The Whole Works is a brand new Colorado-based clothing production facility that is dedicated to creating dignified jobs and reinvigorating American manufacturing. As one of the first Public Benefit Corporations in the state, we are focused on making a social impact by partnering with a job preparation program that teaches production sewing to women who are transitioning from federal assistance.
The Whole Works serves designers who are looking for small-run cut and sew production, and who are dedicated to manufacturing quality products in an ethical and sustainable way.
The majority of clothing bought by U.S. households up till the 1990’s was made domestically. Between 1990 and 2011, the U.S. lost 750,000 apparel manufacturing jobs – that’s 750,000 skilled people who found themselves out of work. The demand for clothing is not going anywhere. The Whole Works wants to ensure that the jobs stop going anywhere but here.
Our name stems from our experience and belief that when a business seeks to maintain the whole connection between all the stakeholders — public and private, design and manufacturing, work and family, community and business, industry and the environment, social enterprise and profits — things work well.
Sadye Harvey
Co-Founder
I became interested in clothing production while working as a Design Assistant at Woo, a small clothing company in Los Angeles. I was drawn to the manufacturing side of the business, and loved spending time at the dye-houses, silk-screeners, and sewing contractors. There are real people making all of your clothes at every step of the way, a fact that never fails to fill me with awe. I want to support and be connected to that community of skilled and innovative makers, because I know there is nothing more fulfilling than creating something with your own hands.
Janie Rich Munro
Co-Founder
I believe in community, beautiful design and the power of creating with your hands. As an educator I have worked with individuals, families and communities to find meaning and connection through the beauty of making things. I grew up surrounded by family owned businesses and learned the value of business and hard work. Working with this team and GarCo Sewing Works to create a benefit corporation like The Whole Works brings together my belief in beauty, community and understanding of work to make meaning and promise within the fabric of our lives.
Julia Marshall
Co-Founder
Working women strengthen the fabric of our society. The chance to partner with Garco Sewing Works and develop a for-profit benefit corporation to take the initial dream one step further is a chance not to be missed. My back ground as a landscape architect and owner of my own firm has given me the opportunity to work on complex projects and manage an office of approximately the same size as The Whole Works for over twenty-six years. The business of landscape architecture teaches one to look for solutions that are not readily apparent keeping in mind aesthetic considerations, financial implications and how people fit into the picture.
Kelly Alford
Co-Founder
I believe deeply in the power of art, design and commerce to make the world a more beautiful, humane and meaningful place. Since 1988, I have worked as an imaginative design entrepreneur inventing powerful brands, and as a creative design and marketing executive. My experience as a hands-on leader and designer is rooted in my ability to execute the production, distribution and financial success of the idea. The Whole Works is a natural extension of my lifelong commitment to integrating the arts into everyday life, and my understanding of the uplifting power of the art, design and education to infuse all we do with meaning and possibility.
