Veteran apparel industry professional, Ulrich Conrad Simpson, known lovingly within the industry as “Ubi”, has a unique business, producing high quality jeans for men who want a great looking and great fitting pair. Ubi was having all of his jeans made in Los Angeles before he attended SFMade’s “How to Manufacture Locally” workshop.
“We started contracting in San Francisco after working in L.A. for years. Don’t get me wrong – there is really great manufacturing to be found in L.A. and we have some fantastic partners. However, the convenience of manufacturing in San Francisco, where I live means I get to spend less time away from my family while also supporting local businesses so it’s basically a win-win,” he said in an email.
Ubi started production with Sky Blue last fall, and in the first couple of months sent almost $20,000 of business to his local contractors.
“The other plus is localization. In L.A. you sit in traffic all day to get from one factory to another so things can take a little longer to get moving from a development standpoint. The great thing about San Francisco is everything is just a few blocks away – I can walk to some of my vendors from my office, and if I need to check on production I don’t need to worry about traffic on the 405,” he said.
Since moving his production to San Francisco he’s launched the Mi Cocina kitchen collection. The range features selvage denim oven mitts, pot holders, pan handle holders and aprons all made from Cone White Oak selvedge denim, and a range of chambray and dobby napkins also made from Cone White Oak’s shirting fabric collection.
Originally his retail space was meant to be just an office space, but when he was in the application process there was an opening at the ground level so he took it. “It doubles as my design studio and office so it’s full of things that inspire me – in addition to things that I think will sell.”
More information about UBI-IND Denim here.