Meet Huey Bradbury-Ngo | Designer/Pattern Maker/Sample Maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Huey Bradbury-Ngo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Huey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
After being in the fashion industry for a while, I find that the pattern makers and sample rooms available are very straightforward with what they do, which is good. However, most are not designer-owned or operated so they don’t understand styles and trends in the industry. I came from a designer/pattern/sample maker background, in that I designed, draped, patterned, and created all my samples and sometimes production pieces myself. I understand what other designers are looking for from the idea phase to the final product. I decided to start my business to offer my hands-on expertise and my love of fashion and all of its nuances in the process to my clients to help them create works that truly represent what they imagined in the most efficient ways possible.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My background as a designer who patterns and sews is what sets me apart from others. When a client comes to me to bring their visions into life, they don’t just get a production ready pattern and sample but also consultions of what works and what doesn’t in terms of materials, finishings and pricepoints. My goal for all my clients is to produce the most beautiful and high quality works possible. I believe that in a business where you are competing with fast fashion companies selling things most of us do not need, you have to leverage all your resources from materials, to quality of design and production to branding to create a specialized marketplace for your products. Make people want your products. If they want it they will pay for it. I am proud of the fact that most of my clients are referrals because it is the testament of the quality of my work. I do not advertise my business because I want to ensure the clients I work with are people who are passionate about their labels as I am about my craft. I do think making clothes is a specialized craft, one that requires years of experience to acquire.
It is important to me to be a part of our local fashion industry and I think that we are lucky to be in the city of Los Angeles where we have a robust fashion industry that has the potential to be the manufacturing hub for our country. I am proud to be a small part of this industry.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
LA is a diverse place with many different things to do, from skiing to surfing and everything in between. These are the places I would bring any guest visiting LA:
LACMA, The Broad, The Peterson Automotive Museum, The Huntington Library, and Botanical Gardens, The Getty Center, and the Getty Villa.
The Grove, and the old Farmers Market, The Arts District, the RowDTLA, The beaches, Runyon Canyon.
Places to eat and hang out are Zinc Cafe in the Arts District. West Hollywood for food and bars.
For shopping I would go to Dover Street Market, Please Do Not Enter, South Coast Plaza, Desert Hills Designer Premium Outlets, Neiman Marcus, and of course Rodeo drive.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband Wayne is my most extraordinary support on this journey. We have set up our lives to allow me to invest all my time and energy in this business fully. My friends and colleagues have all been supportive of my dreams. They all know that I want to be in the fashion business ever since they have known me. They have never tried to advise me to do anything else other than this even in times when I was struggling to find work. My friend Ryan Jordan deserves a shoutout for giving me my very first job creating a dress for Haneys (a now-defunct women’s brand as a casualty of Covid19). Ricardo for bringing me into the heart of the fashion district in DTLA and Lupe for all the amazing skills she imparted to me. I have grown so much as a professional with what I have learned from her.

Instagram: @hueylosangeles

Image Credits
All the pictures are taken by me on my phone.