Neighborhoodies

In this section of the Apparel Search Directory, you will learn about Neighborhoodies.

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Neighborhoodies is a Brooklyn-based independent clothing manufacturer that specializes in custom made apparel and original in-house designs. They claim to be the only company in America that creates one-at-a-time hand-stitched sweatshirts. They have received substantial media attention for their business, including write-ups in the New York Times and People magazine. In December 2007, Rachael Ray featured their clothing in her magazine and television show. That month the founder, Michael de Zayas, was a guest on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on MSNBC. Neighborhoodies sells clothing through their website and their headquarters and showroom in Brooklyn. In addition to custom tees and hoodies, the company also produces "readymade" t-shirts, publishing 10 new in-house designs each weekday on their website. Amond the thousands of readymade designs include customizable Enfield Tennis Academy shirts, a reference to David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. The "Utah get me two" has launched them into the world stage as the definitive creators of Gary Busey tees.

The above definition about the clothing company Neighborhoodies is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The information source is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and was originally obtained from the following page address https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/neighborhoodies.  The definition has been modified by the Apparel Search Company in June 2009.  The rest of this page and other pages on Apparel Search are NOT under the free document license.

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Custom Apparel Made One at a Time

Neighborhoodies built its identity on the opposite of mass production. The Brooklyn-based independent manufacturer specialises in custom made apparel and original in-house designs, and claims to be the only company in America that creates one-at-a-time hand-stitched sweatshirts. A one-at-a-time model means each garment is made for the person who ordered it, stitched by hand rather than run through a production line in standard sizes and colours. That is slower and more labour-intensive than factory production, but it is also the product itself: the customer is buying a sweatshirt made individually, to their specification, rather than one selected from stock.

Custom tees and hoodies sit alongside the sweatshirts in the custom range. Customisation works naturally online, where a buyer can choose a garment, add a design or wording, and order a single piece without a shop holding inventory for every possible variation. The company sells through its website and through its headquarters and showroom in Brooklyn, combining the reach of e-commerce with a physical space where customers can see and handle the garments. For a small independent manufacturer, that pairing keeps overheads low while still giving the brand a home neighbourhood, a point reflected in the Neighborhoodies name itself.

Hand-stitched, made-to-order production also changes what a clothing company has to be good at. Instead of forecasting a season and manufacturing in bulk, the work is in taking individual orders accurately, stitching consistently by hand, and turning single garments around reliably. The claim to be America's only maker of one-at-a-time hand-stitched sweatshirts is therefore both a description of method and a marketing position: in a market of mass-produced fleece, the handmade single garment is the distinction.

Readymade Designs and Media Attention

Alongside the custom work, Neighborhoodies produces readymade t-shirts, publishing 10 new in-house designs each weekday on its website. That publishing pace, closer to a magazine than to a seasonal clothing collection, builds a catalogue of thousands of readymade designs and gives returning visitors something new to see every day. Among the thousands of designs are customisable Enfield Tennis Academy shirts, a reference to David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest, and the 'Utah get me two' design, described as launching the company onto the world stage as the definitive creators of Gary Busey tees. Literary and film references of that kind aim the readymade range at customers who wear t-shirts as statements of taste and humour.

The model drew substantial media attention. Neighborhoodies received write-ups in the New York Times and People magazine, and in December 2007 Rachael Ray featured the clothing in her magazine and on her television show. That same month the founder, Michael de Zayas, was a guest on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on MSNBC, a programme about entrepreneurial businesses. For a small Brooklyn manufacturer, national magazine, newspaper and television coverage of that kind performs the work advertising would otherwise have to do, carrying the custom, one-at-a-time story to customers far beyond the showroom's neighbourhood.