We made these!
Back in 2012, I bought a serger (a really fun kind of sewing machine) for $100 on ebay and started sewing clothes in my parents basement. After about 4ish years of that, I couldn't keep up, so I grew a team and started working with contracted factories to make our clothes.
And that has been a wild, often hellish ride.
Over the last 7 years Youer has worked with nearly 20 U.S. based factories so you can imagine the speed at which we've been moving our production around. We've outgrown, been kicked out, had factories close down, and generally lost hundreds of thousands of dollars from sloppy factory partners. They haven't all been bad (shoutout to the Matheson's and Yoganastix for being kind, honest and supportive partners and cheering us on to this day) but in 2020 I finally came to the conclusion that NO ONE else was going to care about our quality as much as us. So, we would have to do it ourselves.
In 2021 we ran our CSA - community supported apparel - as a crowdfunding campaign to raise $100k in 30 days to help power our in-house production efforts. HUNDREDS of you contributed to the effort and were committed to seeing us own our supply chain and catch a break. It was amazing.
After trying unsuccessfully to buy a building, we ended up in a rented warehouse space in October that's been a fantastic place for us to grow. We still feel like we're 'settling in', but 2 weeks ago we built out The Youniverse - our in-house production center.
Where the magic is happening. In the summer, we'll be opening that garage bay and basically sewing outside.
A decade has gone by since I bought that $100 sewing machine. And this month I bought $10,000 worth of sewing machines. Sarah put them all together and got them ready to sew, and Vicky has been behind the machines pumping out croptops as we try to accomplish an ambitious production goal - 30% of our spring/summer line made here which is nearly 2000 pieces of clothing. Olivia has been preparing the inspection station for pieces that are coming off the line - we now have a mega iron and steamer situation, so if you're in the area with a wrinkly suit before a meeting, we got you.
Sarah putting together our machines and in true millennial form, making strong use of Youtube University.
This is our most exciting new machine - a cylinder arm coverstitch. It's for hemming the bottom of shirts and cuffs.
Here's Vicky zooming through perimeters of croptops (we've broken everything out into components).
But here's the MAGICAL part.
This spring we're making our stuff at 3 factories - our Youniverse + 2 in California. And guess which factory is pumping out production first?!
THE YOUNIVERSE!!!
A small group of gals who are just figuring it out as we go have managed to push a few hundred beautifully made pieces off our production line in the last couple of weeks. While we certainly have a long way to go, we're feeling validated in this decision to do some stuff ourselves. And we've even got 2 collaborations on the machines right now - a cyanotype-print croptop with KSX, and hats for Boot Tan Fest with naked skier chicks on them!
The Youniverse is made up of thousands of brightly shining stars that are outta this world - ALL OF YOU! Truly, we wouldn't be able to do this without the endless support of our community cheering us on, buying our stuff and sharing our story.
Nearly every day this month I've been pinching myself thinking about just how much has changed since I bought that ebay machine. Because this month I've also been sitting behind our new sewing machines a lot to get this off the ground.
Nearly every day this month I've been pinching myself thinking about just how much has changed since I bought that ebay machine. Because this month I've also been sitting behind our new sewing machines a lot to get this off the ground.
And here's a secret. I actually don't like sewing! I never have!
What I love is getting a beautiful finished product with a great story into your hands. So I've been coming back to this truth all month long. We didn't build in-house production because we love sewing - we built it because it gives us the best ability to get a beautiful finished product with a great story into your hands.
This is Community Supported Apparel at its finest and it's just getting started.
Mallory Ottariano
founder, Chief Everything (now sewing too!) Officer
Youer