From Content Creator To Fashion Founder: How Allegra Shaw Built the Perfect White T-Shirt

0:28There was a for lease sign. that her closet was missing the perfect baby tee. We didn't want to just slap a name on something. If we were going to create clothing, it was going to be clothing that you were going to wear forever. Six years later, Uncle Studios has grown organically to a seven-figure clothing brand, all while staying completely self-funded. I had a fashion founder tell me kind of recently that you need a million dollars to start a fashion brand. I was like, yeah, I didn't do that. Today, Allegra is here to share her strategies for content creation, setting up production, and opening a flagship store.

1:06Allegra, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. So excited to have you here and not just on my screen. So you started YouTube at a time where not a lot of your peers or friends were doing that. And you also decided to start your own business six years ago when not a lot of content creators were doing that. I guess, What is your drive for doing the different thing and also allowing yourself to pivot and take on new challenges? When I started YouTube, there was no drive for it to be a job. It wasn't a job. It was a hobby. It was such a, I feel like, a niche group of people. And I was just watching.

1:43And I was always that person that, like, people would come to me for, like, hair and makeup tips. I don't really know why. But when I saw there was a community on YouTube, I wanted to be a part of that. And so I started it just as a hobby for a very long time. There wasn't really brand deals or people making money. So it was just like a fun little hobby that I turned into a job. Never really saw it becoming a career at all. And then starting a fashion line, it's kind of the same thing. I don't think I think too far ahead. I really do try to live in the moment. And so we were like, this could be cool.

2:19This could be fun. And I think going into fashion, you have to be a little bit naive. because otherwise I don't think you would do it. There's so many large fashion labels, a lot of competitors. Everyone is making a t-shirt, but I think to your point, right, going with what calls to you, what you're excited about. But the thing is you were able to build community and have people like tune into you every single week. What do you think fellow founders can take from that to make sure they're building a little bit into their own content and building community that way? I think you have to think about what you want to watch.

2:54Anytime I'm making content, whether it's uncle content or my own content, I'm always thinking about like, what do I like? What am I interested in? What would make me stop and watch? Because right now, especially, it is very oversaturated. So making sure that you're appealing to what you like instead of trying to appeal to what everyone else likes, I think is really important because otherwise you're just kind of going to get lost in the sauce and you're going to create content that you've already seen. seen. You know, there's so much out there right now. Yeah. We forget that we are also the viewer.

3:26So like, yeah, what do I want to see out there? I also think during COVID, there was like a big surge of founders who are kind of building in public, sharing how they're building their business. You did that a bit before. What do you think about like building content for a business while you're also creating your own content? Yeah, it can be overwhelming. I mean, you're, I'm creating a lot of content. I wouldn't say that I think I'm the best at showing the behind the scenes because it can again, be like super overwhelming to do that. But I think when you do do that, it really gets people invested in the business because they feel like they're, they're building the business with you.

4:03I think like having a strong brand identity where you know what kind of content you're creating for both can help you separate it. And also I really have tried to build Uncle in a way separate from me so that, yes, I have to be the face of the brand and we do show a lot, but it also can be created by other people. And so I can be more behind the scenes there and we can have other people create the content because the brand is its own thing. It's its own separate entity that has its own identity. And so that's what we've tried to do, although intertwined, it is separate. Let's talk about the fact that, you know, you didn't undertake a whole fashion label in the beginning.

4:46It was just searching for the perfect t-shirt. What was that process like trying to reach out to suppliers, talking to manufacturing partners? Yeah. So our first product was the white t-shirt and it is still the same pattern we use today. It's our best-selling item. We had no idea what we were doing, like just no idea, but we did have determination that we were going to figure it out. And I think that is something that we've kind of taken into everything is that we're just going to figure it out. If we don't know how to do it, we'll figure out how to do it. So we drove around all the outskirts of Toronto, Mississauga and Scarborough, and we didn't have any connections in the industry.

