November 16th, 2016 @ 11:11 pm

remember a few months ago when i posted about supporting indie designers?  well, it seems as if one of the focal points of that post has reared its ugly head again…

last friday, i had tweeted that nasty gal had filed for bankruptcy.  of course, first thing that my evil ass did was turn into the kermit drinking tea (it’s none of my business) meme IRL… and maybe i shouldn’t have, but i called it out as karma coming back and biting her in the ass.  i don’t like to put bad energies out, so i’ve been trying to shake it out of the universe ever since.  either way, something i never even thought of, were the brands that she features on her website, and what would happen to them.

last month, i met an amazingly talented vendor while i was selling at kings trading co., who was also burned by karmaloop when it filed for bankruptcy in the same way.  small vendors are stuck not getting paid for orders that these people put through, thus really hurting them.

what spawned this post is that one of my favorite brands (all i have so far, are a gaggle of their enamel pins, mainly bc all of my money goes straight to my awesomely high NYC rent), just got hurt this way by nasty gal.  BIG BUD PRESS is super-fun, packed with rainbows, girl-power and talent.  they posted and deleted a post on their company instagram, but the owner had posted this a few days ago, and it seriously made me so angry.  when i said to support your local/indie designers, this is exactly why.

as quoted from the original instagram post:

“tfw @nastygal goes bankrupt and refuses to pay you the tens of thousands of dollars they owe you…  We’ve been begging NG to pay us for months on end. Last week they said we’d be paid Friday. When we called Friday they said “We’re not paying you, we’re bankrupt now.” When we said “So, essentially Nasty Gal has stolen from us” The response was “Basically, yeah”

Up until about a month ago Big Bud Press was a one-person business (We’re now a whopping two people)– It’s crushing for a business of our size to not get paid for orders like this. Nasty Gal not paying us has been detrimental to us. The colossal amount of work that goes into making clothing in the USA is no small undertaking. It takes a lot of work and a lot of money. On wholesales jacket orders, like the ones we’ve done with NG, our profit margins are practically nonexistent– so payment is essential. What Nasty Gal owes us is so minuscule in the scheme of their overall debt. To have to beg and plead for payment every single day for months is not only embarrassing, it’s insulting.
The Nasty Gal exclusive jacket we designed for them was their #1 requested item of all time but they still can’t seem to pay us for our work. When we don’t get paid, we can’t give more work to our LA based vendors. This doesn’t just hurt Big Bud Press, it hurts everyone we do business with. They even still get to sell the products they haven’t paid for and profit from them while we’re left with nothing.

Unfortunately this is just how bankruptcy law works. It’s not just big investors who lose money, but also a sea of small businesses who get left in the lurch and often have to go out of business. We’re not the only ones they’ve hurt.

Support small business, and try to buy local and USA made product when you can.”

this is the type of stuff that really sucks about being an indie brand…  you have to do everything yourself.  some are “lucky” enough to perhaps get onto a well-known site (that everyone gets shoved in their faces), thinking they’re finally going to make it big.  turns out that either shit like this happens, or they just steal your hard work and designs.  it’s so discouraging.

i’ve said it a billion times, but i don’t listen to what nylon goes on about, i don’t support sites/brands like nasty gal or urban outfitters.  i haven’t given UO a penny in YEARS bc they rip off people’s designs…  it’s not hard to do some research or to find great indie designers.  if you find one on IG that you love, look at who they shout out or follow.  ask people where they buy things.  lastly, help out indie brands by tagging their goods and using their hashtags…  stop being internet lazy!  it takes very little effort to do things the right way for our benefit.

SHOP SMALL! SHOP LOCAL!

related:

BOF // Nasty Gal: What went wrong?