Suay Sew Shop is a sustainable clothing and accessory manufacturing company based in

Frogtown, Los Angeles __NOTOC__ Elysian Valley, commonly known as Frogtown, is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California, adjoining the Los Angeles River. It has two parks, both maintained by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). The Frog ...

. Through

upcycling Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...

of textiles, Suay reclaims used garments and uses them to create new items.

Activity

Suay Sew Shop was founded in late 2017 by Lindsay Rose Medoff (now the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

) along with Tina Dosewell. The two met in 2004 through the local sewing community. After working in the field of recycled and reworked clothing for over a decade, during which she also spent time as an

organic farmer Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

, Medoff opened Suay for the initial purpose of manufacturing

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

's "ReCrafted" line of apparel made from recycled Patagonia gear. The shop subsequently entered several other partnerships with corporations. The name ''Suay'' means "beautiful" in Dosewell's native Thai language. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

shifted the focus of Suay's activity. Setting corporate partnerships aside, the organization instead developed a high-filtration

face mask The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human Personal identity, identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental d ...

made from shop towels, a design that was endorsed by

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

. By January 2021, the shop had donated over 220,000 of the masks to individuals in high-risk environments as well as schools, hospitals, and organizations including Refugee Health Alliance, Seeding Sovereignty, and Watts Community Core. Suay additionally began a food distribution program for garment workers and a textile upcycling program at the local level. As of September 2022, Suay was planning a partnership with the

National Day Laborer Organizing Network The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is an American organization whose mission aims at improving the lives of day laborers. This organization was founded in Northridge, California, in July 2001, and is based in Los Angeles, Califor ...

Food distribution

Through a program dubbed "Know Your Grower, Know Your Sewer", Suay has provided garment workers in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area who had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with fresh

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

for themselves and their families. The program, a partnership with Frecker Farms and the Garment Worker Center, functions as a

one for one One for one (also known as "buy-one give-one") is a social entrepreneurship business model reputedly developed by Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes, in which one needed item is given away for each item purchased. History The One for One business model ...

process in which customers can donate a produce box by buying one for themselves, or can choose to only donate.

Textile upcycling and repair

Suay collects donations of old clothing and other fabric items from the local community. Repairable items are fixed and given away for free, while other pieces are upcycled into new items to be sold at an onsite retail store. Products include pants and shorts, beanies, and sweatshirts among other items. , the shop was taking in thousands of pounds of textiles per week for repair or upcycling. , Suay had diverted of clothing from landfills. The shop additionally offers clothing repair services, fixing customers' damaged items with a turnaround time of three to seven days. Costs for repair range from $10 to $40, with proceeds going to a fund for LA garment workers.

Tailoring A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

, clothing customization, and

quilting Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. A ...

are also offered, and a dye bath open to the community for $12 to $16 per pound allows customers to re-dye their textiles in any of three colors Suay chooses each month.

Structure

Suay employs 30 sewers . These employees are paid above

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

and play a role in the decision-making process at the company for various matters including the hiring process. The company is planned to become

worker-owned A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which ...

within the next few years, and intends to expand to other cities. The central ethos of Suay is circular production, in which textiles are reused and upcycled for as long as possible

Awards

Suay founder and CEO Lindsay Rose Medoff was named one of 11 "Women of the Year" for 2021 by ''Time Out'' for her work with the shop.

References

{{coords, 34, 06, 12.0, N, 118, 14, 36.5, W, display=title Clothing brands of the United States Clothing-related organizations Sustainable business 2017 establishments in California