oliver + s founder, Liesl Gibson, grew up around the sewing machine. Both her mother and grandmother are accomplished seamstresses, and Liesl began sketching clothing designs at age nine, joking that someday she would design her own lines. She eventually taught herself to sew in an afternoon, producing a jumper that she wore the same day.
After working in publishing and finance early in her career, Liesl returned to school and earned a degree in fashion design from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Before her daughter was born in 2005, she worked for such high-profile fashion brands as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.
When Liesl began searching for clothing patterns for her new daughter she was disappointed by the lack of contemporary design and the outdated fit specifications she encountered across the market. Ultimately, she began creating her own patterns. “The potential for for sewing unique and wonderful children’s clothing is limitless,” says Liesl. “But I couldn’t find patterns that inspired me to sew. So I created my own.”
Mothers and grandmothers immediately responded by snapping up the new patterns and starting to sew again for their daughters and granddaughters. Responding to customers’ requests, Liesl debuted her first patterns for boys in the fall of 2008. oliver + s continues to release two new pattern collections each year for girls and boys up to age 12.
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