Boutique Contractors Cater to Contemporary Labels
When contemporary labels require a little help in developing patterns, sewing samples or doing small production runs, they can turn to a variety of niche contractors in Los Angeles that cater to designers’ special needs.
These boutique operations understand that not all designers can afford to produce overseas, where factories often require large minimums to take on an order.
“We are vertically integrated. We do patterns, samples, grading, marking, cutting and sewing,” said Jennifer Evans, the force behind The Evans Group, founded in late 2004. The company focuses on high-end designs and low production numbers. The group works with emerging designers who have innovative concepts to their collections.
The Evans Group started out in an artsy area east of downtown Los Angeles inside an old brick building. All production used to be done there but is now limited to development and making patterns and samples.
The bulk of the group’s production is located in Oakland, Calif., after Evans partnered in 2008 with Made in Oakland, started with a $700,000 federal grant given to The Unity Council to train dozens of unemployed women to make clothes.
The Oakland facility, now run completely by The Evans Group, has between 10 to 20 people on hand and has made clothes for labels such as Ella Moss, Splendid, Morphine Generation, Katy Rodriguez and Louisa Parris.
With 50 sewing machines in 8,000 square feet of space, Evans is branching out and doing design and quick-turn production for retail chains that have their own private labels.
“They really like it,” Evans said. “Retailers can react to the market, and the price point works for everybody because it is direct to them.” Some of the retail chains with which she has started working include National Jeans Co. and E Street Denim Co.
If knits are your thing, many labels turn to PDR Knitting Group, a small venture in the heart of the Los Angeles Fashion District that has 16 small knitting machines and two industrial-size knitting machines to manufacture anything from bulky to fine fabric. “We do full-fashion knitting,” said Evita Chu, who started the company in 2006. “We develop samples or do duplicates for salesmen and develop the tech packs and send them overseas.”
While they don’t have a cut-and-sew operation, they do work with designers to develop their own knit fabrics, which is the foundation for any great brand. The group has worked with labels that range from Rodarte to The Jason Wu Collection.
The boutique-contracting business is even attracting some tried-and-true designers who are branching out to do product development and help other designers learn the fashion ropes.
Eric Martin and his wife, Diane Moss-Martin, not only design for their contemporary label, MartinMARTIN, but opened a small design company two years ago called Studio MM7. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the studio is a product-development firm that employs the Martins’ decades of experience. They do designs, pattern development, samples, production, graphic design and brand communications.
On the denim front, Stefano Aldighieri, former creative director for 7 For All Mankind and Hudson Jeans and design director at Levi’s, started up Another Design Studio in downtown Los Angeles three years ago. He provides design services on everything from denim concepts to pre-production and marketing. The studio works with contractors to develop special washes and dyes that make denim labels stand out. They also have support services for sourcing and can help with branding.—Deborah Belgum
