Designer of the brand, Karen De Freitas started designing first by being a visual artist while living on the island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York City to attend Parson School of Design. While a student, she apprenticed with brands such Alice + Olivia, Zac Posen, Bibhu Mohapatra and Yigal Azrouel.

Through these internships, Karen developed an elevated taste in contemporary designs, while remaining true to her island roots. She then launched her first contemporary collection under the name Soka in Spring Summer 2015, establishing the brand aesthetic strongly rooted in marrying colours and reinvigorating silhouettes.

Soka is womenswear that embraces femininity while romanticizing contemporary designs.

Soka has so far appeared at Brooklyn Fashion Week, Bermuda Fashion Festival, the Collection MoDA Jamaica and was featured in magazines such as Guap Magazine UK, Ugly Magazine, getting the cover of Seven Tribes Magazine and Bassculture Magazine, an interview done with Essence Magazine, and has been seen in Harper's Bazaar Serbia and Vogue.com.

Soka has been named one of the top 10 Caribbean Designers and recipient of the Caribbean Style and Culture Awards for Excellence and Fashion Innovation.

Following the deaths of both her uncle and cousin to cancer, designer Karen started the fundraising initiative in 2016 and 2017 named Project Pink and Project Blue on the islands of St. Vincent and Grenada. The initiatives raise funds and awareness of breast and testicular cancer.

In 2018, Karen was selected to be her country’s sole representative at the Young Leaders of America Initiative, where she was placed with designer, Idia Dega in Pittsburgh. Since then, she has developed her business to become more holistic by becoming a social enterprise. She not only represents women of the global majority but aims, through her business, to provide and fund opportunities for women in her Caribbean community through Soka Gyal. Soka Gyal provides these opportunities to Caribbean women through education, networking and mentorship.

In the aftermath of the 2021 eruptions of La Soufrière volcano on St. Vincent, Karen started The Tallawah Collective with fellow Vincentian artists to assist in the local disaster relief efforts. Through the sale of graphic t-shirts, posters, hats and fine art prints on the Yurumein Strong virtual store, The Tallawah Collective raised funds for families greatly affected by the volcanic eruptions.