California Apparel News

Star Fades International celebrated its second anniversary with a pop-up vintage market in December at its facility in Commerce, Calif. The event featured a small coterie of vintage sellers, including Denim Doctors, Wilder Los Angeles and Ome. Guests, including representatives from L’Agence, EB Denim, Swat Fame, Imogene + Willie, Daily Blue and Denim Dudes, shopped the market.

Now entering its third year in operation since the laundry was acquired in late 2020, SFI is realizing its goal of building a design, sourcing and innovation center in Los Angeles. “Our development center is seamlessly linked to our manufacturing partners, both in L.A. and overseas,” said VP of Full Package Operations Alaina Miller. “The company is a central resource for denim brands’ and retailers’ design, innovation and production needs. In addition to being a working laundry, SFI is also a full-package producer as well as a nearshoring hub and design center.”

The L.A. facility allows customers to experiment with the latest washes and finishes and tailor their sourcing calendars according to their turn-time needs. “We’ve done a few projects that really illustrate what we can do at SFI,” said Miller. “We worked with sustainability influencer Ani Wells of Simply Suzette to re-create a classic vintage jean she purchased at the Rose Bowl Flea Market that uses sustainable materials and finishing. We were able to duplicate a classic stonewash with less water and no pumice stones or PP with a combination of our waterless Clear Vintage process and laser finishing.”

Expect to hear more about SFI in 2023 as it seeks to expand its nearshoring offerings. “Many of our customers have been asking for fast-turn production options in this hemisphere, and we’ve answered their call,” said Miller. “We want to be able to offer customers a range of flexible sourcing solutions to fit their needs.”