Two American Apparel alums struck out on their own about a year ago to create a socially conscious label that’s just unveiled a new store concept at The Standard hotel.
Los Angeles brand Everybody.World has taken over the former Rudy’s Barbershop at the downtown Los Angeles hotel, turning the space into what they call the Informal Shop. It’s in keeping with the brand’s basic ethos of less being more and using what’s already there (they’ve kept the sinks for hairwashing) rather than invest in a mega buildout.
“Our concept with Informal Shop is to use the resources we have,” said Iris Alonzo, the former creative director at American Apparel. “It hearkens back to the merchants of centuries ago where it’s like OK, you know how to make this. This is where people are. You use that space and you sell it. So we went into the space and embraced what was already there.”
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The pop-up at the hotel remains open through Feb. 25.
“For a small brand like us, it was a great opportunity so we said ‘yes’ and it was very generous on [The Standard’s] part,” Alonzo said. “They’ve given us the space and carte blanche to be as creative as we want to be, including hosting events and doing collaborations.”
Alonzo and former American Apparel director of graphics and kids Carolina Crespo launched Everybody.World as a study in thoughtful design and commerce centered around local production and fair wages. The company, which counts 10 workers, has a roster of seasonless, closet basics – such as its 100 percent recycled cotton Trash Tee starting at $25 – and also collaborates with local creatives on apparel, bath, home and other lifestyle products. Those collaborators receive 10 percent of sales or, in some cases, proceeds are donated to various charities.
The Informal Shop at The Standard will sell the Everybody.World products and collaborations along with a revolving marketplace of items from what Alonzo described as “like-minded brands of friends and friends of friends.” That includes a waterproof notepad used by Jean Pigozzi — art collector, investor and son of Simca car company founder Henri Pigozzi — along with the favored supplies used by artists Mae Elvis Kaufman and Kalen Hollomon.
Alonzo said there’s been consideration of how to expand the brand at retail, but doing so without signing five- or even one-year leases.
Everybody.World already has a growing direct-to-consumer online business and a wholesale channel where it’s amassed an impressive roster of clients. It’s the latter revenue stream that is the company’s largest to date, with the company having done custom merchandise for the likes of Google and Airbnb. It has also manufactured for Los Angeles contemporary brand Eckhaus Latta, New York men’s clothing brand Noah, Girlboss, Los Angeles boutique Otherwild’s “The Future is Female” merchandise and Sexy Beast, an upcoming collaboration between Jenny Holzer and Virgil Abloh benefiting Planned Parenthood.
They’re big names for what Alonzo modestly called a “tiny” company. She declined to say what the company has generated so far in sales and said the direct-to-consumer side is beginning to show more momentum.
The company about a week ago moved to new headquarters in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles. The space also doubles as a showroom and was designed with the same approach the company uses to make its T-shirts: spinning waste product into something new and useful, such as meeting rooms created with recycled plastic bottles.
Up next are more collaborations for Everybody.World, Alonzo said, including a unisex trouser and shirt, along with a children’s line. The company has also set a goal for itself next year of creating 10 new textiles from recycled yarn or other blends. Ultimately, the brand is driven by a simple idea where she said: “The goal is that we sell useful items thoughtfully produced.”