Wake Up Babe, It’s Drömtime
By Sydnee Yu
Drömtime is the passion project of USC student and budding jean-trepreneur Thea Welch. Built upon her high school hobby of upcycling thrifted Levi’s, Drömtime is a custom denim brand that strives to promote sustainability through the timelessness of Levi’s, while helping customers find their perfect fit. In a conversation with MASH, Welch described her vision, journey and some exciting projects she has in store.
Q: In your own words, please describe your vision and what you've been working on.
A: Well, I've always loved vintage Levi's, but I think the problem with thrifting them was you might find a wash that you like, but they won't fit you perfectly. So I would go and get them tailored to fit me, and then I would distress them and make them my own. I've been doing this since freshman year of high school. It's just been a hobby of mine. Then my friends started asking me if I could make them jeans and I started working with one tailor exclusively and realized I could kind of scale it. So this summer I went to a ton of flea markets, tried to get a ton of vintage Levis to do this with, and then I ended up meeting people who own wholesale vintage fashion. So I could buy a lot at one time and actually make it into a business.
Q: What does your sourcing process look like for the denim?
A: Currently, I have a lot in stock, just thanks to buying it at flea markets and working with wholesale vintage businesses. I've also been doing small batches of other clothing, like dresses and tops, and some are made to order while others are super limited. The fabric I get for those is from industrial waste or also flea markets.
Q: How have you worked it into your life at USC? How do you think that environment has impacted what you've been doing with the brand?
A: I did a popup at my sorority at Pi Phi, and I want to do more in the future. I'm trying to be a part of Trojan Marketplace and I'm also doing custom appointments. What I've been doing is having people make appointments and then I've been pinning different Levi’s to them and we've been customizing the jeans together and then delivering them a few days later when they’re ready.
Q: What has been the most rewarding part about it so far?
A: It makes me so happy when I see someone walking down the street and I'm like “Oh my God, they're wearing my jeans right now.” It's the best feeling ever. So the goal is just to have as many people wear it as possible.
Q: How have your other interests and studies played into it?
A: I took an entrepreneurship class last semester and the teacher was this amazing woman who was really supportive of everyone in their interests and their endeavors. It was when that ended in May when I really got serious about it and was like, “I want to start this instead of just having it be a hobby.” So that's probably what pushed me to do it. But I've also been interested in sustainability for so long, and I've been interested in fashion for so long. I'm one of the apparel chairs and the sustainability chair at Pi Phi. It just connected so many of my interests: starting the business. Then the name, I'm half Swedish and half American. So I combined an English word and a Swedish word to merge into one, which I thought was really representative of my identity too.
Q: What does the Swedish part mean?
A: “Dröm” means “dream” in Swedish, so it's dream time because it's been my dream for so long to own my own sustainable clothing brand. It's inspirational to me, but it should also be inspirational to anyone else to just follow their dreams. If you wanna do something, just go for it. What's the worst that can happen?
Q: What are you excited for that's coming up for Drömtime?
A: I'm trying to do a launch event. I'm also planning collaborations with other small designers on select pieces of denim, which I'm really excited for. We were going over some plans yesterday. It's gonna be really cool.
Q: How would you describe the fashion community at USC and the experience you've had working with other small designers?
A: I would say it's very inclusive and everyone's just excited for the new things that are popping up and just wants to be in the know of what's happening, and they're supportive of each other.
Q: What's one thing that you've learned since you kind of started this journey?
A: It's not as easy as it seems, but it's rewarding in the end. For example, this tailor that I worked with since I was 14 years old, when I thought I found my guy, he quit on me. In August, right before school started and I was like, “Okay, now I don't have anyone to do the jeans. Now I need to go find new people.” Then I went testing tailors across all of LA to find a good one, and some are super expensive and take a long time. Others are bad quality, like a lot of trial and error, which I wasn't expecting to have to go through with.
Q: Lastly, what is one fashion inspiration that you've had throughout this process? Whether it's a designer in the industry or a trend or concept.
