’s Halloween costumes, which sparked her love of Halloween. She then went on to graduate with a degree in Fashion Design and Merchandising from Kent State University.

Over the course of her career, Carol has gained a wide variety of experience with many big names in the industry. She has interned with Zac Posen, assisted with the 2006 RTW Collection and Oscar Ceremony gowns, prepped garments for InStyle Magazine photoshoots, and even collaborated on a design concept presentation for Virgin Atlantic Airways. Perhaps most notably, she worked for Vera Wang for seven years, producing custom wedding and haute couture gowns for special clients.

Each of her past experiences has prepared Carol for her role at Katherine’s Collection as director of collections and designer and patternmaker. From the moment she entered the showroom, she felt at home among the explosion of colors, trims, and glitter. Carol never feels as though she is at work when she steps through the doors at Katherine’s Collection, because it is the place where she is able to fully explore her creativity and bring her sparkly ideas to life.

Theresa is an award winning graduate of the Cleveland Institue of Art who spent over 25 years as a wallpaper and product designer before joining the Katherine’s team.

Theresa has been a part of the Katherines team for over 10 years as a designer, painter and sculptor.

In her free time, Theresa enjoys painting, gardening and spending time with her 5 grandchildren.

Kerry is a native of Ohio where her love of sewing, crafts, and apparel construction began at a very early age when she constructed and displayed outfits for a local 4-H fair. By the age of 18, Kerry was designing and constructing costumes for Sea World in Aurora, Ohio. She received a B.F.A. In costumes from Kent State University and an M.F.A. In Costume Technology and Design from Ohio University.

Excelling in the technical aspects of apparel construction, Kerry began her career working as a first hand for Santa Fe Opera, Boulder Shakespeare and a Craft/Milliner at Washington D.C. Opera.

In pursuit of continuing her arts, Kerry moved to Los Angeles and worked as a Draper, Figure Finisher and Fabricator for special effects shops such as Animal Makers, Creature Effects, and Jim Henson Creature shop. Some of her accomplishments included, Lead Draper for Netflick’s “Dark Crystal; age of resistance,” Bellagio’s of Las Vegas “Year of the Dragon,” and “Year of the Horse”. As a freelancer, Kerry also operated her own business as costumesbykerryjo.com, whose clients included the Target Dog, Dole’s Morris the Cat, Career Builder commercials, Nickelodeon and Universal Studios.

Bauer returned to Ohio to be with family and teach at Kent State University, dividing her teaching time between the Fashion School and the School of Theater and Dance. During summer break, she discovered a company called “Katherine’s Collection” where she is a Draper and Fabricator, designing and building Holiday themed samples.

After working 5 summers, as of 2022, Kerry joined the Katherine’s Collection team full time as a Product Designer and Developer. She notes, “this job was made for me, it embodies the love of all my crafts as a draper/cutter, sewer, milliner, beader, painter, and fabricator.”

Katherine “Kat” is product designer with special skills as a seamstress.
Growing up, Kat collected Batman comic books and was a lover of all things fantasy and magical. Through this, she discovered the wonderful world of cosplay, the art of creating costumes based on movies, tv shows, comic books, and anime. Because of cosplay, she became a self-taught seamstress, pattern maker, wig styler, prop builder, and makeup artist. Developing these skills, Kat was accepted into the Fashion School at Kent State University where she would learn design and construction. Later Kat transferred to Kent State University’s Theatre School where she was able to further her training in design, sewing, and prop making. Kat was hired by Katherine’s Collection as a seamstress, but quickly grew into her role as a product developer and designer. Kat enjoys working for KC because she can use all of the skills she developed through cosplay and her professional training at Kent State. She has found that the creation of the dolls and their stories is her favorite part of the creative process at KC because of the limitless options. Kat’s Cosplay and theatre experience became the foundation in her development of new and creative holiday themes and designs. In collaboration with the other artists, she creates characters beginning with a sketch and swatches and sees this through to a completed product. Working in a collaborative office with other talented artists has allowed Kat to continue learn, share, and develop her skills in many different areas.

Lisa was first introduced to Katherine’s Collection as a buyer in 2000 and was completely enchanted by Katherine’s captivating visual product displays. By January 2001 she was assisting in our former Atlanta showroom and became showroom manager in 2004. She stepped away from managing in 2012 but stayed on board working seasonally with our visual design team. Today, Lisa brings her extensive experience within the company to assist in all aspects of sales and customer service.

Outside of business hours, you can find Lisa perusing for mid-century furniture at flea markets or searching for 50’s & 60’s barware at local thrifts. She recently purchased a 120 yr. old house in Savannah, GA that she and her husband plan to renovate.

Halloween is her favorite holiday, and she has been known to keep some of her Katherine’s Halloween decor out year-round.

Julie comes to Katherine’s Collection with a background in travel, business, and computer networking. She began working for Katherine’s Collection in 2004 and spent 14 years in the Atlanta showroom. Currently, Julie works in sales and customer service, bringing her dedicated years of experience and product knowledge to help our customers with everything from order assistance through to the management and delivery of products to your door.
In her free time, Julie designs jewelry and enjoys drawing and painting. She has recently discovered that she has a bit of a green thumb, a love of plants and passion for gardening. Counting down to Christmas is one of Julie’s favorite holiday traditions.

Raymond has a degree in Commercial Arts and Advertising from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Sto. Tomas, Manila Philippines. He has been designing for Katherine’s Collection for over 12 years. He gets his design inspiration from everyday things and happenings, his love for movies, food and of course his family. With the right kind of “feel good” music playing in the background he creates art pieces that will add just the right amount of drama, festive or whimsy to your space.