Railcar: Sewing Geek's Fantasy
Steven Dang, right, with Tawny Ortiz, his girlfriend and sales chief of Railcar.
Steven Dang proves the power of individual can make an impact in the fashion world.
With no formal training or industry connections, he designed and later sold premium denim line Railcar Fine Goods to high profile boutiques such as American Rag and Azalea in San Francisco. Making his story more unique, his entrepreneurial path was paved by an idiosyncratic geekdom.
His day job continues to be working as a mechanic on the Gold Line light rail which runs through Los Angeles and Pasadena. For fun, he salvaged early 20th century sewing machines from junkyards and later refurbished them. Not satisfied with his growing collection of machines,he taught himself how to make jeans, and later debuted premium denim line Railcar in 2010.
Dang vowed to keep his handcrafted denim line small for the near future. But he earned enough to fund Railcar’s growth.In early August he moved Railcar operations from a cramped, 800-square foot studio to a 1,200-square-foot space in Arcadia, which is Dang’s hometown. The studio is located only a couple of miles away from the Santa Anita Racetrack. Perhaps the best part all of that new space, Dang finally has a place to put all of the vintage sewing machines that he refurbished.
Take a look at a few of these beauties...
Union Special Single Needle Chainstitch machine.
Juki sewing machine
Reece keyhole machine
