Howl Clothing Brings Unique Fashions to Echo Park

In a small house on a quiet Echo Park street, crowded into the front bedroom, Keyla Marquez is crafting unique fashions. The founder of Howl Clothing has been designing and sewing her own garments for the past year and a half.

Marquez started Howl in January 2010 after receiving encouraging feedback from wearing her own handcrafted clothes. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” she confesses. But now that she’s started designing, she hopes down the line to “eventually just do fashion.”

For now, she divides her time between a day job downtown and evenings spent designing and sewing. She learned to sew from her mother who, like her mother before her, had her own fashion line in El Salvador.

“I never have time for anything,” she sighs. Marquez calls herself a perfectionist, devoting time to making each seam and hem flawless. “You have to pay attention to detail,” she says.  

Marquez grew up in the Valley but has made Echo Park home for the past four years.  She finds inspiration in the neighborhood. A walk down Sunset Boulevard led her to purchase a clear plastic tablecloth that was turned into a vest.

“I love plastic,” she enthuses. “It’s just the best.” Other atypical items and fabrics make it into her clothes as well. And Marquez enjoys unusual geometric shapes and seeing the way fabric drapes.

Rhianon Jones, of the Echo Park Independent Co-Op at 1712 Sunset Boulevard, describes Howl’s style as “very fresh, innovative, and original.” She adds that “Howl is definitely not like anything you would get at the mall.” She describes the sartorial style of the neighborhood as “a lot of vintage mixed with fashion-foward styles.” Howl fits right in with that aesthetic, and can be found for sale on their racks.

Marquez is preparing to unveil her next collection of handmade one-of-a-kind pieces for Fall/Winter 2011. You can learn more at howlclothing.com.