Will Shoppers Return to ‘Made in USA’ Fashion? It’s Working for Haley Solar

As imports get more expensive and public opinion turns against fast fashion, there’s an opening for local dressmakers. Just ask designer Haley Solar, whose namesake store — which recently made waves for its immersive Twin Peaks experience — has become an institution in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock.

Speaking to b. from her workroom, surrounded by bolts of colorful fabric and notes on a whiteboard, Solar explained how she’s carving out space during this industry shift. She spoke with us on the realities of operating a small fashion company and why “Made in the U.S.A.” can be better for both a product’s quality and the people who make it.

b.: Did anything surprise you when you first started your business in terms of how you would be able to price sustainable handmade items?

Solar: The main thing that surprised me was how little there was an understanding of the manufacturing process. … Something that is sewn by hand may look “crafty” or cheap to a consumer that’s really used to seeing things done on a massive scale for a really small amount of money. 

I’ve been sewing my entire life. To look at a garment and see a price that is far beyond the cost of labor … to make that item means that there is a huge violation of humanity within that.

When you really break down the process of making apparel, there are a lot of ways that you can make it sustainable. You can make it sustainable by using all-natural and biodegradable fabrications. You can make it sustainable by using upcycled fabrications. You can also manufacture locally so that you’re not creating a massive carbon footprint by sending fabric … across seas and air in order to cut down on human labor. 

b.: How did you address that with your customers?

Solar: I started teaching sewing classes, and that created another stream of income. It also helped me channel my frustration with the lack of understanding around where our clothing comes from.

b.: What is a reasonable price for clothes? 

Solar: I would say a reasonable price is something between highly accessible apparel — the price point you would find at Zara or at Target, or at any fast fashion store — and a more elevated shopping experience that you would find at a … Nordstrom Contemporary brand. 

b.: How much do you focus on brick and mortar, and how much are you focused on online? 

Solar: I’m 100 percent focused on brick and mortar. Our online store helped get us through COVID, and it’s definitely a great showcase of our product. But I consider it more of a preview catalog. To me, the shopping experience should be … something that’s in-store.

I got really tired of trying to compete on social media to be the newest, biggest, best thing. I decided that … I needed to not to compete at all. I take whatever my ad budget would be and actually use it on overhead into a store. I want to create an in-store shopping experience that feels very personal. Companies like Shein and Temu can duplicate anything I can design, but they cannot duplicate my in-store experience.

That’s something I actually learned from Anthropologie when I worked there. … That store really put most of [its] marketing budget into the in-store display. … You should create an in-store shopping experience that feels very tactile and very weird and very interesting. [It should make] people want to come to just see what’s new in the display, and not just what’s new on the racks.

b.: How do you manage your stock levels in terms of how many of a piece you should make?

Solar: That’s probably the hardest thing to manage in my business — the inventory. I think anybody in retail or in wholesale will say the same thing. Everything is a guessing game.

So you need to figure out how many items are going to sell and how much you can afford to make. I’m really lucky that I had a lot of experience in buying, and I had a lot of experience working with buyers [who] were really tight with their budgets. I try to cut as little as possible, and know that sometimes you’re going to leave money on the table, but you’re not going to have waste. … The biggest mistake that anyone makes in manufacturing is overproducing.

b.: What advice would you give someone who is starting a fashion brand?

Solar: Your customer first starts with you, and that extension of you is going to be your next customer, so that’s your family and your friends. That extension to the next level is going to be your friends’ family and your friends’ friends, and it’s just going to keep growing in that way. …

Start small [but] don’t be afraid of large margins. Sometimes as creators, we feel guilty selling to someone at a certain price point. … People want to support you so that you can keep going. Don’t be afraid to make money off of selling to friends and family because that’s the only way you’re gonna have a business.

This article first appeared in the b. Newsletter. Subscribe now!