SF designer stays strong despite devastating fire at Oakland sewing factory

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — A San Francisco designer is staying positive despite a fire that destroyed an Oakland sewing factory — where she manufactured almost all of her clothes.

This is how the designer is getting help.

It’s a story about partnership. The fire in late April at an Oakland sewing company basically destroyed Jennifer D’Angelo’s clothing line, but it did not stop her from living her dream.

LSW, an Oakland-based sewing shop, went up in flames early Sunday morning on April 27.

Oakland firefighters responded and put out the fire — or so they thought.

“The fire re-ignited; the fire wasn’t out all the way,” D’Angelo said. “It came up again, and they had to dowse anything that was salvageable, was then completely dowsed in water.”

D’Angelo says she was out on a walk with her son and their dogs when she got the devastating call from Lana, who owns the sewing shop. The fire destroyed manufacturing equipment, design patterns and 20,000 yards of fabric belonging to D’Angelo’s clothing line: Noorworks.

D’Angelo says 20,000 yards would have created 7,000 garments.

“My initial reaction was like, I have to find another factory, this is too much, but then Lana was like, ‘what do you mean, of course I’m going to stay in business’, and I said, ‘awesome! Let’s do this,” D’Angelo said.

D’Angelo and Lana say 90% of their sales come from each other. But they are also more than just business partners.

D’Angelo says Lana and her 18 employees are powering through with Bay Area sewing manufacturers who have stepped up.

“She’s not gonna go down without a fight,” D’Angelo said.

Lana is working with a San Francisco-based company, helping to cut fabric, and an Oakland factory is helping to sew.

“Lana is a hustler,” D’Angelo said. “She is pretty incredible, I think we both had 48 hours where we’re on the floor crying and trying to figure out how to move forward.”

D’Angelo says another huge reason she is helping LSW is that she believes in local businesses. She says a huge focus for Nooworks is keeping it California-grown.