The Launch of a Dress Brand featuring Gallagher
It’s always encouraging getting to know a new brand making an impact in their communities. Virginia based Dress brand, Gallagher was created with the mission of creating high quality, made-to-order dresses for women in the occasions of their lives. Founded by 2 sisters from Virginia Beach, Gallagher focuses on empowering women through ethically made garments, providing honest pricing, working alongside artisan seamstresses, and working to reduce textile waste with their made-to-order model. The brand started with just a few styles offered but are now extending to new seasonal cuts + styles for more occasions.
Brands like Gallagher are important within the industry because of their model to create items out of a need rather than a want. Each dress is designed and hand-sewn for a specific person’s measurements which helps minimize textile waste from mass production or unsold items. The fabrics chosen for dresses are naturally sourced and included styles like tencil, viscose, cupro, hemp and organic cotton, helps us avoid unhealthy synthetic materials that are bad for both our skin and environment. You can see more about their fabrics on their site as well as in the pictures below.
Alongside of their informative website, I was able to chat with one of the founders, Sarah, to hear about what they are up to as a brand, why they started and what we can expect from them next.
THE INTERVIEW
Tell us more about Gallagher - how did the idea for your brand start?
Launching a line of dresses has been a dream of mine for almost a decade. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology last May, I partnered with my sister to build a brand that focused on celebrating occasions while also committing to sustainable, ethical practices. As best friends, it’s always been a dream of ours to work together. With Gallagher we’ve been able to combine our creative talents to bring women dresses worth celebrating.
How do you choose your fabric and silhouette selection?
From the beginning, finding sustainable fabrics with great texture, drape and color has been a top priority in the design process. When it comes to silhouettes, I am naturally drawn to classic lines and more fitted styles. I find a ton of inspiration from the late 50’s and early 60’s, when dressing for the occasion was in its heyday.
What is it like owning a small business like Gallagher?
As the daughter of a small business owner, becoming one myself was something I aspired to for a long time. Before I started Gallagher, I was warned that there would be really great days and really hard days, and not much in between. The most rewarding days are when I get to share what I’ve created in real life, whether at a pop-up or a networking event. It’s always encouraging to get live feedback and make connections with like-minded women.
What does ethical fashion mean to you as a brand?
For Gallagher, ethical fashion is about valuing the process and the people behind the clothing. With made-to-order production we hope to promote thoughtful purchasing on the part of our customers as well as an understanding of the craftsmanship that goes into making a garment. We’ve chosen to partner with vendors and artisans in the industry who share our values by putting their teams first while creating sustainable, high quality materials.
If you could use three words to describe Gallagher, what would they be?
Classic, Modern, Celebratory
Brands in the fashion industry are always evolving, and since your values are rooted in sustainability and ethics, what are your future goals in that area?
As we look to expand beyond in-house production over the next year, we will continue our made-to-order business model with an ethical facility we’ve found in the US that manufactures styles on demand. To further reduce our textile waste we also want to partner with FabScrap to donate excess fabric we’ve accumulated up to this point in our development.
What advice would you give to a customer shopping ethical fashion (whether with Gallagher or another brand)?
My advice for all customers is to simply have consideration for your consumption. Most of us have much more than we need. As a reformed shopaholic myself, I’ve begun to really evaluate what I want, where it’s coming from, and why I need it.
What can we expect next from Gallagher?
You can look out for more product lines in the future! As much as we love dresses, we’re definitely looking to expand beyond this category.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with some very talented textile designers and are also looking forward to growing our collection of prints for both our dresses and new collection of scarves.