Clothing designer moving to Stitch Factory

Downtown Las Vegas, get ready to welcome a new brand to the team.

In keeping with the ever-evolving theme of community in downtown, a former Las Vegas resident-turned-clothing-designer is moving his manufacturing operations to the Stitch Factory.

Look for Combatant Gentlemen's semi-custom denim creations to take shape in late February inside the newly opened factory, which was designed to be a co-working space for local apparel designers and features industrial machines, working tables and professional-grade dress forms.

In mid-January, Combatant Gentlemen's owners toured the industrial facility at 300 Las Vegas Blvd. North and met with the Stitch crew to hash out details and finalize their plans. In exchange for bringing a handful of garment machines to the factory and allowing the rest of the Las Vegas fashion community use them, Combatant Gentlemen gets to use the Stitch Factory space for essentially nothing.

Specifically, the clothing designers are bringing single-needle machines for the jeans assembly, chain stitch machines for the cuffs, a buttonhole machine and a leather and rivet press.

"I think what we're most excited about is working with (Combatant) to make that first 'Made in Las Vegas' stamp," Stitch Factory co-owner Meghan Boyd-Mossler said. "There's no reason why in Las Vegas we can't bring a new industry here and in a different way."

With Jen Taler, Boyd-Mossler opened the factory as a place to create fashion. Cost to use the facility is $100 per day, or $525 for seven days. A monthly pass costs $1,995. The space is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and other times are based on request. Stitch Factory also can provide services including tailoring, manufacturing and sample making to the public, and the facility can be used to host fashion shows.

Besides jeans, Combatant Gentlemen creates ready-to-wear professional clothing for men, including dress shirts and ties, that can be tailored to an individual's needs. Products can be developed on demand, based on feedback from customers via Facebook and email.

They're not sure how many they're going to have to hire. It will depend on demand once they're up and running.

Former Las Vegan Vishaal Melwani launched the brand with his cousin Mohit Melwani and Tracy Kuroye. The site, combatgent.com, averages 11,000 site hits per week.

Vishaal explained that the site, which is geared toward professionals on a budget, can go viral at any time. For instance, last week, an employee at Goldman Sachs in New York City purchased a couple of white shirts and then sent a link to the site to a couple of his trading floor friends.

"All of a sudden we had 70 orders within a half an hour just from Goldman Sachs, from junior associates looking for white shirts," Vishaal said. "It's time for us to scale a little bit more."

Combatant Gentlemen's owners, while based in Los Angeles, have been interested in moving manufacturing to Vegas for a while. They've been talking to the Vegas Tech Fund for about six months or more, trying to decide which move would be a good fit. With the recent opening of Stitch Factory, all the pieces fell into place.

"Being from Vegas and coming back downtown, it blew my mind. I didn't even know downtown had Internet to be honest," Vishaal said, half-jokingly.

And, it costs less to manufacture in Las Vegas than L.A., about 55 percent less, Vishaal said.

Taler and Boyd-Mossler are working to bring other brands to Vegas, but weren't yet ready to disclose specifics.

"Our dream is to recruit and retain design talent to the city," Boyd-Mossler said.

Aside from the manufacturing, Stitch also hosts Skillshare classes such as knitting at its facility. And, Stitch Factory partnered with Las Vegas Prom Closet to host Operation Glass Slipper on March 23, during which gently used prom dresses and accessories will be given away to high school girls who need a party dress.

Contact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Follow @lscvegas on Twitter.