We are heartbroken to announce that our partner Portland Garment Factory (PGF) was burnt to the ground early last week and declared a total loss.
On Monday morning April 19, Britt Howard, owner of PGF was notified by authorities that her building was in flames. Investigators ruled it an arson fire that was set in a dumpster beside the building by an unidentified suspect.
The factory was the workplace of 15 exceptional women who had lost their machines and computers - along with our materials and finished products. Thankfully the Portland community has been tremendously supportive, and we are carrying the courage to reestablish our vision and dreams.
This year Carry Courage was ready to scale up, and after months of searching for a partner to collaborate with, we finally came across PGF. In January we started working together to digitize our patterns and streamline the manufacturing process.
Before, we were working with a made-to-order business model, but we were ready to grow and gain some financial sustainability. We were about to start production when we heard about the devastating fire that stripped PGF of their livelihoods.
Watch the news report by KGW News on the Portland Garment Factory fire:
While PGF rebuilds their workspace, we will carry on as before and return to our home studio to produce our existing line. We intend to restart production with PGF as soon as they’re back on their feet and support them as best we can. In the meanwhile, we appreciate your patience while we create your bespoke items with time and love.
If you would like to support PGF, you can follow them on Instagram to track their progress and offer support and encouragement. You can also donate to their Go Fund Me campaign to help them on their venture of finding a new space.
From our side, we’d like to donate 10% of all profits this month to PGF to help them buy new machines, pay employees’ salaries, and secure a new facility!