On April 24th each year, Fashion Revolution, a UK based non profit, and global movement, aims to raise awareness of the true cost of fashion. This marks the anniversary of the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse, that killed more than 1,000 factory workers in Bangladesh, in 2013. The hope is for greater transparency, sustainability and ethics. Here's a bit about Fashion Revolution...
Our Mission:We believe in fashion- anindustry which values people, the environment,creativity and profits inequal measure, and it's everyone's responsibilityto ensure that thishappens(via fashionrevolution.com)
At Electric West, we stand with Fashion Revolution and fellow brands that choose ethical, sweatshop free, safe production, where workers earn a fair, living wage . We are excited to be a part of this revolution and share our production story with you!
Electric West, owned by Kelly Mancini, is a small, woman run business, based in San Diego, California. We work with a 13,000 sq foot factory in Vernon (Los Angeles), CA, that houses 10 employees, and produces every one of our t-shirts. Each tee is cut and sewn in our Vernon factory, then sent to our dye house, less than a mile away. Here it's dyed and pre- washed, before it's sent out for print. We work with 2 screen print facilities, in Los Angeles, where our tees are printed and pressed in small batches. Each shirt has a final quality inspection (in house), before it's shipped to you, from our headquarters in, San Diego.
We pride ourselves on providing vintage inspired, timeless tees, that will live in your closet for years, not just a season. It's our resistance against the world of fast fashion. By purchasing from Electric West, you are supporting a small, US company, and the ethical fashion movement.
Cut and sew in our Vernon factory
Cruz, sewing shirts in our Vernon factory
Our production assistant Jenet, at the Vernon factory
Where are your clothes made? All in Southern California...
Los Angeles production
I have had the great privilege to meet and work personally with Australian photographer David Collier. He recently planned, an epic shoot for Electric West, with 3 hot babes on a sunny Australian, Summer day. The shoot is fun and carefree, and tells a story of friendship, with a nostalgic vintage feel.
“Australia has had a very hot summer with temperatures on many days over 35 degrees (100F). Our story is about 3 best friends who live far from the beach so decide to have an Aussie backyard party and cool off in their tiny blow up pool. A trip to the local store to pick up few snacks and drinks and head back to have a few laughs and have some fun in the little pool and as Aussies do, have a bit of fun cooling off with the garden hose as well.” David Collier
Photos are a mix of digital, 35mm, and polaroid film
Hey guys and gals, Kelly here from Electric West. I'm the owner and CEO boss bitch around here. Today I'm taking you all on a journey, all the way up the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada's, to a magical place called Yosemite National Park. Yosemite, for the average Joe is best known for it's massive granite cliffs, breathtaking waterfalls, old sequoia groves, and well, a pretty crowded valley, for those who have bared witness. My personal peek into Yosemite was a bit different. Of course, I have done the family road trip to the Yosemite Valley and oohed and ahhhed at El Capitan from the highway overlook and trekked a mere 100 yards to the kid friendly waterfalls. However, last year I revisited Yosemite to explore some of the untouched wilderness on a four day backpacking trip. From Glen Aulin's backpackers camp up to the incredible Cathedral Lakes, we encountered a number of Deer and other wildlife. Luckily we did not have any bear encounters, which is getting unfortunately more common throughout the park. This amazing trip was the inspiration behind our Take me to Yosemite tee.
A few photos from my trip along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and John Muir Trail (JMT) in Yosemite wilderness!
