Gravel & Gold is a store, a clothing brand, a design studio, a place to stop & chat. We are curators, neighbors, designers, editors, artists, neighbors, aunties, and friends. We think things through, and we make decisions that will have a positive impact on lives, on looks, and on the planet. Here are some of our guiding principles:

CREATIVITY & JOY

We value originality! We love places, people, objects, textiles, and clothing that don’t look or feel commonplace. Things that make you ask questions, start conversations, and wonder: Who made this? What’s this made of? Do I love it? Do I hate it? What does it remind me of?

We like things that spark a light of curiosity, a sense of fun, of accident, of unselfconscious play, a remnant of the pleasure of making!

We make and support original, eccentric expressions of creativity and we believe that our designs and products add joy to daily life.

CONSCIENTIOUS MANUFACTURING

It’s our mission to make high-quality things. We use materials that will hold up, that have character, that will live and work with you and for you. 

We develop all of our styles in-house — Holly makes our patterns — and we design apparel that can be worn flexibly by bodies of different sizes, ages, and gender identities. Many of our styles are designed to be unisex.

All of our garments are cut and sewn by small factories and workshops in San Francisco and LA. We value the people who make our goods, work closely with them, and ensure that they are well paid for their time and skills.

We love natural fibers: cotton, hemp, linen, silk, wool. Materials that are renewable and biodegradable. No micro plastics in the ocean from us, no sir. 

We source our fabrics from trusted mills and vendors in the US, Mexico, Japan, and Australia, then manage our fabric usage and cutting processes obsessively, doing whatever we can to avoid waste.

We are small, so our material impact is small. We don’t overproduce, and if a garment doesn’t work, we find another way to use it. 

We impart our creations with strength and beauty so that they will last, and you will love to make them last. We hope you wear our stuff into the ground, mend it and pass it along when you are through.

COLLABORATION

The way we see it, the absolute best things in life are people. What we love most about G&G is how our work gives us abundant opportunity to be with, talk to, learn from, support, and be supported by so many wonderful, brilliant, creative, and conscientious people. 

We run Gravel & Gold as a collective enterprise, hoping and expecting to be inspired by one another's ideas, expertise, and curiosity. 

We apply this perspective to our garment and print designs, to our relationships with employees and makers, and to the way we interact with our geographical and artistic communities.

COMMUNITY

We are super social critters, and we love all the meeting and gathering that G&G requires and allows: craft fairs, dinner parties, farmers’ markets, art shows, musical performances, work meetings, running into people on the street. (Once upon a time.)

In an increasingly digital world, we’re very happy to have an actual store. Our shop is an intimate, welcoming place and serves as a social hub. We are (or were, before COVID) a CSA farm box pick-up site. We have public benches out front and a hanging chair inside. We welcome kids and the curious to take a load off for a minute or 20. Neighbors of all kinds stop in regularly on their daily routes. We often (again, before COVID) open our doors and host skill-sharing workshops, art openings, seminars, and celebrations. Pop in and tell us who you are, where you are from, and what you are about!

We also support local production. All of our garments are cut and sewn by small factories and workshops here in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Historically, SF was an apparel manufacturing center and the Bay Area is still known to have a large pool of skilled tradespeople. We are proud to support local production, keeping money localized and labor forces employed.

ADAPTABILITY

Our G&G universe has existed for more than 12 years now. It’s gone through phases, and we’ve gone through phases, and as we age and gain experience we bring what we learn to the company.

We’re not inclined to follow trends, but instead progress by listening, responding to, and serving the desires of our beloved customers, friends, selves, and the culture around us. 

The whole point is to have a safe place to be creative and to learn, where we can Do It Ourselves and ask for help from others when we need it.