NEWS

Inside the Industry

Sew Sew You, a Los Angeles–based on-demand apparel manufacturer, recently collaborated with health and fitness influencer Megan Ewoldsen to create the ME Threads Spring/Summer ’22 collection. Sew Sew You has a mission to steer the fashion industry away from fast-fashion practices that are damaging to the environment and exclusively collaborates with fitness and lifestyle influencers who share the goal of educating consumers on slow fashion and creating sustainably made collections using excess fabrics and recycled materials. To that end, the company partners with influencers who support social causes in the countries that support Sew Sew You’s production facilities, with influencers donating 2 percent of all revenues to the Tuloy Foundation.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach entered contract negotiations in early May for dockworkers. The talks are between the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents employers at 29 West Coast ports, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents over 15,000 dockworkers. The talks began in San Francisco and are expected to extend past July 1, the date the dockworkers’ collective bargaining agreement is set to expire. Shippers are concerned that a breakdown in the talks could lead to further shipping delays. When the two groups negotiated in 2002, a lockout occurred for 10 days. This year’s negotiations were suspended on May 26 and picked up again on June 1. Port automation continues to be a contentious topic, with three terminals located at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach using some level of automation.

Santa Monica Place is partnering with Streetlet, an online platform dedicated to making it easier to shop small businesses, to bring a Made with PRIDE Marketplace to the Santa Monica, Calif., retail center each Friday, Saturday and Sunday in June. The center is part of the annual Santa Monica PRIDE, a monthlong celebration that displays Santa Monica’s inclusive and diverse spirit. Over 15 LGBTQIA+ business owners will take part in the marketplace and feature local goods and services all made and curated in Southern California. Throughout the month, the marketplace will also feature art installations by Amanda Wallace as well as workshops and other events. In addition, visitors can enjoy an overhead colored installation called Lanterns of Love.

ISKO, ISKO Luxury by PG, Eurotay, Officina39 and Wiser Wash took part in the recent Denim Prèmiere Vison show in Berlin, exhibiting their latest developments. ISKO presented at two booths, one for ISKO and one for ISKO Luxury by PG, a collaboration with denim designer Paolo Gnutti. Eurotay showcased the innovations and technologies used by the company that resulted in more–environmentally friendly production in the Fall/Winter 23/24 collection. Officina39 displayed its latest technological addition to its Trustainable collection, its Ozone Booster SMART 03, which assures more final bluish indigo shades than other boosters on the market. Wiser Wash introduced the Wiser Ozone X-perience, or WOX, which consists of an ozone drum and generator that combines hardware technology and software algorithms on the cloud to revolutionize the denim-finishing process.