Inspiring Conversations with Emily Gruber of Apliiq

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Gruber.

Hi Emily, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I co-founded Apliiq in 2009, when I was 22 and still naïve enough to believe that starting an apparel company was a perfectly reasonable idea. Despite plenty of people telling us it was impossible to make and deliver one-of-one custom apparel, we managed to stitch the business together.

Apliiq is a custom-apparel platform that combines online design, on-demand manufacturing—including printing, embroidery, and relabeling—dropshipping, and warehousing. We help creative entrepreneurs launch and grow real clothing brands with premium options like woven labels, private labeling, and more than 1,400 garments to customize.

Seventeen years later, we’ve grown from two people with a wild idea into a family- and employee-owned company with more than 50 team members and production facilities in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Ours is definitely not an overnight-success story. We built Apliiq through years of hands-on work paired with technology that was ahead of its time. We even filed a patent for relabeling garments on demand in a compliant, scalable way—helping independent brands create apparel that feels like the real deal.

Our physical footprint has grown right alongside the business. We started in a 500-square-foot space in Downtown LA, moved to the Arts District, then farther south, and finally settled into our current home in Huntington Park in 2020. In 2021, we opened our Philadelphia facility to provide faster shipping and better service to our East Coast partners.

Today, we compete with companies that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars while remaining proudly family- and employee-owned and independently built. Our work centers on four Ps: People, Products, Purpose, and Passion. We care deeply about our team, the quality of everything we produce, and helping creative entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful clothing brands. The opportunity to work in the arts, create with love, and see our partners succeed is what makes all the hard work worthwhile.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
If an entrepreneur tells you it’s been easy, they’re either lying or haven’t been doing it very long.

We’ve faced plenty of challenges—from rising material costs and unpredictable equipment failures to opening a second factory across the country in the middle of COVID. One of the hardest parts has been building recognition and growing through word of mouth, especially because many customers want to keep us as a secret hidden gem once they discover us!

That said, we wouldn’t change a thing. The journey wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if it were always easy—and the success certainly wouldn’t feel as satisfying.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Apliiq?
Apliiq helps creative entrepreneurs build real clothing brands—not simply put logos on merchandise. We combine an online design platform with on-demand manufacturing, dropshipping, and warehousing, allowing our partners to create, sell, and fulfill apparel without investing in equipment or carrying large amounts of inventory.

We specialize in the details that make a clothing line feel like a true brand. Along with printing and embroidery, we offer woven labels, private labeling, garment relabeling, custom packaging, and more than 1,400 apparel options. Our on-demand model lets entrepreneurs test ideas, introduce new products, and grow at their own pace while we handle production and fulfillment behind the scenes.

What sets Apliiq apart is the combination of technology, craftsmanship, and genuine human support. We own and operate our production facilities in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, which gives us greater control over quality and turnaround times. We’re also family- and employee-owned, so the people making decisions are closely connected to the people making the products.

We’re most proud of helping independent creatives access capabilities that were once reserved for large, established brands. Our partners bring the vision; we provide the tools, expertise, and infrastructure to help turn it into something tangible. When a small clothing line becomes a growing business—and we know we helped make that possible—that’s the best measure of our success.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
It should come as no surprise that I’ve always loved arts and crafts. I asked my parents for a sewing machine for my 10th birthday —which, in hindsight, was probably an early sign of where I was headed.

I later attended the University of Pennsylvania, where I majored in Visual Studies with a focus on art history, design, and architecture. Today, I am honored to work with incredibly powerful, state-of-the-art production tools to help bring our customers’ ideas to life. In many ways, I’m still doing what I loved at 10 years old—only now the sewing machines are more automated, the projects are much bigger, and I have an amazing team creating alongside me.

Pricing:

• Given our multitude of garments and customization options, the best way to see our pricing is to start designing at www.apliiq.com!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.apliiq.com