Headquartered in Portland, Oregon and distributed across North America, Dovetail Workwear exclusively makes top-to-toe, all-season utility gear designed to stand to up the job for women.
Founded in 2018, Dovetail Workwear is “by women, for women, and with women,” notes co-founder Sara DeLuca.
The company started when landscapers Kate Day and Kyle Marie Summers – who delighted in working and playing in the dirt but despised the ill-fitting workwear options in the market – began collaborating with DeLuca, who had been an apparel designer for The Gap, Alex Mill and other major apparel and textile brands.
DeLuca says the connection was serendipitous as she also had a dream of building a women’s workwear revolution. The three got to work designing and building functional, fashionable, and durable gear supporting women in trade, outdoor, and transportation, among other sectors.
Supporting Women
Today, the brand is run by co-founders Day and DeLuca in conjunction with Dovetail Workwear President Sean Beers, formally of Columbia Sportswear and Korkers Footwear.
Under their tutelage, the Dovetail Workwear mission is to encourage women to enter and succeed in non-traditional occupations. They envision the future as all women fulfilling their personal potential, thriving in their work, and strengthening their communities. DeLuca and Day not only design and market Dovetail products to fit and perform with the demands of a women’s body but also partner with mills, fabric partners, manufacturers and partner organizations supporting women’s leadership and success across business sectors.
Dovetail Workwear works with suppliers and factories adhering to the company’s values as they relate to human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption to ensure full transparency across their sustainability efforts, as evident by their commitment to follow the UN Global Compact as it relates to apparel manufacturing holistically, DuLuca notes.
Dovetail Workwear Products
The brand workwear apparel includes pants, overalls, coveralls, work shirts, outerwear and accessories. Specializations include flame-resistant (FR) pants, thermal denim designed to be 40 percent warmer than regular denim without being overly heavy or bulky, and Dovetail’s overall use of environmentally conscious yet durable fabrics across its collections, she adds. Dovetail also is known for its inclusive sizing for a variety of women’s bodies from 000-24 and in multiple inseam lengths.
Dovetail’s flagship product is its best-selling Freshley Overall, designed with 15 pockets, flex suspenders and crotch gusset to move when bending and kneeling, front pocket Twine Hole (an eyelet to thread fine-gauge wire or twine), reinforced knees, tough cuffs, and enough stretch in the fabric to move effortlessly with any activity. It is available in canvas, ripstop, denim, and thermal denim. New for 2023, the Freshley Overall is offered in a Hidden Zip Drop Seat canvas version.
Dovetail recently debuted its first FR pant collection designed for trades including welders and those working within oil and gas, electrical, utility, and heavy industries where the need for electrical arc flash and FR protection is required. Dovetail’s FR workwear collection consists of Britt Utility and DX Bootcut pant designs in varying material weights, each with FR properties while offering the same style, function, and comfort of their original silhouettes.
Dovetail’s FR pants include 11 pockets for safety glasses and tools, articulated knees for mobility, tough cuffs for added abrasion resistance, plus increased range of movement on the job with the EZWaist and crotch gusset features. All Dovetail FR pants are PPE CAT 2 and meet safety standards NFPA 2112, NFPA 70E, and ASTM 1506.
Another notable product is the new Shop Pant, with a higher waist design, 10 pockets and panel-free leg face for women preferring a pant without reinforced front panels. The pant integrates CiCLO nylon fibers woven into the cotton to create a durable and long-lasting garment with materials that will reabsorb back into the environment post-consumer use.
“Dovetail continues to problem solve and innovate the best possible workwear for women in all stages of her life. New and better maternity options. Fabrics and constructions that reflect versatility for women as they enter menopause. Functional details like drop seats and thigh guards that solve age old challenges women face in their gear,” notes DeLuca.
“Fundamentally, our mission is about cultural change,” she adds. “We make workwear as a way to recognize and validate the skills of today’s women on the jobsites.”
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