We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Rouse a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As I started my business plan for my fashion collection, House of Rouse, I knew that down the line I would also like a studio where the pieces could be made domestically and could help other emerging designers in a transparent manner. As I started the line in August 2019, the opportunity came quickly to be able to open Edgington Studio in July 2020. Factories in NYC where I had planned to begin production for my line were shut down due to COVID and my visit back home to Wheeling, West Virginia allowed time to reflect on the opportunity to revive the industry locally. Wheeling has a rich history of garment manufacturing and is also a strong geographical location for connections. I took the leap with my business partner and while the pandemic was challenging, it also really brought to light the value in domestic garment production. We began producing fashion collections for emerging designers across the country with no minimums, which is rare to find in an industry that commonly requires orders of 300 units in a run. With this work, we quickly saw the demand to offer sewing services specifically for local needs. With a few strong professional sewers left in the area, we started offering alterations between our production runs and ongoing sewing classes. I am especially passionate about our sewing classes as home economics classes are being taken out of schools and leaving younger generations without such a valuable skillset.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The first time I ever used a sewing machine was on a Girl Scout field trip as a middle schooler growing up in Wheeling, WV. I was gifted a sewing machine that year for Christmas and the rest is history. That field trip was influential in sparking my passion for sewing and fashion because without it, I never would have known it was a skill I would enjoy and could turn into a career. I am now excited to bring my experiences back home to Wheeling to build this industry locally and create opportunities for future professionals in fashion and manufacturing.

House of Rouse creates concise collections of practical and transitional contemporary womenswear, made in the USA, with a focus on prints designed in-house.

Edgington Studio is a full-service cut-and-sew apparel manufacturer, named after its location on Edgington Lane in Wheeling, West Virginia. We help emerging fashion designers across the United States with collection development and small production runs. We have no minimums and produce up to fifty units of a piece in a run, which helps new designers cut down on waste and trial/adjust pieces as they test their markets for the first time. We also make custom one-of-a-kind garments, do alterations, and teach classes for those local to Wheeling. We opened in July of 2020 after recognizing the need for American-made products at a time when international supply lines were not always reliable. Edgington Studio strives to close the gap for American manufacturing of cut-and-sew apparel with small batch production through the use of local talent sourcing and partnerships, while inspiring the next generation of garment professionals.

How’d you meet your business partner?

This is such an important question and something I try to reiterate to college students and recent graduates beginning their career in any industry. Keegan Zacharie is my Co-Founder of Edgington Studio. We had met at a game night in a student organization while attending college. He was majoring in biomedical engineering and I was studying fashion design and business. We found out we had a lot in common, especially with both of us having parents who started their own businesses. I think the key to our partnership was how we are different though and that really helped balance out the strengths and weaknesses to get a business going. So, I advise people to network outside of your bubble! Share your story with everyone and you will be impressed with how you might be able to grow together.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Yes! We manufacture the garments for House of Rouse through Edgington Studio and it has been a joy growing them both together. House of Rouse needed small-batch quantities of clothing because I wanted to focus on making smaller runs more often, rather than sitting on a bunch of inventory, especially starting out. This is a common obstacle for emerging designers and Edgington Studio has been able to fill that gap to manufacture clothing. However, getting started in such a competitive industry of manufacturing has come with a lot of lessons. When designers need small quantities of clothing, the system has a ripple effect to then need to find vendors who would provide small quantities of fabric and notions. It has taken time to connect with the right partners, but through trade shows and word-of-mouth, we have been able to grow our ecosystem to then pass on to our clients. Additionally, it has been a big obstacle being able to meet client demand having such a small team. Since sewing is not taught in schools very much now, we have been teaching a workforce from scratch through internships, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.houseofrouse.co
• Instagram: house.of.rouse
• Facebook: houseofrousellc
• Other: www.edgingtonstudio.com Facebook and Instagram: edgingtonstudio

Image Credits
Portrait Photographer – Dillon Richardson/Wheeling Heritage Runway Photographer – Hreha Photography Runway Models for Pittsburgh Fashion Week – Natalea Hillen, Allie Heyward, Bryanna Dickerson, Aliya Anthes, Kaye Tchoula