Who We Are

Mission

Create beautiful, livable clothing that makes you feel good through and through. It’s a feeling rooted in joyful design, impeccable craftsmanship, and knowing what your purchase supports:

>> women artisans and the generational ripples of their empowerment

>> materials and production methods that minimize harm to the planet

>> preservation and amplification of culturally significant old-world techniques

>> a woman-owned startup that leans way into being a labor of love

Vision

Alissi is about helping people through fashion, by inspiring consumers to buy better and challenging the industry to be better.

Our Founder

Alissi exists because Megan Blattspieler found the perfect dress for $1.

She was picking through a thrift shop in Palm Springs when she saw a spray of pink and yellow blossoms on blown-out chartreuse. The sprightly 1960s house dress by Alice made her smile the second it was zipped. It made everyone smile.

This was the dress, the sure thing on worst days and best. Megan wanted more of that feeling, so she dove into a fashion era that was influential without being overdone. Shifts to shirtdresses, mod shapes to wild prints, nothing was too fitted and everything was playful. These were feel-good clothes, and threads of a life change that brought her full circle.

Megan was a lifelong lover of the artistry of clothing, from construction to tastemaking, and she started her career in fashion merchandising in New York. It was intense and eye-opening, seeing the industry from the inside. Ultimately, Megan found herself looking for a better fit. She spent years in corporate tech in her hometown of San Francisco, but there was always a tug to return to fashion on her own terms.

A Vogue article finally lit the fire. It detailed a dynamic nonprofit in rural India that was realizing the dreams of local women and independent brands across the globe. Saheli Women promoted everything Megan believed in around ethics, sustainability and craftsmanship, its workers breaking out of generational poverty and stifling social norms while making high-quality product for international designers.

India was already deep in Megan’s heart. After earning her art history degree in 2009, she volunteered as a preschool English teacher in the southern city of Bangalore and lived with a local family. She spent three months exploring the country, from the green mountains of Darjeeling and stunning monuments of Delhi to Mumbai's packed streets and Rajasthan's audacious colors. She remembers it being overwhelming in the best way – the ancient art that was everywhere, the consuming aromas and flavors, and especially the kindness of the people.

Megan returned to Rajasthan in 2019 to meet Saheli Women founder Madhu Vaishnav and her team of artisans. Inspired by the $1 dress and other treasures of ’60s vintage, Megan had drawn recreations and originals within her design vision of keeping styles easy, flattering and feminine. Saheli Women turned those sketches into samples, the materials and techniques representing the best of the old world and current movements for a better one.

In creating Alissi, Megan saw a way to directly impact some of the most exploited workers in fashion, and inspire more consumers to learn the industry’s failings and demand change. Each piece is literally tied to the story of its maker, and Megan hopes all who wear Alissi will feel and be moved by that connection.

"In fashion, production people never get the recognition, but somebody is making these beautiful things. These women need to be seen and celebrated," Megan says, "and I am honored to work with them and help bring their stories forward."