THE INSIDE SCOOP ON OLYMPIA ETAL WITH DESIGNER KAILI SCHEER
Olympia Etal is a fashion brand based in Maui, Hawaii, designed for women everywhere. Formerly known as Olympia Activewear, the reimagined brand now concentrates on sophisticated yet effortless womenswear. Each collection is thoughtfully designed and pieces are meant to last for seasons to come. All items are made from long-wearing natural fibers such as linen, cotton and silk, in an effort to curate wardrobes that focus on quality, not quantity. The result? Clothing that is at once elegant and easy to wear.
The founder and designer behind this thoughtful brand that whole-heartedly embraces the slow fashion movement is Kaili Scheer. Below, we chat with Kaili for the inside scoop on Olympia Etal, a few of her personal favorite brands from Maui and more.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I was born and raised in Maui. I left for my 20's and then came home to settle in, always knowing this is where I wanted to end up. I live here with my husband and our 2 year old son, River. We are total homesteading homebodies, living on a countryside two-acre ag lot. We spend a lot of time in our garden and orchard. My husband is a chef and we share a passion for all things food.
Why did you decide to go from designing exclusively activewear to womenswear?
This shift happened during my pregnancy, when I gave up my five-day-a-week workout schedule and eased into a casual walking and yoga routine. The spandex dropped out of rotation and I started wearing much softer, more roomy yet feminine clothing; it made me feel better, somehow, about my growing self. Big oversized blouses and billowy dresses stayed with me through my days, weeks and months of breastfeeding. My perception of clothing also changed during this time, and I started to value what was truly essential. There was no room for frivolous clothes, nor much time to shop, so instead I depended on good fabrics and fabrication, comfortable fits, feminine details—things made to last, and wear over and over again. This lead to sketching a ready-to-wear collection, which got me so much more excited than anything I had done before.
We had always included some RTW pieces in our active collections, but nothing to this degree. Before this, when I would sit down to sketch our active collections, I was at a loss with how many creative ways I could churn out leggings and sport bras. People still ask about our activewear (and I do still wear it to work out or lounge in), so for the last year, I've been working with a vertical knitting factory in Los Angeles to design the perfect legging. I believe we only need one, maybe a couple, variations in length and color, but truly only one if the fit is on point. We have done so many rounds of prototypes, in different fabrications, that I've lost count. But I feel good about taking this process slowly, and really loving the final product so that our customers will in turn love it too. Hopefully they [the customer] understands that less is more in the wardrobe department.
Who is your ideal customer?
I really appreciate customers who value what we value: less, but better. We believe in less consumption and more emphasis placed on quality made goods that will last. Our customers have a willingness to see that if you invest in good fabrics and good sewing, maybe some mending tricks or a good tailor, these pieces should live for years in your closet, maybe decades with the right care. That is the future of fashion, at least my small version of it.
How many collections are you producing each year? Are there staple styles that we can expect to see season after season?
The seasonal calendar has been shifting for us. The fashion cycle, and many of our most important accounts in the past, demanded four drops a year of complete newness. This was a beast. There was so much sampling, over-producing, early markdowns, the list goes on. Not to mention, all of the production and marketing we had to do on our end. It was tiring and, in my opinion, devalued the product in a way that it didn't get to reach its full potential, being that the deliveries and selling windows were so short. We have been reconsidering this calendar and the number of seasons we release in a year. Spring and fall are important, so we are focusing there for the time being and will see how that goes.
Can you share a few of your personal favorite brands or businesses from Maui?
I love the skincare line Oshan Essentials, based in Maui. I've been gifted several of their items and really love the body scrub and that they use local and indigenous ingredients, in glass packaging. Holiday & Co. in Makawao, Maui has a great assortment of quality brands, pretty dresses, the perfect tees, and great hats too! It's dangerous for me to walk in there to drop off their Olympia orders because I always walk out with a few pieces.
What's your goal for the brand?
This year we began manufacturing in India, where I have found the details so artful, and the fabrics really exceptional - not to mention the people are lovely to work with and that's always an added bonus. So we are quite excited about this whole evolution. At this time I don’t have plans for any big expansion into other categories (except back into leggings) or retail store openings. We are quite comfortable with an online business and a small wholesale offering. It would be great to see the wholesale grow so our reach can expand to cool new places and stores. I also really hope to travel to India to meet our new production partners as soon as the time is right.