Our 4 Pillars
Aloha! I’m Allison, the owner and designer of Allison Izu. First of all, thank you for being here with me! I am so grateful.
Here’s a little about myself: I am a mom of 2 - there’s my daughter Olive, and my son Owen. We have a few fur babies too: Luna, our German Shepherd, and OP and Chickpea, our two ginger tabby cats. We also have an axolotl named Mochi. My first job is mom, but I am lucky enough to have a supportive husband who allows me to focus on my purpose, which is design.
I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC a loooong while ago (ok, it was in 1999), coming from what some might consider a “small town” like Honolulu, Hawaii. This was a big leap to go away and commit to my first love, which is fashion design. After I graduated, I came home to design wedding dresses, but quickly realized that my true purpose was to help women feel good about themselves in everyday clothing. So I decided to start a brand that could be accessible and solve the problems that women face when it comes to fashion
Allison Izu began as a premium petite denim brand that created jeans for shorter women. I was fortunate to get some recognition with this collection; I was picked up by Nordstrom and featured in Oprah Magazine. This focus on petites soon became a bigger goal of offering clothing for those of us who often feel unseen and unheard by the fashion industry. Whether you are short or “older”, maybe your body is curvier, or your shoulders are wider than usual, I wanted to make women of all shapes and sizes feel seen and heard!
This goes back to the four foundational pillars of our brand: Empowerment, Self Acceptance, Connection and Vibrancy. I want all women (including myself) to know what it feels like to be empowered and to accept themselves as is - every curve, every pound, every wrinkle! And I want us to all feel vibrant in our lives; to stand in the light and be seen and heard. And through all of this, I hope you find connection, to yourself and others.
How do I design? I start with a “problem” (usually something I am facing as well, especially with my aging mom bod) and I use my skills in patternmaking to solve the problem. Through it all, my goal is to create a piece of clothing that makes you feel comfortable. We start with great fabrics, a good pattern (that is always fit on real bodies) and we manufacture supporting local factories in Hawaii and Los Angeles. We work to create styles that will sustain the test of time, and will become a closet favorite for years to come.
Everything we do is in-house, from design, sourcing, development, patternmaking, to production management, marketing, social media. We have deep pride in every part of the process because at the end of the journey is YOU. Thank you again for being here - I hope you enjoy your Allison Izu style as much as we enjoyed making it!
