THE S’EDGE OF SUCCESS

ANALEISE AND JOHN THOMAS CREATED THEIR NEW CLOTHING LINE FROM SCRATCH. AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS OF RESEARCHING PRODUCTION MANAGERS, FACTORIES AND FABRIC VENDORS, THE THOMASES MANAGED TO ASSEMBLE A COMPANY THAT NOT ONLY EXCITED THEM, BUT ALSO FULFILLED THE NEED FOR A HIGH-QUALITY T-SHIRT BRAND. THUS, S’EDGE WAS BORN

article by Starla Gatson | photography by Kelly Moore Clark

Despite being born and raised in the south, a region of the United States characterized by its slower pace and easygoing way of life, Analeise Reeves Thomas loves to be on the move. She feels comfortable in the midst of change and excitement, making her chosen field of work — the ever-evolving fashion industry — a perfect fit. But it is not just the fast-paced nature of the trade that fuels Thomas’ passion, however. Fashion runs in her family; it’s in her blood.

Between her father, Donald, operating a women’s apparel showroom, Reeves & Company, and her grandmother running Signatures by Linda Reeves, a womenswear boutique formerly located in Monroe, Thomas has had a front row seat to the world of fashion since she was a child. Though born in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana native called Ouachita Parish home from first grade through her senior year of high school and says it was there that she developed the skills she would later use in her career. “You learn so much growing up in a smaller town,” Thomas says. “Working at my grandmother’s store, I think, taught me much, not just about the fashion industry, but about dealing with people in general. You develop skillsets like being able to have an adult conversation with a 60-year-old woman at the age of 14, so being at her store was, I think, extremely vital for me in this industry and just me as a person.”

Though she had witnessed her family’s work in fashion her whole life, it was not until 2015, a few years after she had earned a marketing degree from Louisiana State University, that Thomas decided to join her father at Reeves & Company. “I’ve always been interested in a lot of different things, but after I got engaged, I decided I wanted to do something that was stable and that I knew,” she says of her career choice. “Honestly, I think it’s easy for people to fall in line with businesses they grow up around. My parents have always been in the clothing industry and fashion industry; that’s what I know. I know the lingo, I know the ins and outs of the wholesale business, the resale business, the production side, so it’s kind of like a natural thing for me to begin working with my father. I knew it was something that I could be successful at because of my knowledge of the industry.” Upon joining Reeves & Company, Thomas was tasked with heading its newest endeavor: a second showroom based in Atlanta. She balanced her life as a businesswoman and a young wife by splitting her time between Louisiana and Georgia until the summer of 2018, when she and her husband, John, made the decision to move their family to Atlanta full-time to be closer to the showroom. Between both locations in Dallas and Atlanta, Reeves & Company has grown to become one of the south’s premier women’s apparel showrooms and represents close to 30 brands.

Though heading up the Atlanta showroom and being a wife and mother of two no doubt keeps her days full, Thomas is just getting started and does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. In fact, she recently added yet another title to her resume: clothing brand owner.

Given her family history and professional experience in the clothing industry, the decision to establish a brand was one that just made sense for Thomas. “My husband and I were talking, and through our showrooms in Dallas and Atlanta, we’ve found what works for companies, what doesn’t work for companies, what stores like, what they don’t like, why companies fail, why they succeed,” she says. “And so, we looked at each other one day and were like, ‘We should start a brand.’ We know what it takes. We know the key components to make a brand work. We know what stores expect, we know what sales reps expect, and I feel like if we can make all those things happen, then there’s no way we won’t be successful.”

Shortly after that conversation, the two began the work of making this new dream a reality. The pair spent time in Los Angeles, scouring the city for a brand to purchase and revitalize. But their search came up short, Thomas explains, as the two could not quite find a pre-existing brand that conveyed the message they wanted to send. “We didn’t find one that we felt like was a perfect fit for what we were trying to do. And, in the same breath, we wanted something that was going to work in our Dallas and Atlanta showrooms; we didn’t want to take on a brand that was similar to something we already had.” Creating from scratch, then, was the couple’s best bet at bringing their idea to life, and after nearly two years of researching production managers, factories, and fabric vendors, the Thomases managed to assemble a company that not only excited them, but also fulfilled the need for a high-quality t-shirt brand in both Reeves & Company showrooms. Thus, S’Edge was born.

Initially named Southern Edge, the couple’s brand, featuring 100 percent American-made production and high-quality fabric sourced from Peru and the United States, was created with the intention of being unique while appealing to the wants and needs of their customers. “I knew I wanted a line that was edgy, but not edgy like New York or Los Angeles edgy,” Thomas says. “So, I was like, ‘You know what? We should call this Southern Edge, so it’s just slightly edgy.’” Further discussion led the couple to shorten the brand’s name to S’Edge to increase the products’ appeal to customers in other areas, and rather than being an abbreviation for southern, the “S” in S’Edge is now left open for interpretation by the women who wear the clothing, Thomas explains. “Sophisticated. Sexy. Strong. Smart. Subtle. Sweet. Stylish. You can come up with a myriad of adjectives that start with ‘S’ to describe the modern woman, and then, it’s basically however you’re feeling that day; that’s the edge you choose.”

Thomas works with Savannah College of Art and Design graduate and former bridal gown designer Faith Thornburg to design each piece sold by S’Edge. “She does all of the technical design for S’Edge,” Thomas says. “I’m considered the creative designer, so I kind of tell her my vision for each line, each season, each delivery that we roll out, and she kind of executes and makes that happen.” Seeing the designs come to life, Thomas says, and receiving positive feedback from retailers has so far been her favorite aspect of operating S’Edge. “It makes you feel proud and excited,” she adds.

The Thomases’ brand also has a philanthropic component, as it will be partnering with Joni & Friends, a Christian organization that shares the Gospel and practical resources with people affected by disability. The hope is for S’Edge to contribute to the organization’s Wheels for the World initiative and provide funds used to donate wheelchairs to people in need across the globe.

Though the young clothing brand has only just begun, launching just a few short months ago at the beginning of 2020, it certainly seems to have started on the right foot, and with Thomas’ previously established connections and industry know-how, growth may be just on the horizon. “We’re in a unique position to be successful because we have boutique connections, which so many people don’t,” she says. “They start a line and then they launch a website and they just hope they get traffic there. They’re just relying on online sales; it’s not a way to grow quickly.” Thanks to Reeves & Company’s over 2,000 boutique connections spanning across a 17-state territory, S’Edge apparel can get in the hands of thousands, and one day, Thomas hopes, into the offices of well-known retailers, including IE, Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Sak’s, and Stitch Fix.

She is fully focused on and passionate about her work, both at Reeves & Company and S’Edge, but with her drive and determination, it will not be long before Thomas is on the move again, setting new goals and reaching for higher heights. Though she is not exactly sure where her career will take her, one thing is certain: Analeise Reeves Thomas is going to keep moving. “S’Edge is not the end-all be-all as far as we’re concerned with manufacturing in the clothing industry,” she declares. “Our goal is to start multiple lines over the next ten or so years that vary in style, vary in direction, vary in demographic as far as who the customer is, so once S’Edge is kind of under our belt — we feel confident with what we’ve built there — the next step is to develop another brand and then another brand and then another brand. You know, we’ll just see where it goes. We may have two brands, we may have ten, I don’t know, but we want to keep pushing and keep going.”