A: The idea of timelessness, of just wanting to wear timeless clothing and wanting people to think about the clothes that they're buying and investing in pieces that will last and that you can wear for several different occasions. Or just good quality clothing and vintage Levi’s. It's definitely that. If they're custom made to you or you've happened to find your size, they'll last pretty much forever. I wear vintage Levi’s that my mom wore in the seventies, and I feel like there's nothing more timeless than denim.
Q: In your own words, please describe your vision and what you've been working on.
A: Well, I've always loved vintage Levi's, but I think the problem with thrifting them was you might find a wash that you like, but they won't fit you perfectly. So I would go and get them tailored to fit me, and then I would distress them and make them my own. I've been doing this since freshman year of high school. It's just been a hobby of mine. Then my friends started asking me if I could make them jeans and I started working with one tailor exclusively and realized I could kind of scale it. So this summer I went to a ton of flea markets, tried to get a ton of vintage Levis to do this with, and then I ended up meeting people who own wholesale vintage fashion. So I could buy a lot at one time and actually make it into a business.
Q: What does your sourcing process look like for the denim?
A: Currently, I have a lot in stock, just thanks to buying it at flea markets and working with wholesale vintage businesses. I've also been doing small batches of other clothing, like dresses and tops, and some are made to order while others are super limited. The fabric I get for those is from industrial waste or also flea markets.
Q: How have you worked it into your life at USC? How do you think that environment has impacted what you've been doing with the brand?
A: I did a popup at my sorority at Pi Phi, and I want to do more in the future. I'm trying to be a part of Trojan Marketplace and I'm also doing custom appointments. What I've been doing is having people make appointments and then I've been pinning different Levi’s to them and we've been customizing the jeans together and then delivering them a few days later when they’re ready.
Q: What has been the most rewarding part about it so far?
A: It makes me so happy when I see someone walking down the street and I'm like “Oh my God, they're wearing my jeans right now.” It's the best feeling ever. So the goal is just to have as many people wear it as possible.
Q: How have your other interests and studies played into it?
A: I took an entrepreneurship class last semester and the teacher was this amazing woman who was really supportive of everyone in their interests and their endeavors. It was when that ended in May when I really got serious about it and was like, “I want to start this instead of just having it be a hobby.” So that's probably what pushed me to do it. But I've also been interested in sustainability for so long, and I've been interested in fashion for so long. I'm one of the apparel chairs and the sustainability chair at Pi Phi. It just connected so many of my interests: starting the business. Then the name, I'm half Swedish and half American. So I combined an English word and a Swedish word to merge into one, which I thought was really representative of my identity too.
Q: What does the Swedish part mean?
A: “Dröm” means “dream” in Swedish, so it's dream time because it's been my dream for so long to own my own sustainable clothing brand. It's inspirational to me, but it should also be inspirational to anyone else to just follow their dreams. If you wanna do something, just go for it. What's the worst that can happen?
Q: What are you excited for that's coming up for Drömtime?
A: I'm trying to do a launch event. I'm also planning collaborations with other small designers on select pieces of denim, which I'm really excited for. We were going over some plans yesterday. It's gonna be really cool.
Q: How would you describe the fashion community at USC and the experience you've had working with other small designers?
A: I would say it's very inclusive and everyone's just excited for the new things that are popping up and just wants to be in the know of what's happening, and they're supportive of each other.
Q: What's one thing that you've learned since you kind of started this journey?
A: It's not as easy as it seems, but it's rewarding in the end. For example, this tailor that I worked with since I was 14 years old, when I thought I found my guy, he quit on me. In August, right before school started and I was like, “Okay, now I don't have anyone to do the jeans. Now I need to go find new people.” Then I went testing tailors across all of LA to find a good one, and some are super expensive and take a long time. Others are bad quality, like a lot of trial and error, which I wasn't expecting to have to go through with.
Q: Lastly, what is one fashion inspiration that you've had throughout this process? Whether it's a designer in the industry or a trend or concept.
A: The idea of timelessness, of just wanting to wear timeless clothing and wanting people to think about the clothes that they're buying and investing in pieces that will last and that you can wear for several different occasions. Or just good quality clothing and vintage Levi’s. It's definitely that. If they're custom made to you or you've happened to find your size, they'll last pretty much forever. I wear vintage Levi’s that my mom wore in the seventies, and I feel like there's nothing more timeless than denim.