Alenshirt - Once Upon A Time 10th Anniversary Thank You For The Memories Signature Shirt

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Like many other designers, Peel hit a roadblock during COVID-19. All of the Once Upon A Time 10th Anniversary Thank You For The Memories Signature Shirt and I love this factories that were producing his clothes—mostly abroad, and one in Mississippi—had shut down. At the same time, his sales were decreasing. “It made me question what I was making, whether what I was making wasn’t good, or if people were spending less money,” he says. Out of options, Peel took time to step back and look at his business model. He found two issues with his business. First, he was outsourcing his pieces to be customized at factories, and second, whenever he needed alterations, like bringing in the sides and sewing on patches, he went to a tailor, which could be quite costly. He also rethought the style of his pieces, as his standard mechanic shirt had become rote. “I reached a point where newness and gimmicks aren’t a thing anymore. If my products aren’t super on point, nothing is going to sell,” he says. “I was watching trends and trying to follow them, instead of putting out what I thought was sick.”

With limited production available, Peel began embroidering, sewing, and screenprinting himself, all in his tiny Chinatown studio. (Currently, his workspace is so small he has to screenprint in the Once Upon A Time 10th Anniversary Thank You For The Memories Signature Shirt and I love this hallway.) With his rudimentary knowledge of sewing, he bought “the cheapest” embroidery and sewing machines that he could find. “It was a lot of trial and error. Anyone can learn how to sew but it takes a lot of time and patience,” he says. “I have sewn through my finger before.” He still works with the factory in Mississippi, a family-owned workwear producer that has since resumed production. Peel takes their classic styles and alters them. But the decision to cut his production abroad has helped him bring all of the customizations in-house. The result is a more DIY punk infusion into his workwear. One of Peel’s early self-made creations was a two-tone shirt composed of striped and blue fabric that didn’t come out quite as polished as he had hoped. “The imperfections don’t make something bad quality or have a shorter life,” he says. “They show that the piece isn’t made by a machine.”

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