California Apparel News

Upon meeting in 2014, Jordan Cheesman and Micah Tootoo discovered they shared mutual interests regarding sports and fashion. During his career, Cheesman gained fashion experience in styling and retail sales, while Tootoo studied biomedical textiles at North Carolina State University. Though Cheesman hails from Seattle and Tootoo is originally from North Carolina, the men appreciate the work and legacy of the creative professionals who support the artistry and high-quality garment craftwork in Los Angeles.

“We both moved here for new opportunities. I wanted to pursue fashion and Micah was already somewhat in the fashion space as a model for numerous brands,” Cheesman explained. “We came together and connected all of our passions—people, sports and design.”

This year, the friends, and now business partners, launched Open Legacy, a men’s athletic-and-lifestyle brand of premium apparel. Their designs are reflective of their own style, often comprising minimalistic garments in white, a navy hue and black. Created with ease in mind, the pieces are designed to be complementary to each other. Originally scheduled to ship by February, Open Legacy surpassed 100 percent of its funding goal and wrapped its Kickstarter campaign on Nov. 14. Following this response, Cheesman now feels the brand is ahead of schedule.

“We’re hustling every single day to get it out as soon as possible. We wanted to hit a niche market, solely focusing on men’s, and also the concept of being made in L.A. was huge for us,” Cheesman explained. “We wanted to avoid the route of getting a generic template of a short and stamping our name on it. Every piece that we’ve done in our collection is all cut and sewn here in L.A. We like to tailor our garments.”

Cultivating a brand in Los Angeles through deep roots in the city’s apparel-manufacturing industry was integral to the mission of Cheesman and Tootoo. In a city that was built around Hollywood glamour and celebrity, the co-CEOs enjoy promoting a mindset that each person has a legacy of his or her own to cultivate and leave behind.

“L.A. was important for us because it gave us an opportunity to go right into our backyard and start working hand in hand with these local artisans with whom we’ve built impactful relationships,” Cheesman explained. “We started this brand working with local mom-and-pop shops in the heart of downtown L.A. Seeing that we could give back to our community in that sense of keeping manufacturing and jobs here in the city that gave us this opportunity is pretty amazing.”

Offered in sizes XS–XXL, Open Legacy will be available in five pieces: a short-sleeved and long-sleeved T-shirt named the Harbor Top, the 7-inch Mercer Short, the Hayden Compression Short and the Hayden 3/4 Compression, a longer bottom that offers greater coverage. The T-shirts comprise a 92 percent polyester/8 percent spandex blend that promotes breathability. A reflective, moisture-wicking 88 percent polyester/12 percent spandex fabric in the Mercer Short affords a four-way stretch, and a 1-inch side slit promotes greater ease of movement.

“We want to become more technical and more advanced with each collection,” Cheesman said.

The Hayden Compression pieces comprise an 82 percent polyester/18 percent spandex material with four-way stretch to provide the support athletes want without feeling restricted during practice or workouts. These are also Cheesman’s favorites.

“The compression tights are my favorite piece regarding the fabric. We focused not only on the functionality, but also the comfort is amazing,” he said. “We’ve tested our products with hard-core training. I just ran the Malibu Half Marathon & 5K in our gear because I wanted to put it to the test. It held up phenomenally.”

Though Cheesman and Tootoo are athletic, with the former most interested in running and the latter concentrating on basketball, they aren’t professional athletes. But they did want to ensure Open Legacy was suitable to withstand the challenges of athletes whose careers depend on their chosen sports. From weightlifting and basketball to track and soccer, friends of the brand’s founders tested pieces.

“We designed them for hard-core training without focusing on one single sport,” Cheesman said. “We’ve had athletes in different sports wear our stuff and try it out and they have loved it.”

This dedicated approach to ensuring quality is the same commitment that the duo apply to every aspect of the brand. Cheesman recognizes that the athletic space is extremely competitive in nature, but by including the Los Angeles–made story in Open Legacy he feels this detail will set the brand apart.

“We did everything we could to get our hands dirty. We went around downtown L.A. knocking on doors to find a way in with patternmakers and sewers. We want people to understand the passion we have behind this brand and what we are bringing to the market in the menswear athletic space,” he explained. “We’re not trying to just sell product. We want to build a brand and the story behind it of keeping everything here in our city.”

Anticipating an early arrival of the pieces after manufacturing, Cheesman estimates that Open Legacy could be available to the public by mid-January or early February on openlegacy.co. Retail price points start at $48 for the short-sleeved Harbor Top and Hayden Compression Short, while the long-sleeve Harbor Top sells for $54, the Mercer Short is listed at $68, and the Hayden 3/4 Compression tights are priced at $62.

The brand is focused on a direct-to-consumer model at the moment, but the founders are hoping to grow, first by engaging in pop-up events and eventually partnering with retailers. For now, Cheesman wants to create pieces that are comfortable enough for downtime but perform at a level that will withstand the most grueling training.