Incubaker’s Holstee team in LA

Written by: Dave Radparvar on March 10th, 2009

Last week Mike and I flew out to Cali making stops in LA’s fashion district and some inspiring locations along the way! Here is a quick recap:

[Repost from HOLSTEE blog]

Pocket Fabrics!
Mike and I went to just about every fabric shop checking out their latest styles. Keeping in mind some of the tips Andy and I had discussed earlier, we tried to identify some new styles to bring Holstee into the next season. We’ve organized a bunch of great pocket fabrics and would like you to pick which ones we go to production with in the next round ! We will be releasing the new pocket styles on facebook first, so make we’re connected!

Good Magazine
Working at GOODGood Magazine is one of our current favorite publications. It is a great source for all things ‘good’ – with bit size articles and visuals that make the thought provoking information digestible and enjoyable to read. In any case, Mike noticed they had an open-ended invitation to visit their HQ in LA. So we planned to take care of some morning emails there. Despite the fact that we popped in unannounced, we were greeted with great hospitality from the super friendly staff. We got the chance to speak with Amrit, who shared our passion for new ideas and gave us some great tips for places to go in LA!

Toms Shoes
toms_logoI have long been a fan of Toms Shoes. Much of our inspiration came from companies like them. With the power of positive energy pumping through our circulation, we decided to head to Santa Monica and visit the Toms Shoes headquarter. We didn’t really know what to expect but we had a feeling ‘good’ things would happen once there… and well…they did! We spoke with Allison, one of the company’s first employees, as she took us through the inspiring story of Toms growth. I had read the story before, but hearing it first hand in the Toms headquarters surrounded by people designing upcoming shoe styles, preparing for a photoshoot and managing their shoe inventory all at the same time the story had new meaning. We left with new appreciation for Toms, and the strategy required for creating a company that is able to scale in order to truly create a sustainable impact.

Avita Coop
On a roll we decided to stoop into one of LA’s hippest eco-boutiques to find out what new products were on pulse. We spoke with Janelle, the owner. Janelle has leading insight into some of the cutting edge products and fashions in the eco-world and we were glad to tap into some of her thoughts. We look forward to working with Avita coop with our next round of shirts!

Multeepurpose
While at Good Magazine, I noticed a small postcard that caught my attention. It said “effortless activism” the phrase instantly resonated with me and I quickly looked up the link for Multeepurpose online. Mike and I agreed: we we’re not sure how we may be able to collaborate, but that we needed to get connected with these people. Navigating through LA’s rush hour Mike and I made our way to the Multeepurpose where we learned about some of the neat projects Ruriko and her team were working on. We both instantly realized shared interests, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some collaborations soon!

Overall it was one great field trip in LA. Oh, did I mention we did all that in one day?! When your work is your passion superhero like productivity seems to come natural ;-)