5:22We, again, didn't know what we were doing. So just knocking on those doors, sending so many cold emails of like, this is what we want to do, taking meetings, and then those people kind of holding our hand through that process. Did we probably get screwed over a little bit at the beginning or pay more than we should. Yeah, but that is kind of the lessons you learn when you're starting from ground zero. You were driving around outskirts of Toronto trying to find the right production partner. What was on your checklist for making sure that they were the right person to work with? Honestly, at the beginning, I feel like we didn't really have a big checklist because we didn't really know what we were doing.

5:57So it's kind of like whoever was going to take us. The nice thing about Toronto is you can actually go into the factories and actually like see what's going on. But as we grew and, you know, we start working overseas, there are certifications that we do look for. Shrin's amazing at that. She knows what she's looking for to make sure that, you know, ethical labor, good manufacturing processes with water and toxic chemicals, et cetera. And so she does a great job at really making sure that they're being compliant. When you're trying to reach out to people, someone cold, what's kind of like the key components to make sure that they're actually reading the emails and responding to you?

6:37Yeah. So I used to do production when we really like first, first started. And then my business partner, Shirin, took that over. And I would say she's really mastered the cold email because we still do that today when we're trying to find new manufacturers for a new category. She's definitely told some white lies. She's definitely told the manufacturer that maybe we knew someone we didn't, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do to get in the door. Because once they kind of get your concept and also are excited about your ideas, I think they can see also the impact that you have with the brand as well.

7:11Yeah. I mean, as a business, your manufacturer is your right hand. Like without them, you can't make your product. So you have to get them on board and get them as excited and invested in your business as you are? I think funding that first production is really difficult. It's a lot of financial investment. And also you're not sure if you're able to move those units. How do you fund that first production and how do you also move the t-shirts? Yeah. So we're a completely bootstrap business to this day. I had been doing YouTube and that was my job at the time. We had a little bit of savings. And so we started the business with like five grand, like it was nothing.

7:51especially in clothing, that's nothing. I had a fashion founder tell me kind of recently that you need a million dollars to start a fashion brand. And I was like, yeah, I didn't do that. That was really dumb. Cause it is really expensive and fashion specifically moves really quickly. So 15 months sometimes lead time to then get your ROI and you know, you have to keep up with fashion trends and whatever. So we didn't really think too much ahead if we were going to be able to move the t-shirts. Like, I'm not going to lie. It wasn't like a really thought out, we didn't have a business plan. Is that a good thing?

8:22Probably not. But I think there is kind of two ways to do business. Either like have your business plan, you know what you're doing, you're getting your investment and you will experience growth faster or you kind of feel it out. This is our first business as well. So we've been feeling it out. The growth has probably been slower than it could have been, but I feel very confident that like we've made a lot of mistakes. We've learned from our mistakes as well. And so we know we really are like in the business and we know everything about it. We are lucky that I had a community already when we were building.

8:55So people did already trust all the recommendations I was providing. And I wasn't trying to sell people a bad product. I really wanted to make a really good product that people were gonna love and it was gonna last in their wardrobe. And honestly, I do think we did that. I think the t-shirt is fantastic. We've changed the material and then landed on our final. But in the end, the construction and the fit, I think is super timeless. Yeah, over 3000 white t-shirts have sold alone. Yeah, it shocked me. I didn't even know that. Yeah, sure. And with the numbers. Yeah. But I think this is also so interesting, right?

9:30Because at that period in time in YouTube, a lot of creators were just kind of putting a logo, putting their name on a merch item, a hoodie, something like that. But you did take that different route where you wanted to build something from scratch to the design that you wanted. You wanted to do things differently. and it is hard. Yeah, I do like to do hard things apparently. I didn't want to just like put, for lack of a better word, more garbage. There's so much out there. There's so many pieces of clothing. And if I was going to make clothes, I wanted to do it right. And Shrin felt the exact same way.

