Preface LA
Preface is an innovative fabric show held today and tomorrow, July 30th and 31st, at 212 W. 12th Street in downtown Los Angeles. The event is held twice a year, in Los Angeles and Vancouver, Canada in 2025, to showcase emerging trends in the sustainable fabric industry. Betsy Franjola, the founder of BFF Studio here in Los Angeles and the Hocking Hills Garment Center (HHGC) located in Southeast Ohio is also the founder and producer of Preface.
Fabric and materials are sourced before a brand manufactures a garment. The word preface is not only an acknowledgment of all the work that goes into sourcing a garment before the garment is manufactured, it is also a reference to a fundamental change taking place in the fabric industry. Sustainable fabrics are reducing pollutants, water and energy use, and they’re the hallmark of a slow fashion industry.
The Preface show brings together fiber producers, fabric mills. manufacturers and brands focused on creating a healthier and more sustainable future in the garment industry. From the eco-friendly farmer to the socially responsible manufacturer, the show is helping to build a positive synergy throughout the entire sustainable supply chain.
Los Angeles is home to several amazing textile mills weaving sustainable fibers into fabrics, including local knitter Laguna Fabrics. Ashford, Charming Textiles, and Chaintex Limited have showrooms In Los Angeles and exhibits at Preface. Vector Apparel Projects, the Los Angeles manufacturer of LA Relaxed, also has a booth at Preface. Creative Hands Apparel Studio is another company that helps foster new brands through the development process with a focus on sustainable practices. Companies like SNOVA and PlsReturnIt are businesses at the other end of a circular, traceable apparel industry that offer businesses education and programs to learn how to return and recycle garments. These amazing companies and more have booths at Preface LA.
We currently have our hands full at Doo Dah Apparel. We’re working on manufacturing our first jacket milled with Tencel Lyocell and cotton, and we’re creating our first company zine that we’re hoping will enable us to communicate directly with our targeted demographic of young adults. We’re planning on working with Laguna Fabrics to design the sustainable knit for our next jacket, and we’ll need to find a fabric suitable to manufacture a wash bag to help protect our garments while they’re being laundered. We’re working on one project at a time. Attending Preface LA would be like a kid walking into a Willy Wonka factory, or me running onto the field at Dodgers Stadium during a game, no doubt being chased by stadium security guards! Of course, I’d need to find out if Mookie’s jersey is made with a sustainable fabric or not.
For those of you in the apparel business with a larger budget than we’re working with, you ought to head on down to Preface LA today or tomorrow. You’ll probably meet someone there that’ll make the trip well worthwhile.
Have a wonderful week!
Brett Bridgman
Doo Dah Apparel
