'Every Outfit,' the Bar-None Best Podcast, Is Now Producing the Bar-None Best Merch
Fuckette’s rejoice!
Everyone loves to say how over merch they are and yet they still buy it. That’s what Lauren Garroni told me at the top of our interview.
“People want to telegraph their loves (and hates), and if that can be shown as a pithy T-shirt, even better. In our increasingly digital world, I think physical objects have become more desirable. (Although, I do think tote bags are over. That is one merch item we all got burnt out on.)”
But, as Chelsea Fairless points out:
“There’s been a general decline in clothing production. If you look at a concert tee from the 70s, the fabric and stitching is incredible, the print quality is great, it holds up. But clothing isn’t manufactured like that anymore.”
I’d equate my relationship with merch to Carrie’s relationship with Big throughout most of Sex and the City:
“You said you loved me.”
“I do.”
“Then why does it hurt so fucking much?”
And yet, for reasons I’m not proud of, I always find myself doing it; hitting “purchase,” over and over again. Whether it’s “This Too Shall Pasta,” “Leave Trans Kids Alone T-Shirt” or “A Film by Todd Haynes,” my love for merch (authorized or not) (and particularly a statement, literal statement, T-shirt) is boundless. And now, there are numerous higher-end versions sprouting up (think: A24’s Hereditary gingerbread treehouse and the Midsommar incense temple or Loewe’s “I Told Ya” and “Drink Your Milk” tees).
But who does it best? That’d have to be the ladies of Every Outfit. In fact, when I put an IG poll asking: “Who, besides A24, has the strongest merch game?”, the overwhelming answer was the newly-relaunched Every Outfit merch store. (Shout out to honorable mentions: Beyoncé, Zabar’s, The Academy Museum, Super Yaki, Reductress, NPR, Carissa’s, Annapurna, Criterion Collection, Oh, Mary!, MoMA.)
I’m high-key obsessed with Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni, the duo behind the Instagram account that’s since spawned a podcast, touring live show and merch line.
The pair met in college at Parsons, where Fairless and Garroni enrolled in a self-directed major called IDC (Independent Design Curriculum), where they each made “magazines” their thesis (jealous). At Garroni’s recent nuptials, Fairless, her “maid of dishonor,” recounted their first meeting during her toast:
“When I heard a voice as disaffected-sounding as my own, I knew that we would be friends.”
It’s a friendship that punctuates their wry, institutionally insightful podcast, which has the pair sit down weekly to cover topics in pop culture and fashion (recent episodes have had segments on HBO’s Faye, Alessandro Michele’s Valentino and Diddy’s downfall). They’re savvy, sarcastic and sophisticated. You want to be their friend.
“I thought that people would enjoy the podcast when we started because they’d think: ‘Oh, these people have an unhealthy understanding of pop culture, fashion and fashion history,’” Garroni explains. “What I did not expect was how much people love the fact that we’re actually friends.” I ask how they would describe the dynamism of their duo, to which Garroni recounts a story of her going to an AMC and making content after the Michael Kors team sent the pair thee Nicole Kidman sparkly jumpsuit.
“If you want to talk about our dynamic, I’m the one that’s down to clown and Chel is the one pulling the puppet strings.”
I first learned of their new merch line while listening to a recent episode of the pod. “I want to know how you are doing,” Chelsea said to Lauren up top. “You’re looking a little tired. You’ve been hard at work at the Every Outfit Couture fulfillment center.” Though it’s not their first foray into the world of merch, the pair essentially started from scratch, with an intention to vastly improve the quality of what they’d been selling within a landscape that often sees design outpacing quality. This meant no longer outsourcing to the cottage industry of print-on-demand websites that have sprung up. Sure, it’d be easier to have third-party order fulfillment, “but as people who are perma-freelancers, and now podcasters, it’s the only tangible, physical thing we are able to do in our jobs,” Garroni opined on the episode.
But what compelled me to reach out and interview the pair was a quote from Fairless that made my thumb and index finger make the kind of seen-but-not-heard clack executed by Chappell Roan when she said “there’s gay people here” during her recent appearance on The Tonight Show.
“As someone who buys a lot of merch, I am so sick of buying something I love and realizing it can’t actually withstand more than a few go’s in the washing machine. Shit does not hold its shape. The way that T-shirts and hoodies are constructed now is a literal epidemic.”
I couldn’t agree more. And thus, a conversation about the pair’s artful effort to upend the system.
What were the initial conversations and steps to evolve from the "we want to have merch" to the "we're making merch" phase?
Chelsea: Our first foray into merch was in 2017. We had recently started @everyoutfitonsatc and it felt like a viable way to monetize the account. I designed everything and Lauren figured out all of the logistical stuff around shipping and e-commerce. And blessedly, the merch sold well and it developed a following. In an odd turn of events, this led us to design merch for Cynthia Nixon’s gubernatorial campaign. They even discussed it on the Hot Topics segment of The View, which was a career highlight for me.
But during the pandemic, we started the podcast and the merch fell by the wayside. We’ve been wanting to relaunch it for years, but improving the quality of what we were selling was very important to us. We wanted the production to be as good as the design this time around. I buy so much merch and I hate the fact that 95% of the stuff that I own isn’t designed to withstand a few trips to the washing machine. I’m highly particular about my clothes and how they sit on the body.
Lauren: From a logistical standpoint, I think that it helps that we live in Los Angeles. A lot of clothing production still happens here, so everything from blank wholesalers to screenprinters to sew-in tag places are all at our fingertips, which made the leap into merch a tad easier, although finding the right place for each element of the merch has been a journey with much trial and error.
