Visiting the Los Angeles Brand Assembly Show
Nothing beats discovering & building new relationships with the most explosive brands in fashion, home, & beauty. Read more about Alonya's exciting visit to the Brand Assembly show in LA last week below:
Alonya Van Rooyen, Recruiting Account Director for Fashion at Emerging Blue.
“Last week I visited the Brand assembly Tradeshow in DTLA, which was such a cool, creative and collaborative space. It was so great to get out there again and see people excited, touch and feel products, and mingle with talented folks. Overall the theme ringing through this show was MADE IN THE USA (mostly Cali) as well as sustainable and ethical practices. So excited to see that the brands of tomorrow are designing thoughtfully. It’s definitely possible to make beautiful products and still love our planet. I had the pleasure of networking with some really great brands.
These are some of my favorites and why:
Emerging Blue’s goal is to deliver great talent to great brands and I sure hope I get to work with some of these in the future. Exciting things are on the horizon in the world of Fashion, Home and Beauty.
Thatch Jewellery –Designed and made in California.
This is a woman-owned company and I had the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth their new social media and digital strategy manager. She walked me through their collection of hand-crafted gold and silver pieces, stylish, elegant, and playful. Their constellation and element pendants are gorgeous and delicate and the script necklace is on my bucket list, just picking which one I want first! It’s so hard to choose!!
These ladies know what they are doing, follow them on Instagram @thatch.jewelry where they post how they make these beauties and how to style them.
Marine Layer – Bay Area Brand
Marine layer is an old love of mine and a brand that we are lucky enough to work with. It was so great to see the new collection in all its glory. If you don’t already own a Marine Layer tee you don’t know what you are missing. My favorite is the hemp blend boyfriend tee which I have in every color! What I love about Marine layer is their commitment to sustainable practices. Their Respun fabric is cutting-edge and includes their customers in their walk to a more sustainable world. You give them your old tee’s and they turn them into new, even better, even softer ones. It’s genius. We love working with Marine Layer and look forward to continuing the partnership.
Perfect white Tee – designed and made in LA
I am a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl, a pair of 501®’s and a white tee, yes please! Now don’t get me wrong it can't be any old plain tee, it has to be a thoughtfully designed tee in a beautiful fabric, not always easy to find! However, I have found the answer to my endless search for the perfect tee. I need one in every color from this brand. Funny enough, when I told my husband I met them, he said he has been buying their men’s tee’s for a while now and loves them!
They garment dye their colors, which makes them that much more special. They really only get better with each wash and wear, becoming so personal to the owner. They also have a great recycled cotton collection.
I had the pleasure of meeting one of the co-owners, Jen, and a couple other members of the team; Sammie and Layson. I really hope I get to collaborate with these guys one day soon. Definitely a brand to watch.
Cleobella – designed in California
Cleobella is another brand on a growth trajectory and it was so lovely to meet Devon, their VP at the show. Her passion for the brand and its products was present throughout the conversation. At Cleobella, sustainability and ethical practices are at the core of their brand. They are deeply rooted in their partnerships with independent artisans around the world. Their products are hand made while preserving traditional heritage techniques. I’m a textile junky, I actually majored in textile design and technology, so their block printed garments have a special place in my heart. I know the time and the process this takes to make. Each block is hand placed into the repeat position, giving it a slightly off-register print which makes it that much more special than the mass-produced prints, it’s perfectly imperfect. This is a labor of love. These traditional techniques are often forgotten and it’s so great to see a brand that is bringing this back, giving back to communities, and keeping it fresh and stylish. Another one to watch! They are on the move.
The standard stitch
Hello, sustainable loungewear! If one thing ran through the show it was "made local" and "sustainability" and these folks had both. Beautiful, soft loungewear made out of sustainable fabrications and produced in LA. Even their business card was embedded with wildflowers and could be planted to give you a bunch of flowers! What makes this special is that it’s not only the fabric they use but that they literally have thought of the entire process of creating a garment and every step in between. Making sure they shift the norm and do things better, cleaner, more thoughtfully. This means the materials they use, the water and toxins in the washing process, the packaging and even the manufacturing are all done in best ways possible to have as little impact on our earth as possible. These people are shaking the industry up. I can wait to get a few pairs of their joggers!
Do yourself a favor and give these brands a visit.