Behind the Brand: The Story of RED by WM

Seven months ago I didn't know what a blank was.

Didn't know embroidery. Didn't know what any of the numbers meant. Didn't know how to build a website. I just liked clothes. Always have. My mother did too.

She went by Red. She stayed fly from when I was a kid right up until she passed — didn't matter what the day was, she put herself together. That's where I got it from, and that's where the name came from. RED. Rooted In Every Detail.

So I looked it up. All of it, by myself, and got most of it wrong the first time.

Learning It One Wrong Answer At A Time

First thing I learned is that fabric weight is the whole argument. A thin hoodie is a thin hoodie no matter what the tag says. 10.5oz fleece holds its shape off the hanger. 7oz ring-spun cotton doesn't go see-through in the light.

Second thing was that embroidery outlasts print. Print cracks. Thread doesn't.

Third thing was that the inside matters as much as the outside. Most people never turn a garment inside out. I do.

Going To See It Myself

I drove out to meet the person who does my embroidery, in person, because I wanted to see the work before I put my mother's name on it. Then I drove back out to pick up the monogram. Then I drove out again to pick up the first order.

Every one of those drives I could have just ordered online and hoped. I didn't want to hope.

Where It's At Right Now

Two products. Two colors in the hoodie, two in the tee. Whatever I have on hand.

First order came from a friend.

I'm not going to tell you it's more than that. Seven months, self-taught, still figuring the online side out as I go.

But every piece that goes out has the border finished clean on the inside, where nobody's looking.

She'd have checked the inside.