California Apparel News

Apparel manufacturing and consultancy firm Indie Source announced the winner of its Indie Fashion Contest, held during Sourcing at MAGIC, the industry trade show held Aug. 12–15 in Las Vegas.

“One of the biggest hindrances for a new designer is they are not vocal about what they want to do, who they’re trying to reach and they don’t get the help that they need,” Indie Source founder and Chief Executive Officer Zack Hurley said.

Contestants were asked to post a selfie to Instagram from the Indie Source booth and pitch their business ideas. The Los Angeles–based Indie Source awarded a $5,000 credit to Bobo Design Studio’sAngie Chua, whoseapparel-and-accessories brand is located in downtown San Jose, Calif.

“Angie did a really good job of clearly stating what she was up to, what she wanted to use the money for and who her customer was. It was very clear that she had a clear intention of how she wanted to use the money,” he said.

While she started creating goods in 2008, Chua only went full-time in 2017 with her collection of “wanderlust-inspired” apparel and accessories. Excited about the future of independent design in the apparel industry, she is now trying to learn how to elevate her business.

“As someone who would classify herself as a maker, I’ve been very hands-on in the creation of all of my goods,” she said. “This is the first year where I am figuring out how to scale and how to work with this industry.”

Envisioning a future with Indie Source as a partner, Chua is looking forward to the level of education she will receive.

“My whole idea of thinking about how I could work with them is really to find my Sherpa in the industry who can show me what questions I could be asking,” she said. “The resources that they provide are invaluable to people like me who are ready to scale and just can’t.”