We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Devan Gregori. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Devan below.

Devan , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Finding those key vendors can often be make or break for a brand. Can you talk to us about how you found your key vendors?

I was very fortunate to have a mentor that set me up with the right contacts from the very beginning. I met Yoshi Kondo back in design school, when I interned for him in Paris. When I was ready to start my own line, he offered to connect me with his contacts. I actually went on a trip with him to Dalian, China, where I helped him work on new styles while I learned how the production process worked. I had the rare opportunity to meet and make lasting contacts with people there, and ask all the hard questions in a safe and open space.

I saw small workshops, large factories, knitting, screen-printing, embroidery….I learned the order of operations, scale, the finances, timing. I worked alongside women who were some of the most talented seamstresses I’ve ever seen. We would all go to long lunches together and we were always the last to leave after a long day of work.

They felt like family. I could trust them. I enjoyed their company. And I ultimately decided to work with them and I continue to to this day!

I haven’t been able to make a trip in some time since COVID, but I plan to very soon.

Devan , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I design womenswear for modern women who lead active, diverse lifestyles and need clothing that is both functional and fashionable. This label exists to empower women with versatile and flattering designs that allow them to feel confident and comfortable no matter where their day takes them. Our pieces are made for the independent woman who wants to make a statement without sacrificing comfort, and our commitment and our commitment to inclusivity means that everyone can feel represented and celebrated. My ultimate goal is that by wearing this brand, you can be your best self, no matter what the day brings.

I grew up in San Francisco and studied French at UC Berkeley, which ultimately led me to move to France in 2010. I have always been creative growing up. I painted, sketched, muraled, quilted…anything that I could get my hands on where I could express myself artistically. While I was in France, I ended up going back to school for design and received a second degree in Fashion Design. I worked in Paris and then in Mexico City, gaining an incredible amount of experience but also a huge amount of creative inspiration.

I started my line in 2019, survived COVID and I’m proud to say I just opened up my first brick and mortar in December 2022! This journey has been completely self-funded, and it’s incredible to look back and see what I’ve accomplished without needed to bring in investors.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Honestly, it’s been word of mouth, pop-up events and foot traffic at the store location. As a small and relatively new brand, it’s insanely expensive to advertise online and customers aren’t familiar with my size chart or how pieces will fit on their bodies. It’s a gamble, and I get it.

The story of the designs, the textiles I use, the people who make them…these are all stories I love to share in person. I love it when people get to try my pieces on and feel the fabric against their skin. As soon as someone tries something on, they understand why the piece is so special.

Word of mouth is also very powerful. A woman ordered a pair of Printed Sasha pants this past week. She’s from London, and she recently was in New York where she saw a woman on the street wearing them. She stopped the woman and asked her where she got the pants, and then ordered them the next day.

It’s stories like that which fuel me. It’s the best feeling in the world when not only did someone get stopped in the street wearing my clothes, but then someone actually then went and bought the same thing online the next day.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I have worked in the tech industry for about a decade, and my clothing brand was a side hustle for the past 3.5 years. I’ve worked hard to make sure my company remains mine, and I’ve worked incredibly hard to build a nest egg for this company while working in the tech industry. For years I worked as product lead for both start-ups and mature companies before I became a consultant. Remote work gave me the flexibility I needed to manage the clothing line. I would travel for pop-up events and markets. I was designing, marketing, fulfilling, travelling, managing the admin, the production….it was A LOT. And as the company grew, it became harder to juggle both types of work. I was burning the candle at both ends, and I could feel it.

When I opened up my brick and mortar location, I finally decided to leave the tech world and focus solely on building my brand. It was a pivotal moment that I will never forget. I realized that if I kept doing what I was doing (burning the candle at both ends), I wasn’t going to be doing any of it to the quality level that I expect of myself. This store was my biggest milestone, and I didn’t want to do it the injustice of not dedicating myself 100% to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.devangregori.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shopdevangregori
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/shopdevangregori