Blackburn + Sweetzer Has Moved

MAKE/SHIFT designers Jillian Bleisweiss and Suzanne Shpall; an African-print top and reworked denim from their collection; click to expand

It seems to be a sign of the times—economic crunch, environmental awareness—that fashion peeps are opting to work with what’s already out there, rather than contributing to more production and the subsequent waste it produces. Locally, we’ve seen it with boutique The Reformation on La Brea (which recently expanded to NYC), a collab effort between YaYa designer Yael Aflalo and Chi Bui, creating reworked vintage pieces, along with a smattering of new pieces.

Late last week, I received an email regarding MAKE/SHIFT, a recently launched label by Jillian Bleiweiss (she sews) and Suzanne Shpall (she cuts), in which the designers rework vintage for men and women, with a handful of tops and dresses (currently in pretty African prints) of their own for good measure. The duo have a penchant for studding detail and exposed zippers juxtaposed against dainty buttons and floral prints.

Check more of the collection and pricing….

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Bleiweiss studied fashion at The Art Institute, while Shpall (who, in fact, worked for YaYa previously) is a USC graduate. The goal is to keep prices reasonable, which they have done thus far with dresses ranging from $35-$70 and top and bottoms from $20-$60.

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I caught up with the designers at a pop-up event they had last weekend in Echo Park, and they said they’re planning on continuing forward with various shopping events around the city. Their challenge is to enter into the retail market, while maintaining fair prices for customers, a conundrum I’ve heard from other indie designers. If this is a goal, how do you create a financially sustainable business, when you know the retail markup is 2x-plus? Meanwhile, you gotta make some money, right?

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As for the collection, easy, floaty tanks (some taken up for a bit of back exposure), meticulously studded denim and playful circle scarves were calling my name, especially with those appealingly-low price tags.

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