This Women Owned and Designed Brand Is Disrupting Streetwear – Sourcing Journal

Vibrant sets and quirky prints are just part of the story behind the streetwear brand-to-watch, Bobblehaus.

New York-based Bobblehaus is the brainchild of CEO Ophelia Chen, a former assistant buyer and designer for Bloomingdale, and chief creative officer Abi Lierheimer, a former streetwear designer for heavyweights such as Kith and Champion. Following their corporate stint, old friends set out to start an accessible brand that could adapt to industry changes in an agile and solution-oriented way, and more importantly, bring a new perspective to the male-dominated world of streetwear.

The brand is making its physical trade show debut this week at the Liberty Fairs in Miami (July 10-12), showcasing a range of hands-on products from colorful casual suits to printed ramen sets.

Broadly speaking, Lierheimer said streetwear aesthetics tend to follow a safe formula. “Many brands don’t try to be the most extraordinary, the most colorful, the most absurd, or the most inclusive,” he said. “We’re both Chinese-American women, and we wanted the brand to be owned by women and people of color, and we wanted to be completely ourselves in the streetwear world which isn’t always welcome.”

Bobblehaus was launched last May with unisex needs without seasons such as jersey t-shirts, crewnecks, hoodies, sweatpants, and shorts for sizes XS-XL which are made entirely from recycled fabrics and dead materials. It has since expanded the line with soft suits, socks, jewelery and totes, with knits and outerwear on the way.

Even though the brand is reaching the peak of the pandemic, when many designers and consumers are purportedly re-evaluating their values ​​to be more sustainable and inclusive, Lierheimer insists that it was never their intention to monetize the buzz with Bobblehaus, nor was it. the reason they choose to focus on style is driven by comfort.

Instead, qualities such as genderless design and sustainable fabrics are part of the “base standard” that Chen and Lierheimer have set for themselves and those qualities they want to have in their own closet.

Both women, for example, don’t like to wear “super sexy and tight clothes” all the time, but there is a line between women’s streetwear and men’s streetwear, perhaps because they are often designed from a male perspective. . “If you want something loose or fit, you often have to buy a man and it doesn’t always fit your size,” says Lierheimer.

Bobblehaus

A recent report by retail analytics firm Edited echoes this sentiment. While women’s streetwear is becoming more accessible—with more products down (24 percent compared to last year) and sold out than ever before—Edited says the category is still dominated by men’s. Data shows that retailers selling iconic streetwear brands and luxury designers dedicate 59 percent and 50 percent more of their collections to men, respectively.

Sustainability is also not a brand’s “key selling point”. They want consumers to be attracted to the design and bright colors of the Bobblehaus first.

Sustainability, however, puts a heavy burden on collection development. Coming from a background where she has access to any custom color or print imaginable, Lierheimer says there is a period of adjustment to working with recycled fabrics and die materials. But the challenge of only working with what’s available can spark new creative opportunities.

“Sometimes we have to be super creative, until a few weeks before production. Everything keeps changing,” he said. “And we’re constantly adapting, and that’s exciting.”

Working with a renewable material brand like Lenzing’s Tencel has opened up new opportunities as well.

The Tencel brand set, a line of button-down shirts and tapered pants made with 100 percent Tencel fabric, has grown into an educational series and a topic of conversation at the popup store Bobblehaus in New York City. “Many people don’t know what Tencel is, but we love teaching them what it is and having them try on clothes to understand what this fabric feels like because we think it’s so special,” says Lierheimer. “It is part of our responsibility to our customers and our community to educate them.”

The community is part of the core of the Bobblehaus.

Although built on Chen and Lierheimer’s professional and personal experiences, their venture started as an online community called Bobbleblogs in 2019 with the aim of “making room” for a global perspective on fashion, music, arts, entertainment and culture. The blog, written by Gen Z-ers of Asian descent from 10 different countries, continues to chronicle everything from the daily life of a 20s living in Amsterdam and the dangers of unpaid internships, mental health, body positivity and culture. identity.

The company aims to maintain this level of community while moving to wholesale. While Bobblehaus aspires to be a high-end fashion or designer retailer, Lierheimer points out that its contemporary price point is “pretty reasonable” and may appeal to smaller retailers who can share brand stories with consumers on a more intimate level.

“I think the response to Bobblehaus is that it’s not just a fashion brand for the sake of fashion,” Lierheimer said. “Two people who have a really deep heritage and deep cultural knowledge of what we want to do differently… Our community is there for us, and the right people will grow the brand where it belongs.”