by Julia Rodriguez
In the wake of the shut downs from the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bria Evans moved back home to Beaumont. Her business at the time, called Dignified Woman’s Apparel, had premiered at New York Fashion Week in 2019, just a few short years after graduating from the Art Institute of Dallas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design in 2016. And, like many of us, Bria took the opportunity to slow down and think about what her next steps would be in this post-pandemic world.
Scrolling through @3125thelabel on Instagram, her rebranded business inspired by Proverbs 31:25, you can see tops, body suits, and adorable spring inspired satin lined bucket hats.
The pieces are stylish and modern, bringing you from work to werk in a few styling changes. Bria’s aesthetic style is the fusion of ready-to-wear made with couture techniques to create one of a kind pieces that can last for more than a few washes.
“People don’t realize how harmful fast fashion is to the environment, or to the workers, and even to consumers,” she said. “Most of what I do outside of actually designing and constructing custom pieces for clients is to educate people about sustainability.”
Poorly constructed clothing bought from popular box stores usually leads to burned money and more waste in landfills.
“I’m doing what I love,” Bria says with a smile, despite the setbacks in the best laid plans, she’s happy to be with her family and friends in Beaumont and to stay busy working on custom orders, designing a new line that will be available on a new website in the coming weeks, interviewing other small business owners on Instagram Live, and welcoming new clients to indulge in themselves now that the world is opening up again.
Promotional photos from when Evans showed her clothing line at NYC fashion week. | Photo credit: Oxford Fashion Studio