All In — a Conversation with Revivall Clothing

Laura Fisher is the founder of RevivALL Clothing located in Bozeman, Montana.

AFTER GRADUATING FROM CLEMSON WITH A DEGREE IN ANIMAL SCIENCE, I WORKED AT A MAKEUP COUNTER IN THE MALL, AND LATER AT AT&T WIRELESS. Though I was making good money, it became apparent pretty quickly that my creative mind was not a good fit for corporate America. After a year, I decided to save up money and put myself through a second degree in Fashion Design from FIT in New York City.

I learned to sew from my Nana when I was young and we started making these little frogs stuffed with rice—essentially Beanie Babies before they were popular. I remember the joy of picking out the fabrics. I always chose a different material for the top and the bottom of the frog. I started selling them to my friends at my elementary school. A few years later, I got into horses and they kind of took over my life. It wasn’t until I was a junior in college and spending time in the “lots” at jam band shows that the sewing bug hit me again. I started making patchwork clothing and selling it. When I lived in NYC, I found tons of scrap fabric in the dumpsters in the building I worked at. (It was a building that held a few manufacturing businesses, and I worked for an accessories designer). I took those scraps and started making them into things and selling them at the Flea Market on 1st and Avenue A every weekend. I think the main reason I started making clothes was because I couldn't find things to wear that I felt truly represented my style. From then on, I realized that selling my goods was fun. It was like a mystery every time I made something, to see who was going to be drawn to it. Also, I truly think there was a validation that I was seeking and receiving from selling my goods directly to customers.

I’m a maker because it was the only option for me. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. At times when my business has struggled and I wondered how else I was going to make money, it felt defeating and uninspiring. I could never find another job that brought me joy and fulfillment like owning my own business and being creative. I have owned a clothing store, produced fashion shows, and started a manufacturing house. They all brought me joy but making the leap to creating my line full time was where my heart was all along; I was just scared to take the risk. When I moved to Montana, I did a show and bombed epically. It was a five-day event and I sold maybe five things. Every day was torture to sit and be surrounded by my beautiful creations but not have anyone interested in them. I had a total meltdown and posted about it on social media. Another clothing designer that I knew from Oregon reached out and gave me the best advice: she told me to stop doing shows and put all that time and energy into selling online. That was five years ago, and it was the best decision I ever made for my business.

In addition to myself, I also employ a full time Operations Manager, a Virtual Assistant, and five seamstresses, and hopefully soon, a new manufacturer in Tennessee. It has not always been easy to build this business. There have been many challenges, especially with finding American manufacturing and people to sew for me, and I’m fortunate to have a great team.

As a child, I wanted to be a farmer and live in the country with all of my animals. No one ever told me it was possible to create things for a living and be successful. Even when I went to FIT, one of my professors told the class we should expect to be getting coffee for people at a design house for years and maybe work our way up to a higher position. I would tell everyone not to listen to him and that they could do whatever they dreamed of. This was before Etsy was big and Project Runway had been invented. I believe that both of those mediums made it more acceptable and possible for makers to support themselves and their families.

My creative process starts within. I believe it’s a direct communication with the Divine. A force that exists outside of me that I have practiced listening to. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere and sometimes it’s a thought or idea that keeps coming back until I listen. I am always true to myself and am dedicated to honoring and trusting this connection that is essentially instinct. Many times I just design what I'm wanting to wear at the moment, or things that I've been inspired by from the past or currently. The clothes I make and fabrics I choose are never because of what's “in style” at the moment. When you make timeless, wearable pieces, they never go out of style.

Since I started making things from scraps out of dumpsters in NYC, a seed was planted in my mind that brought awareness to the waste of the garment industry. I vowed never to use new materials so as not to participate in the making of new things. I believe if we stopped making fabrics and clothing today, we could still clothe our population for decades to come. After Hurricane Katrina, I spent nine months living in a tent in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, organizing and helping run a relief kitchen and donation center. After a few months, there came a point when I had to create something. There were literally tons of apparel and home décor being donated that we had no way to keep clean and organized. I realized again how disposable the garment industry was. The fact it was easier for people to send clothes than food was disturbing to me, and I started making things from the donated curtains and sheets with a donated sewing machine in a tent.

The beginning of my collection was making dresses out of men’s shirts, sheets, and curtains. They were all one of a kind. Photographing and listing each piece took so long, and many times the piece someone loved wouldn’t be their size. I realized in order to be successful, I needed to make batches of things in different sizes that I would only have to photograph and list once. This is when I discovered deadstock fabric. Deadstock is the leftover fabrics from the garment industry.

My customers have been my biggest source of support since I began my business. They are so supportive, complimentary and loyal. They believe in me and what I create. They live in my clothes and send me photos and stories about them. It never ceases to bring me to tears of joy to hear their stories.

My goal for RevivALL is to have a successful business that can employ and pay 10 employees well (that includes myself). I also want to be an innovator and voice for anti-fast fashion. It’s very important to me to try to educate the public and masses about the problems of fast fashion, and to help people think about their choices when they are buying something. How to explain the reason for handmade and American made things being more expensive, and how to shift the system so that more people can afford to buy it. It is a very privileged thing to be able to afford slow fashion and handmade things. How can we make it more accessible and possible to pay people well and keep costs down?

On a personal level, I pray that my family and I get to buy on a farm in the country in Montana where I can have horses and all the other animals, where I can walk around the land without seeing another human, and where I can commune with and steward the land responsibly.

Some advice I can offer to those embarking on a new business venture is to take business classes, listen to podcasts, read books, take marketing classes, etc. Also, don’t wait until the timing is right or whatever ducks are in a row, just start making things! Do some local shows, get feedback from customers, listen to what they say, and adapt. Personally, I’ve found that Instagram has been the most successful way for me to get my products out there to the public. And you can find my clothing at my website, www.revivallclothing.com.