Fabric & Inspiration Sourcing in LA

At this point, I had not found a new manufacturer to partner up with yet that better aligned with my goals and values, though I recall being absolutely hungry for knowledge and to learn more and more about the production and design side of the fashion industry now that I had decided to design everything for Atèlette myself. I had three dresses waiting to be released (the Florenzia, Appalonia, & the Sandrine) my first three attempts at designing things on my known with my limited self-taught knowledge and in custom 18th century reproduction prints, which took SO LONG to get right. All three were quite expensive to have made because, as expected from someone without formal training, I made quite a lot of mistakes. Though the way I see it, make the mistake, learn from it, and move on.

Photo of me at our Altadena airbnb (which I chose because I loved their garden) about to leave to attend the fabric shows.

I attended my first ever textile sourcing shows in Los Angeles. What a thrill! I learned so much and also felt really overwhelmed realizing how little I actually knew. It was both so exciting to glean so much new information, but it was information overload and at the end of each day, I felt like I was buzzing with so many ideas and so many segways into all the different things I realized I could make! While I was walking around one of the shows, my friend Whitney (she owns the clothing line and boutique Myrtle in LA) casually introduced me to another slow fashion designer who I could tell immediately could not care less about meeting me. I'm pretty good at reading people's energy and this person's vibe was very "Why are you even introducing me to this person? I am very busy and very important." Yuck. This person's brand is kind of big though. I recognized the brand, I've seen their promoted ads on my social feeds. I was actually a little surprised to see this person at this small dinky textile show I was at. 

I went to two fabric shows and asked so many questions and got so many answers, most of which made me kind of "Eeeeehhh" because wow, I realized more and more I may be in over my head. Still, the excitement and hope I had outweighed my anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. I picked up business cards, took hundreds of photos, got sample cards, shook hands, I felt pretty legit! Well, mostly faking it, most of the time I felt like "I can't believe I'm here doing this! No one even asked to see proof I'm capable of anything!" The imposter syndrome voice was constantly in the back of my mind, but I am also someone that if I am excited and inspired enough, I'll completely ignore that voice.

At The Way We Wore, a vintage shop a block away from my old apartment in the Miracle Mile in LA. Recognize the top that eventually inspired the Adelia?

After the shows, we spent a couple days visiting some of my old favorite vintage shops in LA. I almost always turn to vintage and antique clothing for inspiration from silhouettes to prints, fabrics, and motifs--so naturally, shopping and browsing at vintage shops was a must during this trip. I ended up purchasing a couple things that will eventually make their way into Atèlette in some form or other.

Little did I know that in a couple weeks' time I would meet my new manufacturing partner who would help me source deadstock fabric and trims to use for Atèlette and help grow my brand in the direction I wanted to take it in, small batch, slow, and intentional.

*Note: This post is backdated to July 2023 but was written in February 2025