California Apparel News

Los Angeles’ Atelier & Repairs opened a Melrose Avenue-area boutique in August 2018 for a typical reason. The brand wanted to sell its unique clothes, which are restyled and repurposed from vintage clothing, fabrics that were going to be tossed by fashion brands and old clothes that people intended to throw away.

But Atelier & Repairs' chiefs Maurizio Donadi and Marisa Ma also wanted to make a statement beyond commerce. The fashion business creates a lot of waste. They wanted the world to know that consumers and brands can help cut this waste. One step they can take is to not trash old clothes. Instead of sending old clothes to landfills, Donadi and Ma recommend giving old clothes a new life and restyling them. This is Atelier & Repairs’ main business. Donadi, Ma and their staff repair and put new details on old clothes in their space in Vernon, Calif. Fashion retailers have been receptive to the message. The brand has been sold at Fred Segal, Maxfield Malibu and Blue In Green.

In the past year, Atelier & Repairs developed partnerships with clothing brands, such as Dockers, where the brand's Dockers Signature Khaki pants are restyled, Ma said. “We’re not just reworking vintage. We’re reworking brands' approach to design using their leftovers,” she said.

On Aug. 15, a one year anniversary party of the shop was produced. Atelier put on display its partnerships and a new orange paint job on the exterior of the store at 710 N. Edinburgh Ave. The party also celebrated Atelier & Repairs’ new Residency Series, which will devote shop space to other sustainable brands. Producing the first residency is the brand Just Human. The sustainable eyewear brand displayed some of their styles on Atelier & Repairs’ shop wall. Instead of using plastics, Just Human uses materials such as recycled water bottles, sand and other minerals, pineapple-leaf fibers and reforested softwood.