People Behind the Product Series: Analiese Zaleski

“Innovative, togetherness, enjoyable” -Analiese Zaleski: ISAIC in a Nutshell

Oftentimes, consumers don’t think about the people behind the product—making it more difficult to empathize with the challenges they face. The apparel manufacturing industry has a history of exploiting human labor for profit, and in order to disrupt the status quo—not only do people need to be aware of the present issues but they need to see the faces of those affected. The more that we humanize the industry by sharing the stories of makers, the more we can further the cause.

That’s why ISAIC is piloting our first People Behind the Product Blog Series! This month, we are spotlighting Analiese Zaleski, a Sewing Specialist Line Lead from Michigan.

Analiese recognizes the disconnect between consumers and creators as a trained sewist herself. When referencing whether people value sewers, she explains, “some people understand it and get it and some people do not. The people who do understand appreciate clothes a lot more, especially from small business owners. Those that don’t get it do not understand the time that is put into making it. They don’t want to pay the price for it even though the quality is better, because they compare you to factories overseas.”

The way to combat this phenomenon is to make people more aware of what really goes into making products or garments, the equipment, time, and the skills needed to make it.” For example, the Carhartt beanies are made by sewers who are very skilled in sewing with knit. There is no pattern to follow when creating the hat, it is pretty much created out of thin air. “It is definitely a skill that needs to be practiced and used every day”, says Analeise.

Before working at ISAIC, Analiese worked at another factory that had “no room for growth within the company and no cross-training”. Commonly, in the apparel manufacturing industry, sewists are not considered for advancement. Analiese decided to look for other opportunities and stumbled upon ISAIC on her internet search. She applied, interviewed, and toured the space where she was immediately drawn to the knitting machine—which, at the time, was one of the few in the United States.

Today, Analiese manages the A-18 hat line here at ISAIC. She details her role as, “I am responsible for making sure the production line has a continuous flow throughout the entire day. When problems on the line arise I try to resolve them as quickly as possible to avoid having the line stop. I also train our apprentices on every step on the line.”

When she first started at ISAIC, Analiese worked as a sewing specialist creating medical gowns during the pandemic. Once the need for gowns started to die down, she was trained on hoodies and jerseys for a sports team client. Later down the road when ISAIC was starting to figure out the Carharrt beanies, Analiese moved over to the hat line where she trained on the beanies for months before ISAIC put it in production. Analiese quickly caught on to sewing the beanies and became the fastest sewer to make a beanie. Analiese came to ISAIC looking to grow within a company and that is exactly what she is doing here, as she advanced from Sewing Specialist to Sewing Specialist Line lead.

Analiese plans to use her time at ISAIC to “continue to learn new skills and gain experience on what it is like to run my own business, especially when it comes to manufacturing products.” She graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor of applied arts in fashion design with a minor in visual merchandising. In school, her classes focused heavily on the design side when it came to creating garments. Making ready-to-wear clothes, like a hoodie that you could buy off the rack, was not taught. However, she learned many skills such as pattern making, CAD, 3D printing, digital design, Modaris, and Kaledo.

Analiese’s favorite innovation at ISAIC so far is the Tukatech laser cutter. It is a single-ply laser cutter used to cut hoodies and jerseys in-house. In addition to loving the innovation at ISAIC, Analiese loves the people even more. In response to “what do you wish others knew about ISAIC that isn’t widely shared?”, Analiese says, “the culture here is very nontraditional compared to your typical work environment; people outside of here probably don’t know that it’s so different than what they are used to. Everyone on the floor is like one big family supporting one another.”

She also notes that ISAIC’s secret sauce is “the people-- we would not be here without the people who put in the effort to make high-quality products. We have some amazing sewers here and it definitely shows.”

For anyone interested in becoming a member of the team, Analiese’s advice is as follows: “if you love to sew or are interested in working in manufacturing then you should come check out ISAIC and meet the team. Don’t let your fear of not having enough experience or fast enough speed keep you from applying. The best experience is learned on the job, and everyone gets better at things they care about and are willing to put the effort into.”

Lastly, if Analiese could create or source a new solution for ISAIC— it would be finding a purpose for the waste created from making the A-18 beanies. “The beanie in its early stages starts out as a tube of knit that is double layered. Once it is crowned the top half of the hat gets cut off and goes into the trash. There is a lot of scrap knit that gets accumulated over time. If there was some kind of use or a way, we could repurpose it for something else that would be amazing for manufacturers who make beanies like us but also for the environment.”  For any innovators, if you’re interested in piloting this solution—give us a call!