10:06We didn't want to just put more polyester or like ill-fitting garments or just slap a name on something to make money. That's not our ethos. Those aren't our values. So if we were going to create clothing, it was going to be clothing that you were going to wear forever. I didn't want a quick turnaround. I want people to buy our products and live in them. And that's why one of our taglines is the clothes you live in because it is all the stuff that you do your everyday in, not just your quick Instagram photo, get rid of the items. I can't get behind that. Anything in business, I need to feel really good about in my gut.

10:45So that's kind of why we do what we do. Yeah, that's a good guiding North Star. Especially you were wanting to find local manufacturers. You wanted great materials, sustainable practices. All those things is hard to account for when you're thinking about unit economics. So how do you make sure that the pricing and everything makes sense? We started our manufacturing in Canada. We don't have that many manufacturers, specifically in Ontario. And the ones that we do have really work with very specific yarns. So we did move a lot of our production overseas during the pandemic because a lot of the manufacturers were making like PPE.

11:22And so we're now actually in the process of bringing a lot back. So we have moved around. We do manufacture kind of all over the world. Shrin's a great negotiator. She tries to get the price as low as possible, but it is expensive to make clothes, right? I think people forget that every garment is made by a person. The cloth is cut by someone. It's sewn by someone. The tags are hand sewn. And so that is expensive. People need to be paid living wages. And unfortunately or fortunately, when you're using materials that aren't just synthetic, again, it's expensive. So making clothes is expensive. And so the price point is not cheap.

12:02But I do believe in cost per wear. And I do believe if you are investing in great quality basics that you can get a lot of wear out of, in the long run, it is cheaper than just buying, you know, your quick$10 thing that you're going to throw it in, I don't know, a month. Yeah. Yeah. How have you managed the cash flow for future productions? Cash flow is probably the biggest challenge that we have as a business. I think a lot of businesses have that challenge, but specifically in fashion, it is a huge challenge, as of what I said, you know, like you're putting so much money up front for your return later.

12:39So, I mean, we have taken Shopify Capital and other forms of capital like that, but we've never had an investor when I say bootstrapped. Like we don't, we didn't have like a large injection of money, but Shopify Capital specifically has really helped us kind of just like help with our production runs or making sure that, you know, at the end of each month, everyone's getting paid. Yeah, yeah. I think like, especially leading up to big sale periods like Black Friday, the holiday season, it's important to invest in inventory before then. Definitely. You touch on the fact that you only started with$5 ,000 mostly for inventory and the brand is still very much organic.

13:18You don't actually invest in paid ads. Yes. Yeah, that's an incredible feat, right? It means that the community you build trusts you and is open to the fact that you're sharing about your business. I think it's often tough. A lot of people, they have a hard time trying to start selling towards the community. What do you think has made this work for you? Because the community is actually excited about Uncle Studios. I mean, the community that we've built is everything without them. We don't have a business. And I do think that trust is very important. So they know that we are making products that when they do spend their hard earned money on it, that they're going to have and they're going to love and they're going to wear.

13:58So when you're building community, that trust also really needs to be built. And that can be through transparency, through obviously having a good quality product, but that needs to be built or else you're going to have a one-time buyer that isn't going to trust you. And for you, you're sitting on the cusp because you get approached by brands to work with them and you also work with influencers and creators with Uncle Studios. being experienced with both sides. What is your advice for kind of like thinking about influencer marketing as a brand? Yeah, I do have a unique perspective because I obviously am on both sides and I think it has helped us work with creators.

14:38Again, we don't have a big budget or any budget. So I really do put trust in our product and I gift to people who I think have great style or have great ethos or are gonna love the product. And I do believe that when those people get the product, they are going to love and wear it. And so I always hope for organic because I do think that if you're asking a creator to do work, they need to be paid for that work. And right now that isn't in our budget. So everything is just organic. It's here's the product. If you like it, obviously, it'd be so great if you could post about it. But that's kind of how we work right now.

