We had the good fortune of connecting with Houman Salem and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Houman, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Prior to starting ARGYLE Haus of Apparel, I owned a lingerie retail store at the Westfield Fashion Square mall in Los Angeles, called Chelsea Manor Intimates. My goal, at the time, was to design and develop my own collection. However, I ran up against apparel manufacturers in LA who were not willing to take on my small startup project. As a result, I saw an opportunity to start my own apparel design firm and clothing factory to service fashion startups. This is the core of my entrepreneurial mindset, the ability to see opportunities and not being afraid to take the risk. My thought process here is, “If you win, then you win, if you lose, you still win. There is no better education than learning from a business win or loss. You can put $20K -$40K towards starting a new business, or put that money towards college. I guarantee your education in launching your own business will be greater.

What should our readers know about your business?
ARGYLE Haus is a leading fashion design house and apparel manufacturing company in the USA. We have helped launch over 100+ fashion startups since 2014. We also have expertise in working with larger fashion brands with more mission critical demands. Unlike other apparel design firms, we actually have our own factory right here in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. In this manner, we never outsource to other facilities or take the production overseas.

In addition, we recently opened a beautiful showroom at the famous New Mart building in downtown Los Angeles, right in the heart of the fashion district. This provides us with a huge competitive edge in that we can not only launch a fashion brand, but we also have access to over 2,000 retail stores (online and offline) in which we can help our client’s succeed. There are no other factories in LA with such a prestigious showroom, and conversely, there are no showrooms in LA with a factory.

I was not at all easy starting the business, and its still not easy running it after all these years. I suppose that if it does get easy, I will get board and venture off into something else. So for now the uneasiness is what makes everything work. Zig Ziglar most notably talked about this mindset in “Embrace the Struggle”.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a big foodie, so there would be a lot of restaurants involved. Did you know that there are more sushi spots in the San Fernando Valley (from Laurel Canyon to Universal City) than in all of Japan? You would also be hit with a lot of local history hanging out with me. I would show you the Brady Bunch house in Studio City, Charlie Chaplin’s original studio in Hollywood, Frank Sinatra’s old watering holes on the Sunset Strip (those that still remain), or a drive past the YouTube headquarters in Playa Vista which used to be the original aircraft hanger where Howard Hughes built many of his planes. Are we having fun yet?

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had the pleasure of working with so many talented people and organizations along the way at ARGYLE Haus.  From clients to business partners to vendors who have all done amazing work in helping me create winning brands.  Operating a business in the fashion industry requires a lot of perseverance and tenacity.  Ashely Michaelsen is indeed one of these people.  Ashley is a former New York fashion model who utilized her resources to create Ashley Michaelsen PR, an innovative showroom concept for creators in fashion and entertainment.  I would also shout out Stephanie Montag, the designer and CEO of NSA Swim.  NSA is one of our long-tern clients and Stephanie has been innovating new swim concepts for major hospitality brands in the USA.  A big final shoutout goes to my friend and Grammy-nominated DJ Mark London.  Mark pioneered the house music scene on the West Coast and helped usher in a movement with the likes of Paul Oakenfold and Carl Cox.  Mark has been and is my forever go-to DJ for all my fashion shows.

Website: www.argylehaus.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/argylehaus/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/houmansalem/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/argylehaus/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_rA_J5VQ2Ig_-XpGvZM6_w

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