Fashion Designer Michael Sullivan is in the HAUS!

All bodies. All people. All the time.

HAUS is a Black- and queer-owned brand that creates gender inclusive clothing with an eco-friendly, gender affirming, and cruelty-free focus. Founded by Denver-based designer Michael Sullivan, along with his friends Shatara Wrigjht and Lindsay Von Leeche, the three met while studying fashion design at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, and it wasn’t long before they curated HAUS and its ideals.

In addition to acknowledging fit for all body types as well as gender nonconforming people, sustainability is a key component of HAUS. All products, promotional works, and designs are produced in-house, and all fabrics and materials are sourced locally as well through their eco-conscious companies nationwide.

Not only are HAUS clients looking fabulous and feeling great about themselves, but they are also helping to save the planet.

OFM caught up with Sullivan to talk more about the brand and its mission, as well as future goals and projects.

Can you begin by telling us more about HAUS and its beginnings?

I went to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and I had already known that I wanted to do design for a very long time. So, this is just a manifestation and a reflection of an eighth-grade queer boy in Colorado Springs. I met some of my closest friends, my best friends and family in college, and I ended up starting the company with Shatara Wright and Lindsay Von Leeche. We started HAUS in 2014, and we became an LLC, I believe in April 2015.

Since then, Lindsay and Shatara both found their own little venues of their creativity and where they wanted to go, and even though we are close, this is what I wanted to do. I was like, “Just let me take it over.” I did, and I rebranded, redeveloped, and repositioned where I wanted HAUS to be and what I wanted it to represent. Since then, we’ve been back in business. We launched a new collection last fall, and then we did a full viewing of the collection on March 12. I feel really good about it.

What is the brand’s overall mission?

We really focus on sustainability, and we want to focus on equity. Not just using “inclusion” as a buzzword, but truly creating a culture that embraces gender affirming clothing, as well as wanting to showcase the beauty in BIPOC communities and Black queer communities. So, I would say our sole mission is to engage the fashion industry in a nonbinary, non-exclusionary way. That’s what I would say the true mission is, but really focusing on creating a movement through fashion, design, and everything that we do, as well as helping the planet as well.

We only do small batch production, all our items are made to order, and if we have to do a run of something, it’s only 50 items of that piece that we’re doing. We’re not doing mass production. We produce everything in house, so we cut, design, and sew everything ourselves.

Has being eco-friendly and sustainable always been an important component to your creative techniques?

Yeah, absolutely. Even when I started designing in eighth grade, I always thought, how can I make clothing that is fun and expressive, but not harmful to a lot of people? You’ll see there’s a lot of finishes on polyurethane or certain products that we wear that are linked to cancer, so we try to find materials and source materials that are either in the U.S. or worldwide that focuses on using methods that don’t use toxic resins, animal byproduct, or certain things of that nature.

I feel like when I first started designing, that was a huge focus because I really wasn’t thinking, oh, I love fur, leather, and things like that. I was thinking about ways to use recycled denim. If there are certain leathers that are recycled, how does that work with us? We’ve been working on that for the past couple years as well.

I love that HAUS is gender inclusive and caters to gender nonconforming people, and we have seen more brands do that over the last couple years. In what ways would you like to see the fashion industry improve even more to be representative?

It’s weird. They’re either focusing on designers that focus on androgyny and gender inclusive clothing, or they’re focusing on the binary, like, just menswear or whatever the case is. My full focus is that clothing has no gender. When I’m designing, I’m creating things that will fit the waist in multiple ways. Whether you’re a size 4 in the waist for femme presenting clothing, or a size, 27, 42, or 44 in the waist. Those are specific things that I want. The fashion industry needs to focus on how multiple bodies and people can wear the designs you made.

Why do you think there’s still a certain stigma when it comes to clothing?

I think there’s always going to be a stigma, and there are these ideas of what something should look like. What I want to do is really focus on, okay, you love this piece, let’s make it custom for you. If you wear a binder, if you happen to not have a bust line, we have certain clients that have cerebral palsy, whatever the case is, it’s about focusing on everyone. Not just focusing on what people look like, and that’s what fashion is.

Of course, we’re looking at the design, how it lays, how it’s been cut, but stop focusing on the individual that you may think wants to wear this. I think if you close it off, you’re closing yourself off to so many people who would want to wear a beautiful custom gown, and maybe they’re not a cisgender woman. I think there’ll always be a little bit of a stigma, but what I do see now and what I am liking is the fact that younger designers are propelling what fashion is. I love that.

What are some of HAUS’ best-selling items?

Oh my gosh. The FEM-ME set that we launched this past fall, that one has been everyone’s favorite. The FEM-ME set has a two-and-a-half-inch waistband, and it’s got a really beautiful wide leg and deep pockets. I developed the pockets to be 13 inches deep, so you can chill and be cozy, but you can fit your phone, air pods, keys, or wallet in there. I wanted it to feel like you’re able to walk around and be loungy, but still be functional and stylish. You can dress it up and dress it down. So, the FEM-ME set has definitely been a top seller.

We also have the Asymm skirt, which is a pineapple leather skirt. It’s two tones, so it has an overlay of this neutral natural colored leather on top of a black leather, and we use piñatex. They make a pineapple leather, and the resin that they use makes it a polyester. Then we get a lot of custom. Right now, we’re working on two weddings, so we’re doing some suiting, some dresses, a lot of different things.

