Between Muddy Paw Cafe and the Capri Club on Eagle Rock Boulevard, clothing boutique Haley Solar offers locally-made women’s clothing, sewing classes and fashion design workshops. Haley Solar, who founded the boutique, said its emphasis on eco-friendly, upcycled clothing grew naturally from her decades-long career in the garment industry.
“We’re so disconnected in our society on how clothing is made,” Solar said. “Since I first started working in factories in Downtown LA [when] I was 18 years old, I’ve seen so much of that industry collapse around me.”
Solar said she started sewing when she was 5 years old and since then has used her skills to help her community in innovative ways.
“I went from selling costumes in high school around Halloween time and hemming my friends’ pants for money to designing a handbag line,” Solar said.
Solar said that when she started her eponymous brand out of her apartment, one of the primary ways that her pieces gained traction was through Instagram, which, according to Solar, was starting up around that time.
“I had some really nice success pretty quickly,” Solar said. “There were a lot of bloggers buying my product and stores wanting to carry it, because this person bought it from this store and they posted about it.”
Solar said she wanted to connect more with customers after the initial buzz the brand received on social media died down. Solar said that after moving the business out of her apartment, she worked nights as a waitress to afford the rent on the space.
“I opened my store and closed it, changed my outfit in the bathroom and went to work,” Solar said. “I got my expenses down to $500 a month just so I could do it, and I lived like that for about two years.”
According to Solar, the boutique sewing classes she began hosting at her Eagle Rock location eight years ago, when she was hand-making dresses for around $125, were started partly to educate customers about the labor involved in making clothes.
“I’d occasionally have customers come in and say, ‘Why is this so expensive?’ and I’d get really frustrated,” Solar said. “Instead of getting despondent, I decided that if I offered these classes, I could really make a change in the world by showing people just what goes into making their clothes so that when they’re buying them, they can have a little more respect for the maker.”
Scarlett Miranda, who is Solar’s design assistant, said she teaches the beginning sewing class as well as a pattern-making class.
“I teach people how to use a sewing machine for the first time, and we make a tote bag,” Miranda said.
According to Miranda, the rise of fast fashion has led to customers often forgetting where clothes come from and how they’re made.
“Especially with sewing, it can be really challenging,” Miranda said. “People were like, ‘Hey I’m interested, I love clothes but I don’t really know how they’re made,’ so we teach them about the machines, cutting and fabrics. I think it gives people a better understanding of why a shirt might be priced a certain way.”
According to Solar, customers should be willing to spend more on their clothing.
“The race to create a cheaper item is not good for us,” Solar said. “When you spend a little bit more on a piece that you value, you’re going to hold onto it, you’re going to wear it and you’re going to use it.”
After moving to the current location in Eagle Rock in 2016, Solar said the business started to grow enough that she was able to start bringing in other brands. According to Solar, one of the most important parts of her job is finding and building relationships with other brands that share similar values.
“Our number one line, other than my own brand, is a brand called No Less Than,” Solar said. “They are two sisters who run the factory in Downtown LA, their parents run the production and they really care about the same locally-sourced, locally-made upcycled production that I do.”
Solar said she is particularly proud of the store’s display and the amount of effort that goes into its curation.
“Every year twice a year, we completely switch over the display,” Solar said. “We paint walls, we move furniture, we create massive art installations and we have a theme every season.”
According to Sara Beard, the brand’s visual director, creating the display is a very involved process.
“We start with inspiration boards that we fill with photos of a theme that we like for the season, and then we look at what’s realistic for our space,” Beard said.
According to Beard, the store’s current theme is based on the movie and TV show “Twin Peaks.”
“If you go around the store, there’s very deep references of characters and story lines,” Beard said. “Each little area of the store is a different part of the show.”
College students and newer customers need not be afraid of boutiques, Solar said, though she said she understands why they might be.
“There might be a little misconception that a boutique is a snobby place, or a place where you’re not welcome, or a place where you might be priced out of,” Solar said. “Completely ignore all that.”
According to Beard, even in the era of online shopping, brick-and-mortar boutiques have immense value.
“We want to have a very human experience, and that you feel comfortable and welcome,” Beard said. “You can try things on and touch them and make a mess.”
Contact Avinash Iyer at iyera@oxy.edu
