Forbes features Dazey

Yes, that's right, FORBES, a publication normally reserved for corporate straight white men. Dazey proudly makes a female-founded small-biz splash in PINK. When I saw the title of the article I literally LOL-ed. The perfect clickable caption to get people curious, but filled with real information on slow fashion and how we got here! When I was asked to do the interview a month or so ago I truly couldn't believe it. Being noticed by the "big boys" as a small 4-person brand started by a now 28 graphic tee designer felt major. 

Hell yes, your girl is ready to defend our fair (for everyone) prices! Read more below about why our tees are $52 and hear some powerful excerpts from the article. 

A huge thanks to the writer Kristen Philipkoski. She was incredibly gracious during our phone interview (which I was 15 mins late for, yes horrifying) and even said she's been a fan of the brand for quite some time. She's changing the business landscape one article at a time and I am so thankful.  

FORBES - WHY THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SPEND $52 FOR THESE T-SHIRTS

Xx -Dani, Dazey LA founder and designer 

Why $52 you ask?

For those that don't know we go ALL OUT on making our tees as sustainable and ethical as possible. For those that don't know sustainable means, it's good for our PLANET, and ethical means good for the PEOPLE in it! Dazey is truly clothing for people who care. After years of development with my production partner, we have become a near zero-waste company.

Overproduction is so standard in the fashion industry it's literally built into most brand's business models. High fashion and fast fashion companies have admitted to discarding and literally BURNING billions of dollars worth of clothing that doesn't sell in the name of "protecting brand image". This is one of the reasons the fashion industry is the second most wasteful and polluting. We actually make all of our tees as they are ordered to eliminate all waste. When you order a Dazey tee it is sewn up with certified organic cotton and printed, just for you, right here in LA. As you imagine that ain't cheap, but well worth it. 

"The Dazey LA process is definitely not the easiest course Nagel could have taken. But she saw first hand the waste created by the fashion industry, and then saw the documentary film The True Cost, which exposes the humanitarian and environmental ravages caused by fast fashion. She wanted no part of anything resembling that." -Kristen, Forbes

Dazey founder Dani working on samples for our LA warehouse

On top of being a higher-priced tee, our customer has to WAIT 2-4 weeks to receive their goods. Making every tee to order is quite the process and we are always working on speeding things up with production, but it does take time. We always have to educate people on SLOW (literally) fashion. "Slow fashion" is a term coined by sustainable brands and a movement against the environmentally detrimental fast fashion brands like H&M and Forever 21. Our customers are happy to pay a fair price and wait, knowing their money is going to support a brand making a positive impact on our planet. They are voting for a better future with their dollar!

"And it means that a t-shirt is much more expensive than most Americans are accustomed to paying. Graphic t-shirts featuring Nagel's art are typically $52. And since they're made to order, they don't arrive in a day or two. But customers are willing to pay and wait." -Kristen, Forbes

Freshly printed tees waiting to be shipped from our LA warehouse

CLOTHING CREATED TO EMPOWER AND CREATE COMMUNITY - PRICELESS

Here's where half the value comes in! A Dazey tee is so much more than just a piece of clothing, it's a message and mission to empower women and protect our planet. 

We aim to empower women through conversation. All of our collections revolve around a subject that modern women struggle with. We provide a tool and space to talk about these tricky topics. Some of these include self-care, inclusivity, women’s rights, and navigating our ever increasing digital world. Our designs have phrases on them that are simple conversation starters. Whether it’s on social media or in person, the tees serve as a tool to bring it up. They are also reminders to the wearer that they are not alone and to feel empowered. Dazey believes conversation and education create change. We use our tees and social media presence to do just that. We don't have customers, we have a community that feels heard and understood by our brand and platform.

We truly want to empower ALL women and do our best to represent that in our media. We recently did a huge push for more inclusive sizing through our collaboration tee with She's All Fat Podcast. The intersection of ethical and inclusive fashion is so underserved and we want to be that brand! 

Our Dazey instagram has garnered almost 100k real and engaged followers based on our community and connection. We talk all the time in our #dazeydialogue and have empowering challenges like #makehermonday and #feelyourselffridays. We launched a Dazey Ambassador program just so these amazing women can get more involved, get discounts, and actually get cash kickbacks when people order using their discount code. 

"At a certain point, the Dazey LA social media community seemed quite engaged, so Nagel decided to launch an ambassador program.

"I thought there would be like 30 applicants, but thousands of people applied," Nagel said. "I was blown away. We had to switch to an automated platform."

The program now includes 15,000 ambassadors who have created their own Instagram page. They receive opportunities to purchase exclusive designs at special discounts, and can even make money—they get 10% of sales they generate." -Kristen, Forbes

CHEAP CLOTHING HAS A COST - EMPOWERING THE GARMENT WORKER 

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, our tees are priced fairly to benefit every human who touches them. There are many feminist graphic tee brands that claim to empower women yet use mistreated workers (usually women) to make their clothing, often even unbeknownst to them.

Clothing production worldwide is known as one of the most dangerous and abusive industries. Factories collapsing, sexual abuse, child labor, gross underpayment, and extreme overworking, are all regular practices in the fashion industry. At Dazey, we ensure that every part of the production line, from the garment worker to the end wearer, is empowered. Our production process is fully ethical and our workers are paid a living wage and work in clean safe facilities, something most fashion companies cannot claim. By giving our workers fair conditions we give them autonomy, freedom, and the chance to live a quality life. 

Dazey founder Dani working with sewer Mo on a new sample item

Dazey production partner and slow fashion guru Kelly overseeing sample making at our LA warehouse 

WELL WORTH IT - GET THE TEE ALREADY!

As you can see our tees and apparel are not only well worth there price but truly an amazing deal for all involved. We truly take minimal margins on our product and believe in making beautiful, meaningful, sustainable, and ethical apparel more accessible to all. Dani pours so much love and thought into each hand-drawn design from conception to production. We stand by our $52 tee and so does everyone who's supported us.

"I think this new generation is so conscious ... transparency is key and that’s what people want these days," Nagel said. "Once they realize the value and their money is supporting something that's making a positive impact and it's a nicer quality shirt, they get it." - Dani quotes in Forbes 

Dazey designer and founder Dazey in Forbes feature photo, wearing all Dazey

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