Made in USA · Los Angeles Apparel

One building in South Central LA knits, dyes, cuts and sews every piece. These are its seconds.

Los Angeles Apparel makes its clothes start to finish in its own factory in Los Angeles. A working factory also turns out seconds, samples and short runs that never reach its shelves. That's what's in our range.

Made in South Central LA·Knit, dyed, cut and sewn under one roof·1,500+ workers·Known flaws written on the listing

By the Retailer team · 3 min read · September 2026

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Fabric running through a machine at Los Angeles Apparel
Los Angeles Apparel, South Central Los Angeles
A sewer at her machine on the floor at Los Angeles Apparel
Sewing, Los Angeles Apparel

01 · The label

Where was it made?

Check the label on whatever you're wearing. Odds are it was made a long way from where you bought it. A lot of brands don't make their own clothes at all. They design them, or buy a design, and a factory they don't own does the rest.

Loading fabric into a machine at Los Angeles Apparel
The factory floor, South Central Los Angeles

02 · One building

Knit, dyed, cut and sewn under one roof

Los Angeles Apparel doesn't work that way. It knits its own fabric, dyes it, cuts it and sews it, all in one 300,000 square foot factory in South Central Los Angeles. More than 1,500 people work there. By the company's own figures, starting staff average $20 an hour, skilled garment workers can make up to $35, and many of the team have been there ten years or more.

A worker sewing at Los Angeles Apparel
Sewing, Los Angeles Apparel

03 · The machines

Where the machines went

If that sounds familiar, it's the model American Apparel ran at its peak, with around 250 stores. American Apparel went bankrupt and its name was sold for $88 million. The name went. The old machines and hundreds of the old workers ended up on a new floor in South Central. American Apparel died. The machines didn't.

The flaw is the most honest thing about these pieces.

A worker at a table of white fabric at Los Angeles Apparel
On the floor, Los Angeles Apparel

04 · The seconds

What never reaches the shop floor

A factory that size makes things that never reach the shop floor. A sample that got signed off and moved past. A short run in a colour that never went into production. A tee with a small hole at the hem, an off shade or a loose thread. Those are seconds. Normally they disappear, or they get flipped online by whoever got there first. Ours come straight from Los Angeles Apparel.

Most pieces in the range are slightly imperfect. Where there's a known flaw, the listing names it: a small hole, a tiny stain, an off shade, off-spec stitching. Read the condition note before you buy. If a flaw bothers you, skip that piece.

From Los Angeles Apparel · small quantities

The range

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What you're getting

  • Made by Los Angeles Apparel in South Central Los Angeles
  • Knit, dyed, cut and sewn under one roof
  • Seconds, samples and short runs from their line
  • The known flaw, if there is one, written on the listing
  • Small quantities. When a piece sells out, it may not come back

It's made by Los Angeles Apparel, which knits, dyes, cuts and sews in its own factory in South Central Los Angeles.

Clothes made start to finish in one building in Los Angeles, by people paid a wage you can look up. These are the ones that didn't make the shop floor.