Selva Negra is a Latina-founded contemporary fashion label committed to ethical production and sourcing sustainable materials while celebrating individuality through story-telling and expressive design.  

Selva Negra was founded in 2016 in a tiny Brooklyn apartment in Crown Heights. Kristen Gonzalez is a Mexican + Filipino American designer based in Los Angeles, CA. Selva Negra is rooted in the use of ethical practices and is committed to sustainably sourced materials and production transparency. Our company continues to implement low-waste solutions including compostable packaging, upcycling fabric waste, and small batch production runs.

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Our Products

We source our fabrics locally in Los Angeles, CA and some imported goods from Japan and Turkey.  All trims are locally sourced from Los Angeles and also imported from Japan. Our collection is fully produced in Downtown Los Angeles using ethical and sustainable practices.

FAQ

What does "Ethical Fashion" Mean?

Ethical by definition is relating to moral principles therefore we strive to lead our company by these standards.  We are active in non-profit donations for ideologies that align with our brand such as United We Dream, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, SPLC, Wildlife Conservation, RAICES, and National Immigration Justice.  We firmly believe that building a better community starts with companies making a conscious effort to participate in the betterment of humanity.  We work with vendors alike that also lead by example creating a clean assembly line of knowing who made it and where your product is made.  We can assure our customers quality product made by quality people with quality materials.  

What sustainable practices does Selva Negra use?

We are making efforts to reduce the amount of plastic used in our studio by shipping with zero plastic and compostable packaging.  We ship goods to our stockists in reused or recycled boxes.  Some of our fabric is purchased from deadstock wholesalers to reduce the amount of new fabric purchased from fabric mills.  Additionally, we save scrap fabrics to make our accessories and upcycled collection.  There are other sustainable practices we would like to implement as our company grows.  If you have any suggestions, feel free to email us at info@selvanegra.us

Will you expand into more sizing?

We are in the process of working on adding more extended sizing to our website.  We currently offer select styles up to size 4XL and are adding more styles to our extended sizing very soon!

 

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Meet the Selva Negra Team

Founder: Kristen Gonzalez

Design and Production Coordinator: Nelly Torres

Nelly has been working with Selva Negra since 2018 and is an extremely sweet and thoughtful person.  She's our team wonder-woman and works mostly in design, photo editing, production, and dabbles in customer service. 

Digital Media + Marketing Coordinator: Mandy Chen

Mandy has been working with Selva Negra since 2019 and works at the speed of lightning while always dressing so chic. She manages our social media, marketing, website, and dabbles in customer service.

Design and Production Intern: Nikki W.

Nikki is the newest addition to the growing Selva team! She's been working with us since summer of 2021 and has been a complete joy to be around. She assists in production tasks and in the retail store as well as helps with customer service.

Sales Manager: Alex Faay

Alex has been working with us since 2020, and she has years of experience working in the retail side of fashion. Extremely kind and hardworking, Alex helps to build our relationships with our stockists across the country and online.

 Sewing Operators: Rafael

Rafael and his wife have been working with our team for over 2 years and have extensive experience in production. They built their business from the ground up and now have a growing team with their own space in downtown LA.

 Sewing Operators: Selvyn

Selvyn has over 10 years experience in patternmaking, sampling, and production and has been working with our team for a little over a year. He is a jack of ALL trades when it comes to fashion production.

Nana Atelier

We partner with LA-based factory, Nana Atelier, to produce our garments. Owned by our friend, Alnea, Nana Atelier is a waste-conscious and ethical wage apparel manufacturer.