At Daniella Kallmeyer’s namesake label, sales of her luxury clothing have been growing, runway shows are well-attended and celebrities like Katie Holmes, Chloe Fineman, Sophia Bush and Cynthia Erivo are fans. So Kallmeyer decided in around 2023 to take a risk and open a second store. That location opened last week on the Upper East Side, where the brand will bring its downtown cool to Madison Avenue.
Now one detail in her business plan is suddenly giving her a huge advantage. Being Made in America is helping the small label when many fashion brands are anticipating the worst.
“We’re not at the mercy of shipping, tariffs and hold-ups as much as if we’d be waiting on finished garments from Asia,” said Kallmeyer, 38.
President Trump’s tariffs have everyone from sneaker kingpins to athleisure brands wishing they’d bet on local manufacturing. Kallmeyer has had her eye on it for 13 years.
About 70% of Kallmeyer’s clothes, including sculptural trousers, draping dresses and silk wool blazers, are made in New York. Manufacturing in the U.S. has meant Kallmeyer and her small team face challenges that fast fashion giants and mall brands would never entertain. She pays top dollarfor cutting and sewing and the team runs on foot around the Garment District because the label’s blazers have 17 different pieces that require specific expertise.
But Kallmeyer says she chose this path because there are also advantages to being made in America. “It requires a lot more manpower and resources,” she said, but added that being close to the manufacturing process meant she was intimately involved. She can speak to customers about what they want and then take that feedback directly to the cutting-room floor. Making clothes in small batches means she can reorder a style if it sells well, and not have to wait months for it to arrive from overseas.
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