alchemai is a brand inspired by the concept of alchemy, representing the transformation and growth that individuals experience throughout their lives. we believe that alchemai is more than a brand, it's a source of comfort and security, both physically and emotionally allowing you to seek within.
we currently release seasonal limited edition pieces. once a collection is released, we almost never release the same exact pieces ever again.
meet the team
why did we create alchemai?
"when i was a teenager, i always wore oversized men's XL hoodies. whether i was feeling down, cleaning my room at 2 AM, or needed something to quickly wear before heading out, it was my go-to look. it made me feel free , without having to worry about how i was going to look because i could hide in the bagginess of the hoodie.
however, they always had excessively long sleeves that would always get wet from washing my hands, or i'd accidentally get my sleeves dirty when i ate. haha! and since they were men's hoodies, they had a boxy, unflattering fit.
in 2021 i moved to Los Angeles and was surrounded by so many clothing factories, so i decided to take a chance on myself and attempt to design the perfect oversized hoodie for myself.
i only wore XL hoodies, so i was only interested in designing that one-size. every manufacturer told me straight to my face that it would never work.
"if it was a good idea, people would've been doing it already,"
"there's a reason why people don't have scrunched ribbing, it looks cheap,"
they'd let me come into the production offices because they wanted to see how long i'd last before giving up so they could call me "just another kid in LA with a passion project"i wish i was joking, but i am for real quoting them word for word. at the end of the day, i was an 18-year-old girl with no prior clothing design or fashion knowledge, in a room full of older men who make clothes for a living day in and day out.
after a year of A LOT of trials and errors, i finally created a one-size hoodie that fits sizes XS-3XL!
and two years after everyone said my idea would fail, alchemai's most recent collection sold 6000 hoodies in under seven minutes. so thank you so so much for putting your trust in us. i started alchemai because i was genuinely passionate about what i was making and i hope to continue generating new ideas that excite me and serve a purpose for you.
p.s. to whoever's reading this: don't let your fear of looking stupid hold you back. if i had listened to people's opinions, alchemai wouldn't be what it is today."
our process
where it's made:
we take pride in the quality we deliver, which is why everything we make is currently designed and manufactured in Los Angeles. the benefit of this is that we get to be in the factory and sample as many times as we need to get the piece to look exactly how we want it to.
Justin, our production manager, is at the factories almost every day ensuring that everything is running smoothly and quality control is being maintained. While the rest of the team is in NYC designing and managing the projects, they communicate constantly back and forth throughout the day, sending pictures of samples and making sure what happens on the design end is reflected at the factories in LA.
custom milled fabric:
our high-quality, custom-milled fabric goes through an intensive process starting in los angeles. starting off as a terry fabric, it's then gently brushed and padded to ensure that soft and fleecy touch you'll feel. unlike most typical hoodie/sweat fabrics, we use a poly-cotton blend known for breathability, making it the perfect fabric for warm or colder weather.
our custom fabric provides alchemai pieces with durability. the cotton fibers add softness and breathability, combined with the polyester fibers, making the fabric strong and long-lasting. this combination means that alchemai can withstand repeated washing and wear without losing its shape or color. this also means that our fabrics are less likely to pill, tear, or wear out over time.
custom fit:
when it comes to the fit of our pieces, everything we make is a custom cut-and-sew. meaning that instead of buying a blank (like most clothing brands), we carefully design each piece to have a custom fit from scratch, tweaking every small detail on the piece of clothing. there is no other piece of clothing like alchemai. each of our pieces took anywhere from 6-12 months to design.
designer Mai Pham likes to pull together her favorite pieces from her closet and take her favorite parts from each piece and put them into her own design which is alchemai. we try to make it as easy as possible to shop online because we know how hard it can be to find something that fits. that's why we took our time to develop a one-size hoodie/zip-up that fits a variety of body shapes and sizes. and when it comes to our sweatpants, we added things such as adjustable leg openings so it can be straight leg or scrunched to fit as many heights as possible.
functionality:
did you know that the inside of the kangaroo pocket has another secret pocket on the inside that allows you to store your keys, cards, headphones, or whatever you desire without worrying about things falling out?
same goes for our sweatpants. on one of the pockets, we added a secret pocket with a zipper so that you don't have to worry about anything falling out. trust us, we know the feeling of losing your things when you need something, and that anxious feeling is the last thing you need when you wear alchemai.
we also added cords to the bottom of the alchemai sweatpants so you can choose to have it scrunched or straight leg which allows more options for how you want the sweatpants to look, and allows you to adjust the length to fit as many humans as possible.
our hoodies have a large oversized hood that also doubles as a sleeping mask. at any time, you can pull the hood over your face and sleep within. whether your hair is up in a bun or if you're wearing large over-the-ear headphones, you can trust that the alchemai hood can still fit. this also allows for a cozy fit that doesn't feel restricting.
everything at alchemai is designed with functionality in mind. the question we ask ourselves before designing any piece is, how can we make this different than anything else? trust us, we understand it can be nerve-racking purchasing something online that you've never tried before, that's why we want to make sure you're confident in what you're buying.