hi! i'm Carly, owner + designer of {carlymegan}.
I've always enjoy getting to know other brands, and the people behind them, so let me introduce you to my children's clothing line.
{carlymegan} is about functional, stylish children's clothing. Clean lines, uncomplicated designs, and neutral/muted colorways are my design aesthetics (ie modern + effortless). The biggest inspiration is adult clothing, I just love the idea of adult styles for little ones. At the end of the day, this clothing is made with my future children in mind.
(images via instagram; @love4mateo_olivia, @fathersdaughtr, @moni_77, @kaitlyntru)
This clothing line was started in 2009 while I was working as a Professional Civil Engineer for a large consulting company in Pennsylvania. My position provided some creative thinking but I craved more. I have always had a passion for artistic expression and really fell in love with the whole handmade movement. It was only natural that I yearned to create with my own two hands, welcome {carlymegan}.
Initially, purchasing my first sewing machine, my vision was to make clothing for myself. I had always steered away from super trendy, loud fashion, so it was a real struggle finding clothing at that time. I had never patterned or sewn my own garments before, and was quite frankly intimidated by it all. Around that same time, I had a couple friends with new babies, so I put two and two together and patterned and sewn clothing as gifts for their little ones. While I fully intended to only make these garments as a small side project, there was just something about children's clothing that called to me.
Like any new venture, there was a big learning curve and finding my own voice took time. For me, {carlymegan} really started about 2-3 years ago with the creation of my handstamped antler skinny leggings. These leggings took forever to perfect, and were completely 100% handmade (down to the hand carved stamp). I just knew there was something pretty dang special about them.
(image via Casey Wiegand)
From that point forward, it was full steam ahead. Over time handprinted fabric gave way to professionally printed organic knit and the collection grew to include slouchy beanies, harems, and baby accessories.
As of 2014, I've said goodbye (sigh) to the East Coast and moved across the country to Los Angeles. During my first year in California, I focused all of my energies on 'carlymegan'. A true believer of the phrase "you get out, what you put in", it had become very clear that it was time to jump in with both feet, 100%. This move was big for the future of this clothing line and I wanted to make sure the growth was done with purpose and great care. While moving forward, expanding, etc is important, it was also very important that it was at my pace; "it's a marathon, not a sprint".
Finding the right help was a slow process. I knew I wanted to keep production local, but it was also just as important that it meet ethical standards as well. I am happy to say that as of today, {carlymegan} is produced by a local seamstress + small LA-based, family run production studio. This incredible group of people are responsible for handling all of the production for this clothing line.
As with everything in this world, evolving and growing is important to survival, so while our garments may change over time, the overall style and look of our collections remain the same.
{carlymegan} will always be an American made children's line.