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Veshin Factory Taps LA's Lalaland to Scale Made-in-USA Production for Bio-Based Bags
As it continues its expansion into an international manufacturing enterprise, Veshin Factory has tapped one of Los Angeles' preeminent leather goods manufacturers to provide U.S. brands with an onshore option to produce handbags and accessories.
A stalwart of Downtown L.A.'s Fashion District, Lalaland Production and Design has become the seventh global manufacturer to join Veshin's international network—and the production firm's first partner in the U.S. Founded by Alex Zar, the large-scale factory has produced leather wares for household name brands like Adidas, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Cuyana, Banana Republic and Clare V.
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According to Veshin Factory founder Joey Pringle, the strategic partnership represents a piece of a puzzle that has thus far been missing. Veshin's existing client base and partners—including both brands and next-generation material innovators—have been seeking to round out an America-based supply chain.
Founded in 2020, Veshin's China-based factory has focused on the integration of bio-based animal leather alternatives, from mycelium to apple-based leathers, into the fashion value chain. But throughout the pandemic and the years of logistical, geopolitical and economic upheaval that followed, interest in both diversifying and shortening the supply chain have grown.
Recently, the company began looking to factories in Colombia and Brazil as partners to support the U.S. market. But bringing production capabilities even closer to home has become a bigger objective in recent months as concerns about tariffs have more companies considering onshoring.
According to Pringle, Lalaland was a natural fit given its existing connections to global brands and fashion firms and Zar's interest in broadening his material portfolio and relationships. 'He can now access a lot of areas of business that he hasn't been working in, and where we specialize,' he said. Veshin aims to help connect Lalaland with cutting-edge material innovation firms—some of which are based in the U.S.—and assist in the research and development, scaling and commercializing the products that result from the new partnerships.
'Now I can start bringing these materials to [Zar], he can start looking at them, he can start doing trials,' he said. With Zar focused on running day-to-day operations at the L.A. factory, Veshin can also help spread the word about the factory—and its new capabilities to produce mycelium-based handbags, for example—to a global audience. Veshin is growing its presence at trade shows, fashion weeks and expos throughout the world, and working to promote its partner factories.
'From my perspective, we have a lot of brands and customers who are telling us, 'Hey, we love what you're doing, but we can't do it in China, or we can't do it in Brazil,'' largely due to concerns about President Donald Trump's tariff regime. The president has expressed his intent to hit Brazil with 50-percent duties on Aug.1, while negotiations with China remain in flux.
As such, 'Everyone's kind of screaming for onshoring, and we wanted to have that onshoring presence so he can facilitate those orders,' Pringle said of Zar and Lalaland.
The so-called screamers include Veshin's material partners, like Illinois-based Hydefy, which manufactures mycelium-based leather (used by Stella McCartney on a handbag style that debuted this spring).
'We're made in America, and what we noticed is that for a lot of brands that we're speaking with right now, [onshoring] is top of their mind just because of the volatility. So even if they are not making permanent changes to their supply chain, given the uncertainty, I think everyone is thinking about diversifying their supply chain and diversifying their partners,' the firm's general manager, Rachel Lee, told Sourcing Journal.
'So when we're in some of those conversations, they do ask us about partners we work with from a manufacturing perspective that may be in this hemisphere,' Lee added. 'I think that's the next phase and flavor of what the partnership could look like—hopefully introducing each other to opportunities where there could be three-way collaborations between the material supplier, the manufacturer and brands.'
'I think what Veshin has done really well is build a network of manufacturers across the globe, now including here in the U.S.,' she said.
In addition to providing localized bulk and small-scale production, Veshin and Lalaland are prepared to assist with in-house design and R&D. The proximity to the end consumer market speaks not only to brands' growing anxiety about tariffs, but to concerns about logistics and lead times.
Pringle hopes these upsides can reinvigorate interest the next-gen materials sector, with many innovators struggling to find their footing or scale in recent years due to brand concerns about cost. With much of the industry pulling back on sustainable advancement in the face of recent economic headwinds, promising pioneers are now struggling to stay afloat or collapsing due to complications.
For example, materials science company Natural Fiber Welding, the maker of plant-based plastic-free leather replacement Mirum and a Veshin partner, announced its third round of layoffs in May due to corporate restructuring.
But Pringle believes a second wave of innovation, investment and adoption is on the precipice of taking hold. New players are taking the field and the interest in leather alternatives—especially those that are plastic-free—is growing.
'There's been a lot of excitement from brands, but it came down to durability and price. Now we have some good solutions—and we have Made in the USA—and we can start tackling some of those conversations again,' Pringle said. 'Hopefully we can start putting our heads together again and over the next 12 to 18 months, we'll start seeing some production success and some good volume in fashion.'