15:14So with your experience seeding and gifting different influencers, has there been a really impactful interaction? I think anytime any of the influencers that we see post, it obviously has a positive impact on us, which is great. My friend Alana, she has a very loyal community. And every time she posts, it's been very impactful for us. And that is also something that's really nice about being an influencer is that I do have a lot of friends already in the community. So, you know, they support you and then you support them when they have a launch. Yeah, yeah. Love that. All organic growth, a little hiccup, maybe a little hurdle with Facebook that turned you away.

15:52What happened there? We got hacked. And so our account was in bad standing and we just can't get our account back. And we've just been blocked from doing ads because we got hacked and I got money stolen from us. So happened on the Uncle account and my personal Facebook account too. So just no Facebook ads for now until we sort that out whenever that will be. It's been like years, but yeah. Well, hey, you build a seven-figure brand all organically with community building. I think that's incredible. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Going back to what is guiding you with your own content, and it ties back to how you're driving the ship for Uncle Studios as well.

16:30And then I think the fact that you've experienced so much with pop-ups is also such a great learning point for understanding what the customer and the community wants. And I think so many brands are trying to experiment with retail and in-person interactions. what are some things they should keep in mind before they dive in? I think you should definitely be there as the founder. And if it's your first pop-up, like you should 100 % be there because you need to listen. I think what we did in our pop-ups was we stood outside of the change room. And whether people knew us or not, we were listening to what people are saying.

17:04Because especially when there's like two friends in two change rooms, they'll be talking back and forth. and you get a lot of insight into fit, into quality, into fabrics and what they're saying. So I think being there and just listening, you don't have to say anything, just literally taking notes. Also knowing how much your pop-up costs and how much you need to make that weekend to, or however long you're doing your pop-up to make it a success and what that success looks like to you, I think is important. How many pop-ups did you experiment with before you were comfortable with tackling a flagship store?

17:35We did four pop-ups around Toronto. It was always on our vision board that we were going to have a store. Did we have a timeline for that? No, but we knew like with the community we're building, we wanted to have an in-person place for people to come touch and feel the clothes, hang out and see the brand in real life. So our pop-ups were kind of test dummies for what location would work, what kind of vibe would work. And I think we're really good at like doing themes. So, you know, our first one was kind of just like our first in real life activation, kind of doing like community events. And then we did one that was like a 70s living room during Christmas, which was really fun.

18:16We did one in the East End to kind of test that location. It was based off the movie La Piscine. So very like French countryside inspired. And then we did an 80s nostalgic convenience store, which was really cool. And that's the one we did on Ossington, which is where our store ended up being. It was so great to do pop-ups because you get to talk to the customer, you get to learn about them in real life, and then you get to see how they interact with the brand and your product. And that's kind of how we ended up choosing the Ossington location because that pop-up was definitely like our biggest success.

18:50And I feel like it made the most sense for the brand and it felt the most natural for the brand. but funny enough the location that we got I actually toured in like 2021 and there was another brand going into the spot that we were in that I had a feeling wasn't going to work on and I actually told the real estate agent I was like let me know when they go under because I'll take it then and we have a like a bulletin board in the store that has just some like family memorabilia we're we're really into nostalgia and there's a text that I sent Shirin in 2020 being look how cute these little houses are on Ossington.

19:26And it's like a photo of our store. So I feel like I did really manifest that location. And yeah. And then in 2024, like April, I was walking down Ossington and there was a for lease sign on it. And I immediately called the real estate agent. I was like, let's see it. And Trina was like, we have no money. And I was like, we're going to do it. I mean, I'm taking manifestation tips from you. That's incredible. I do like how you guys balance each other out because you have the dreams and she's like bringing with the logic and the budget. She has to bring me back down to real life. But we really are an extension of each other.

