About the Project

Nayeli Clothing is a new business startup that is waiting for the right funder to make it come to life.

The clothing designs are from Liorah Wichser and Sarah Lorraine Edwards. After the failed contract with the Native American Sewing Company, Liorah didn’t want ALL the hard work to be wasted. She and Sarah had been working together for months making the clothing samples that would be featured on the NASC website and fashion show.? It went back farther for Liorah, she had started with a Kickstarter project in 2015 for the Polar Kuspuk, she felt obligated to her supporters and herself to bring those garments to market.? That momentum could not be stopped.?

Nayeli moved into a new space with enough room for a clothing studio, workspace for Sarah Smiles Creations, and an office for Blue Tiger Studio to operate in.

We did some great product development work, had some preliminary sales, did a cool Makers Night event, and built the nayeli-clothing.com website.

But the manufacturing costs were too high for us to afford. Nayeli needed more money for making inventory, and didn’t have the income yet to pay for it all. In the end we had to move out of the sewing studio and put everything on hold.

Despite the best intentions to bring income into our local economy by making our own clothing brand, Liorah couldn’t even come close to paying for the projected costs.? After she had spent all her savings on the Native American Sewing venture, she couldn’t afford the next venture. The bottom line was starting up a vertical manufacturing business in Spokane wasn’t going to happen without a significant funding source.