Olathe boutique drawing Chiefs fans with custom embroidered patches and sequined apparel
A boutique in suburban Kansas City is putting a unique spin on team pride, offering Chiefs fans custom apparel and one-of-a-kind embroidered patches through its popular “patch bar.” Maxi Laine’s Boutique, owned by Melissa Wassergord, has grown into a local hot spot for stylish Kansas City-themed designs.
Wassergord, 43, started crafting custom shirts with a Cricut machine and an iron in her basement 12 years ago. Three years ago, she opened her Olathe boutique, blending her love for fashion and the Kansas City Chiefs. The “patch bar,” launched last May, features over 115 patch designs celebrating Kansas City, the Chiefs, and other local favorites. Customers can personalize clothing with patches applied in-store using a heat press.
Wassergord found inspiration in combining her love for fashion with the Kansas City Chiefs. “Honestly, it kind of just found me. I loved fashion, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” Wassergord said. “And then when I opened my boutique, I realized that I kind of had to pivot and make it a combination because there were a lot of people coming in here for their love for the Chiefs.”
Customer feedback and observing trends helped her incorporate unique Kansas City elements into her designs Wassergood says. “It’s honestly about listening to what the people want when they come in,” she said. “You hear them kind of chattering about, ‘I wish you had more things that had, for example, a heart with a KC in it,’ because that’s kind of something that’s big for the KC area—the heart.”
Wassergord focuses on creative, original designs. “I’m really good at designing and I really love fashion, so how about I just create the two and it’s worked out very well,” she said.
As the “patch bar” continued to grow, Wassergord said she decided to add some Chiefs patches to the bar. The customers were really interested in Kansas City Chiefs patches she says. “It was a huge success and just grew from there.”
The boutique’s “patch bar” features over 115 patches ranging in size from 3 to 11 inches and its popularity is growing quickly through word of mouth and through social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
In September, Wassergord said she began designing her own patches to stand out in the market. “There were so many people with the exact same thing over and over again,” she said. “I enjoy being unique and having a different flair.”
Wassergord said she creates most of her designs on Canva and once she’s done, she sends the designs to a company she uses to embroider it. The patches, which take about 14 days to be embroidered, are unique to her boutique. Social media posts featuring the designs have attracted customers from all over the metropolitan area to her store.
Some of the patches designed by Wassergord feature fan favorites, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce captured from the back in a high-five gesture. Other patches she designed include a “KC” on a white background with red and gold arrowheads on and the same design on a black background with football written in scripts across the KC.
Another one of Wassergord’s popular designs incorporates the words “Kansas City” in red and gold, with images of four Chiefs players—Mahomes, Kelce, running back Isiah Pacheco, and corner back Trent McDuffie—woven into the areas in place of some letters.
Taylor Swift-themed patches are popular at Maxi Laine’s Boutique. One shows the pop superstar holding hands with boyfriend Travis Kelce. In this design, Taylor’s blonde hair blows as she wears cut-off shorts and carries a football with a “Kelce” t-shirt, while Travis sports a number 87 jersey with Swift’s name across the back. Other patches feature players like kicker Harrison Butker, defensive tackle Chris Jones, and Coach Andy Reid as “Big Red.” One patch showcases nine Chiefs players, Coach Reid, and a shirtless Jason Kelce, a reference to the time he took his shirt off at last year’s playoff game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.
Supporting other local businesses is a goal for Wassergord, so she buys patch designs from local artists. “One of the biggest things whenever I started doing this is I wanted to make sure that I was supporting other small businesses,” she said. “I found a couple of local designers that I purchased the files from, so I’m able to support their small business as well as grow mine.”
Wassergood wants her designs paying homage to Kansas City and Chiefs players to stand out from the many mass produced products on the market with Kansas City designs on them. “You can go anywhere and get a trademarked item. What I really wanted to do is remain different and unique. You’re not just going to go anywhere and get something that says KC with the logo—you’ll get something that plays around with Kansas City flair.”
Markita Brown, a registered nurse from Lee’s Summit, stopped by the store Tuesday to design a custom sweatshirt for work on Fridays. “It’s $40, and it’s unique,” said Brown, who chose an over-sized “”KC” design, with the “K” in Chiefs colors and the “C” in Royals colors, complemented by the words “Kansas City” elegantly scripted across the logo. Brown didn’t stop at just one sweatshirt. She also picked a bold red sweatshirt and embellished it with an over-sized, “KC” appliqué made of red and gold sequins with a gold sequined star. Brown said she was attracted to the bling of the design.
Another customer, Fran Douthat of Mission Hills, visited the “patch bar” on Saturday to find patches to customize several letter-style jackets. “It’s amazing, I’ve been searching online for hours and haven’t found a fraction of what they have here,” Douthat said, who found the boutique on Facebook. After an hour browsing, Douthat selected 42 patches and spent nearly $300. “My pocketbook is afraid I might be back.”
The boutique offers customers the opportunity to choose embroidery patches and have them applied to clothing in the store using a heat press. Customers can purchase an article of clothing like a sweatshirt, t-shirt, hat or jacket in-store and the patches are applied free. If customers prefer to bring their own article of clothing, a $5 press fee per item applies to have patches put on clothing. Patch prices range from $8 to $18, depending on the design and size.
The shop, nestled in a strip shopping center at 14010 West 135th St. in Olathe, also stocks patches for the Kansas City Royals, combination items for the Royals and Chiefs fans, as well as items for fans of the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and The KC Current.
The boutique also offers approximately 160 DTF’s, direct to film transfers of Chiefs and Kansas City-themed images. Wassergord said DTF’s replaced vinyl transfers and are much better quality and last longer. Most of the DTF’s were created by local artists and Wassergord.
In addition to patches, Wassergord also designs Chiefs-themed sequined jackets and dresses, Chiefs sweaters and varsity bombers in Chiefs colors, again all produced in limited quantities of each item, ensuring her customers have something truly special. Customers can further customize some of the articles with additional patches. Sequined and beaded purse straps, also designed locally, are available in a variety of team motifs.
“I only create 50 of my designs, and I never restock them,” said Wassergord. “People have really enjoyed that—they’re not going to the game or a local event and seeing 1,500 other people wearing the exact same thing.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 10:48 AM.