19:59And I do feel very lucky that I have a business partner who and best friend. She is. She was my best friend first. So I feel very lucky that we have that because I don't think I'd want to do business another way. I love our dynamic. She definitely brings me back down to earth a lot, which I need. Yeah. Yeah. Again, I think, yeah, you're doing things differently because we're told not to go into business with friends or family. Yeah, which is very fair. It's not easy. And I've worked with a lot of my friends. I work with Sharon, who's my best friend. My cousin, Bobby's also a co-founder. So I do understand why they say that.

20:35And a lot of it has to do with communication and getting your communication down. It can be very challenging. But once you kind of get over that and you know that like relationship first, business second for us, that was the case, then everything kind of becomes easy. Well, when you guys were discussing the Ossington flagship, what were some of the things that you guys were kind of keeping in mind on your checklist to make sure that this was a good decision to invest in? We did a few pros and cons for sure. But again, it was always on the vision board. We knew that our community wanted to see the clothes in real life.

21:08They wanted to be able to try on it. We were getting DMs all the time. Is there a place we can try on? I can't buy jeans online. You know, all of those DMs were coming in. And when we did pop-ups, we saw the community show up. We saw them come out. We saw them try on. We would listen to them. And so we knew it was a good decision, but it was how are we going to do it? How can we get the money? Because I don't like to do anything half-assed. So I knew that if we were going to build a store, like we were going to build it and we were going to make it feel like the brand. that's harder than just like, okay, we have a location.

21:41Let's just put some racks up and start selling clothes. So we had to find money and we had to find a contractor who was willing to do it in a very short amount of time. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's also a great marketing point as well. Foot traffic, people who might not be even familiar with a brand also getting exposed to it. And when you think about just like the financial side of things, What were some of the questions you guys were asking about like the investment into the lease, the foot traffic that it might bring, and also hopefully the growth of the brand from the flagship? Yeah, I mean, like I'm from Toronto.

22:16Shrinzel's from Toronto. So we know what Ossington is like and we know what it's like in the summer. We also are friends with the people at Cotton. So we had some sort of insight into like what that traffic looks like. They also have a store in Ossington and they've been very helpful for us. So we did know that it was going to be good. We got money from the bank after a lot of bank meetings, specifically for the store renovation. And so we just kind of like anything, went into it a little naively and just jumped in. I do like to jump and just go for it and be like, okay, well, this is it. Let's just, let's just go.

22:54Yeah. And it's interesting, right? Because initially when you saw the property, it didn't quite work out. It went to someone else. And then even kind of tying back to the early days of chatting with suppliers, there is an element of things maybe not working out right now, some rejections, and then eventually things fall into place. Yeah. How do you navigate that? Like handling a little bit of rejection, but keeping yourself motivated? I trust the timing. I trust the timing of my life. I'm like, this is just going to work out. I really have a strong gut that it's just going to work out. And so I don't ever really see a rejection as a full stop no.

23:34It's like, OK, well, it's a no now, but maybe in the future. Or maybe that is for something else. So maybe a supplier said no, but in the future, there's actually a better project. Or we have better negotiation skills. So now we can actually go back to that manufacturer and bring the price down so that it actually makes sense for us. Or the store, we couldn't afford it when I first saw it. Like we could not have paid that rent. And we didn't also have the skills to be able to find someone to build it, open the store, hire staff. Like there's a huge learning curve when it comes to opening a store.

24:08And we didn't have those skills. So again, it's like trusting the timing. It's like that wouldn't have worked out then. it probably would have fully bankrupted us, to be honest. And so now when we opened it in 2024, we did have the skills, we had the time, we knew how to get money for it. It's all of those things. And so that timing was perfect. The pop-ups, I feel like definitely helped too, to just like level up the learning. And yeah, to your point, you know, like both yourself and Shuren don't have design experience, but you know what you want as a consumer, similar to how, you know, what kind of content you wanted as a viewer.