I also think the breakthrough piece of merch was the “We Should All Be Mirandas” shirt.
It was a split second turn of phrase inspired by our own incredulous reaction to the Dior “We Should All Be Feminists” shirt that resulted in a blockbuster piece for us. It got a ton of press, we got a book deal out of it and it even led us to work with Cynthia Nixon during her gubernatorial run.
How did you decide what your offerings would be? For instance, the thong (iconic) and Cosmo glasses feel uniquely Every Outfit and I imagine that was critical to your thought process — not just the design, but the offering.
Chelsea: I suppose the range of products was inspired by streetwear brands. I always love to see what Supreme has in the “Accessories” section of their store. And I grew up loving brands like Hysteric Glamour, which often dipped into unconventional product categories. But the thong, the Cosmo glass and the lighter make sense for us on a conceptual level. Those things are all very Sex and the City.
Lauren: It’s a balance. Previous to this drop, we did mainly Sex and the City-inspired merch, so we knew we had to honor that audience. For years, people asked us to remake our “are we sluts?” sweats and the “I’m Sorry, I Can’t, Don’t Hate Me” shirts.
Which are oddly two phrases Sex and the City never trademarked — believe me, I checked. But we did want to step out and try to make things not related to Sex and the City that instead were in the Every Outfit worldview.
Talk to me about the tags. Chel, you said "the devil is in the details." Couldn't agree more. And it shows. Why was that important to you?
Chelsea: I’ve always wanted to make woven tags. I suppose that this speaks to my childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer. But branding is so important, whether it’s Chanel or Kirkland Signature. Our tags are an opportunity to reinforce our own branding and communicate the fact that the quality of our T-shirts and sweatshirts is higher than what you might expect from a podcaster.
How did you decide on the price point? I'm glad to see you charging more than typical podcast/influencer merch because the quality reflects the price.
Chelsea: We’re charging more because the T-shirts and sweats are all made in the United States using heavyweight cotton, so it costs more to produce and to ship everything. Also, when we sell merch at our live shows, we usually have to give a 20% cut to the venue, so that impacts the pricing as well. But it’s a fine line; you don’t want to alienate people with your prices. We wanted to keep the tees under $50 so people don’t reach that “flinch point.”
Lauren: I think we are also inspired by the experience of shopping at the various Marc Jacobs stores over the years. Whether that be Marc by Marc or BookMarc or the Speciality Items store, there were things at every price point. So the line ranges from hoodies down to an Every Outfit lighter.
Are there ways in which you could see yourselves expanding the Every Outfit Couture brand/label?
Chelsea: Absolutely. I want to focus on the merch more in the coming year. We want to start selling things that aren’t related to our podcast or Sex and the City. The “Glamourous Women Having Nervous Breakdowns” tee is a good example of that; it stands on its own design-wise.
And we’d like to do more collabs and things like that. Our dream is venturing into alcohol, although who knows if that will happen!
Lauren: If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that there is an audience of sardonic, highly aesthetic people who need ephemera and we are here to design that for them. I would love to get into designing things with a little more lifespan than merch, like home objects, but also items that need to be repurchased, like candles or wine. Sometimes, when I’m folding our shirts with Chelsea, it feels like the end of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. Now, I don’t want to have a store (in this economy?!), but I’d like to wish people to “have an Every Outfit day.”
Who were your collaborators in this? What role did spouses-of-the pod Paul Glover (founder of the design firm Bookplate Studio) and Tatiana Waterford (celebrity stylist) play?
Chelsea: Paul did design work for us. He created the ”Fashion Victims Unit” tee, which I’ve wanted to make forever.
Also, the Chrome Logo tee and the Glamourous Women tee, which was inspired by old romance novels.
He did the Glamorous Women type by hand, which is insane.
He’s so talented. And Tat really helped us with the production and the fit of the clothes. She’s a stylist and a voracious consumer of merch and streetwear, so she knows what an expensive hoodie should look and feel like. And I always wanted her advice when it came to the scale and placement of the graphics. God is in the details!
Any unique stories or anecdotes from this process?
Lauren: Scenes from the unglamorous world of merch: Chelsea and I did rent a U-Haul to drive downtown to pick up all the merch because it was that much. We were so freaked out to drive that giant thing on the freeway that we took surface streets. It took twice as long. It was something out of Ab Fab.
What does it feel like to see what began as an IG account grow to become a podcast, a tour and now merch? You've created an empire, and I'd love to hear your musings at this particular inflection point in seeing your hard work being recognized by so many fans, me among them.
Chelsea: Never in a million years did we think that we would be doing this. We continue to be shocked that the show found an audience, that people want to come to our shows and buy our merch. We truly have the best listeners, and I am including you in that, Evan!
Lauren: From the moment the Instagram was created, something felt different, but we can’t believe the legs it has had. To take something that started as a joke and turn it into something legitimate, something that can stand on its own, is a dream. But it all comes down to the audience who have followed us from Instagram to pod to now wearing our merch on their walks. I love their stories about when they wear the “Fuckette” hat out in the world and the strange looks they get.
Last but not least: Who would be your dream wearer of this merch? If you were to spot someone in a paparazzi photo…
Lauren: Oh, Julia Fox!
Chelsea: Yeah, Julia Fox. She’s the girl of the moment.
Lauren: But Sydney Sweeney in our Every Outfit lips shirt would also be iconic.
If you aren’t wearing a Fuckette hat, then I don’t know you.