AMHERST, Va. – Meet 12-year-old middle school student Kenneth Lloyd, the founder of Dodd Boutique in Amherst.
“I’ve had a bunch of people ask me in school how do their moms donate?” Kenneth said.
Kenneth launched his boutique last November.
“Over a 110 dresses right now,” Kenneth said.
He worried at first about, how people would react to a boy collecting prom and wedding dresses for women.
“I used to feel like I shouldn’t do this. But now I feel like I should,” Kenneth said.
His inspiration comes from his sister, who couldn’t afford the prom dress she wanted.
Kenneth thought there must be others in the same situation.
“I thought that if people didn’t have enough money to get pretty dresses and stuff they can come here.”
He started his boutique with help from his mother, Kathleen Doss-Lloyd.
“To be honest I never thought it’d go this far,” Doss-Lloyd said.
Kenneth has helped many women. He doesn’t sell dresses, he gives them away for free.
“Her mom took pictures and they sent us pictures on the phone and she was very happy. Very happy. So the stone started rolling,” Doss-Lloyd said.
Kenneth keeps his clientele list a secret for fear they might be embarrassed.
Before each client leaves, he makes them sign an agreement that they won’t sell the dress for profit. He urges them instead to donate it or bring it back to him.
One of Kenneth’s biggest donations was a $5,000 wedding dress.
“You know, that’s something that you want to hang in the closet for a while for memories. But she brought it back and she said she had such a wonderful time and she felt so pretty. That she wanted another lady to feel pretty,” Doss-Lloyd said.
In the short six months Kenneth has been in business, he’s received free wedding catalogs to help brides check off their list, shoes, veils and accessories to make it a one-stop shop.
“It made me feel happy that people were donating dresses and stuff,” Kenneth said.
Now he’s looking to expand his collection and help out the men.
“I’m just very proud of him. Very proud of him, amazed,” Doss-Lloyd said.
If you're interested in getting in touch with Kenneth or his mother, you can call them at 434-238-5527.