- I became interested in old things when I was a kid.

I was the weird kid that, you know, would beg my parents to stop at antique stores and junk stores just so I could go and find something like finding cool old vintage toys from the forties, fifties, sixties.

And that progressed throughout my life of like trying to find really unique things that are from the past.

Everything that you see in here is a manifestation of the things that I like and I hope other people come in and feel the same way.

I had always wanted to own my own brand and I realized that if I don't do it now, I'm probably never going to do it.

So I jumped out on a ledge and took a leap of faith.

I've always been very particular about what I wear.

I started realizing that like the garments that I had had when I was younger were still here, but the new garments that I would buy would only last three, six months and then they had holes in them or they were falling apart.

And that was kind of eyeopening to me because why did something from the nineties tend to last a lot longer than something that I just bought three months ago?

I want to create those sort of legacy pieces that when you die, your grandkids are gonna find it in your closet and be like, whoa, this is super cool.

What is this?

And it's still here.

I had a vision of owning a brand and making the stuff ourselves.

The more I dove into it, the more I realized there had to be manufacturers here in Norfolk making garments for all the people who lived here.

You had dock workers, you had ship builders, you had train yard workers, the military, all these folks.

And we started doing our research at the Slover Library, the Sergeant Memorial collections, seeing who was around, we found union wrong and we liked the name founded in 1901 and the last bit that we could find about them was in the 1920s.

And we don't know if they necessarily went out of business if they were acquired.

It's really hard to find that kind of information.

But we do know nothing seems to exist in the business directories or the papers after, you know, say 19 22, 19 23, we opened in December and realized that three blocks from our current location union overall manufactured in what now is the mill building, which is apartments.

We had seen other brands be revived by individuals who had a passion for history and American heritage brands.

So we were like, well let's do the same thing.

Can I find something from a company that hasn't been around for a hundred years?

Can I find a garment?

And I did.

I ended up with two union overall original pieces.

This whole area where we're located was kind of the textile district for Norfolk.

Back in the day you had knitting Mill Creek right across the way.

We had several other textile factories.

This whole area is kind of historical to what we're bringing back here.

The first item we actually produced was our Fort Norfolk duffle bag.

We had all of these military sea bags and we were like, wouldn't that be cool if we like cut the sea bag down, put our pattern over it, cut it out, and make those into duffle bags?

So that's what we did.

We work on designs, like I'll draw something and in the back we'll bring it to life.

We'll draft the pattern, make a sample, and then once it's where we like it, we'll make it, we want to source our fabrics as close to home as possible.

And that is like we can trace the entire chain from seed to garment.

It tells a story, but it's also, it's sustainable.

I'm very passionate about using natural textiles.

We kind of wanna push the envelope to, to not just be thought of as a work wear brand.

I'm sure that's the history and roots of this company, but I think about like kind of timeless, classic pieces.

What are things that can be staples in your wardrobe?

Old pieces can tell a story.

So I want to create new pieces that are around long enough to be able to inspire that same, all, that same curiosity.

I would love for our clothing to be made that well, that it stands the test of time and people are finding it 90 years from now.

Alright, good to go.

Union overall is a very old company with a new lease on life.

We want to do justice to the brand and bringing it forward into, into this century.

I don't know of any place that looks like this in Hampton Roads, and that's kind of what I wanted.

But I also wanted to have the workspace where we cut and sew, manufacture design in the same space.

Union overall is the brand that makes clothing that really lasts.