What can we expect from HAUS for the summer?

It’s really a transition process right now. This last collection we did was called “Reclaim Blaq,” which was focused on a reclamation of Blackness and queerness as defined by me, and not anything that has been put out through media, movies, or anything like. Just my experience, and we’re launching the collection in phases. Phase one launched May 6, phase two launched June 2, and then phase three launched on my birthday, July 7.

Within those phases, there are going to be 15 looks that are going to be released for the summer. All the clothing is transitional, so it can be worn in the summer, but we have jackets that can be paired at night, or if it starts getting into pre-fall or -winter, we have items that will transition into there. I am very excited for everyone to see these phases because our campaign is so beautiful, and the message that we want to provoke is “All bodies. All people. All the time.”

From a designer’s perspective, what is your opinion on the Denver fashion scene?

It changes. A few years ago, I felt like it was very athleisure, and it truly was. The way Denver wants to collectively keep Denver separated from other fashion industries such as Los Angeles, New York, or Milan, it really focuses on just athleisure. They’re not worried about the way they’re looking, but if you see the youth community out here, they’re self-expressive and pushing their own bounds and ideas, especially the queer community here. Whether it’s in the ballroom community or a gay club, you see a lot of people just being able to express themselves. I always say it kind of reminds me of The Fifth Element (laughs). It’s just very cool, very futuristic, inspiring, and expressive.

You do see small pockets of it, but the only issue that Denver has is that they’re not putting money into fashion for design, and that’s the crux of it. It’s sad to say that money makes things happen, but if you want people to be successful and you want local designers to thrive, you need to support them by either shopping their products online or putting them in boutiques or stores. I guess you would say, there’s been a stall in the growth of fashion here just because the demographics are people who own certain businesses, but they aren’t super knowledgeable on what fashion trends are happening. I think it’s going to take the entire Denver community to help build that foundation.

You will be setting up new sewing sessions with Denver Design Incubator. Can you talk more about that?

Absolutely! I’m very excited to be working with Denver Design Incubator. They are at the forefront of helping designers get the knowledge that they need, so my goal is to teach more classes from beginner to advanced. We started more classes at the end of May, but I really want to do a few sessions this summer focused on BIPOC queer performers.

Whether they’re drag queens, in the ballroom scene, dancers, musicians, whatever the case is, I want to teach those sessions so that you can learn how to hem a sequin gown. You can figure out how to tailor your jacket if you purchase something from a thrift store. You can make something to last a little bit longer, so you’re not having to go and purchase more and more pieces. So, that’s also going to be my focus this summer.

Hitting the creativity in the BIPOC queer community, and the queer community in general, but really allowing BIPOC folks to have some space and know that this is something that you can do at home. That knowledge is not necessarily given, nor are the resources shared, so I want to give that this summer. I really want to show them, we got this. We can do what we want, and as people grow and progress in that, they’re able to develop their own skills.

What are some future goals you hope HAUS achieves in the next couple years?

I will say this: when I first started HAUS when I was 17, I wrote down a five-year plan, and I did everything I had written down within those five years. My mom used to say, a goal without a plan is nothing but a wish, and while that may be true, the plan will sometimes change. You may have to maneuver, but the goal never does. So, in the next few years, I hope HAUS will have its own flagship store in LA because there’s more space and opportunity for us to grow. Of course, I want to have a retail store here, and I want to showcase that a Black queer person can do anything they set their mind to.

Then I also want to continue to put HAUS on red carpets. We dressed Erica Cobb for the NAACP Image Awards in our gray suit dress, and again, playing with the idea of what suiting looks like. I want to continue doing that because I think that also challenges the conversation, and I also hope to just keep empowering and inspiring people in ways that are meaningful. I love fashion, and I don’t know if I could live without it, but I also think it’s important to speak about the political impacts that our communities are facing right now and figuring out what I can do legislatively as a business owner.

Hopefully, in the next few years, HAUS can help pass certain legislation that’s going to protect drag queens, trans women, and Black trans women. I want to continue to move people with not just what I do, but who I am. I think that’s very important. It’s not secular. What I do is a part of me and it’s something I perfected my craft on, but I’m also consistently figuring out ways I can help build my community and the communities around me, whether it’s financially, by my time, or with advice. I hope I can continue to do that in the next four or five years.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?

Right now, I am working on developing a collection to showcase at New York Fashion Week. We’re in the process of getting all our sponsorship information out, and we’re reaching through every avenue we can because we want to finalize a sponsorship at the end of the year. Then hopefully, we will be able to showcase our new collection for Fall 2024 in February of next year.

Also, we are getting ready to host a BIPOC business forum this summer, which will focus on bringing all Black, Brown, indigenous people and their businesses. They are there to sell their product, so they don’t have to pay a fee, and we’re inviting everyone in the communities and in Denver to come. Then we’re going to do a forum with a lot of BIPOC business owners on how they achieved their goals, how they were able to get capital, etc. So, keep a lookout for that, and hopefully, we will be partnering with Black Pride Colorado on that event.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Sullivan by following him on Instagram @michaelcsully. Follow HAUS on Instagram @haus_hold or visit hausclothing.com.

Photos courtesy of Michael Sullivan and Roy Lee B