Have you ever not booked a family photo session simply because you didn’t know what to dress your family in? Shopping for a whole family can be tricky for so many reasons – time, not knowing where to go, and not being able to trust the options you find in stores or on Amazon. Who knows if the outfits were made by underpaid workers in unsafe conditions (and that’s why they’re so cheaply priced and usually cheaply made so they won’t last anyway).
Confessions of a Professional Photographer:
I have just skipped new clothes altogether because I didn’t have time or the mental capacity to shop for a family outfit that was safely made. I have a few favorite shops for ethically-made basics that I absolutely love. However, if I needed a new outfits for each person in my family, I might be shopping from 4 or 5 stores and well…shipping costs alone make me want to avoid it altogether (so I did).
Enter Asher Market! After moving to Pismo this summer I met Ashley, owner of Asher Market and boy oh boy am I excited to share more about her brands! She just opened a second location in Santa Ynez just a couple months ago and you can also shop online. (homie hookup: if you sign up for her email newsletter you get 15% off! You’re welcome..but also it should pop up as soon as you visit her site).
Asher Market has so many great prints across sizes from infant to kids to moms and dads. You can totally match across the whole fam, choose 1 print for the boys and a different one for the girls, or divy up however you’d like. Personally I’m all about mixing and matching which is what you’ll see photographed here with the Viaud family. But that daddy and daughter matching outfits…my heart!
(quick break for story time. there’s way more fave images from the Viaud Family’s Pismo Pier family day below).
Backstories are my favorite and especially when it comes to clothing, it’s so important to know who made my clothes.
Ashley designs her own brands and they’re made with love in Peru. She knows the people making the clothing and accessories and has been working with the same people for 6-12 years! And can we talk about sustainability? Most of her clothing is made from fashion industry remnant fabric that would otherwise go to waste. She travels to Peru several times a year and spends DAYS searching for her favorite fabrics and then has them made into her styles, in country. Bonus points for sustainability as the material doesn’t need to be transported another time before it reaches the families that purchase and wear her clothes.
Some of her fabrics are designed and printed especially for her brands like her bestselling Math Print. That was actually the first print I noticed and immediately thought of my twin sister (a math teacher) and her daughter and how perfect it is to have math-inspired clothing for women. And that’s exactly what inspired Ashley to design her own clothing.
“When my daughter turned one, she received a ton of princess clothing for her birthday. I couldn’t believe she didn’t receive anything saying she’d be a future scientist so I decided to start my own children’s clothing brand with my black and white Math Print.”
Ashley Hayes of Asher Market
But there’s more. Of course there’s more. Dreams don’t just crop up because of a moment of inspiration, they’re developed and tested and earned. They involve so much heart, perseverance and sacrifice, too.
Ashley actually had a background in law but fell madly in love with textiles when she went into a fabric store in her mid twenties. She made custom products after learning how to sew, selling at a local fair under the brand name Ash. She then teamed up with her sister Erin shortly after her trip to Peru because of the alpaca blankets she brought home. They fell in love and found success with these blankets! Every time they went back to Peru and visited the fabric district for fun, all Ashley could think about was “How can I be here more often?”
“Just by divine coincidence, a friend in Santa Barbara had a friend in Peru that was a baby clothing manufacturer. Turns out Peru makes some of the world’s most beautiful cotton and so, happily, I kept my clothing brand production in Peru.” Gah, I love this! And because Ashley shops remnant fabrics which are available in small quantities, it actually allows her to create new collections each season! And how cool is this, she often comes up with new designs based on what customers tell her what they want to see more of.
Be sure to check Asher Market out on Instagram, she posts about her trips to Peru so you can go behind the scenes with her!
Asher Market in Santa Barbara can be visited at 535 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Here let me google that for you.
If you’re closer to the central coast like Take Delight photography is, make a day trip to the new shop in Santa Ynez located at 1090 Edison St Suite 103, Santa Ynez, CA 93460. I google mapped that one too.
And because I’m always curious how names for things come to be – Asher Market is the combination of two names, Ashley’s and her sister Erin’s who she founded the brand with. Ash+Er = Asher. What, the math print made me do it.
So problem solved! Family photos and outfits just got a whole lot easier when you pair my stress-free documentary approach to family sessions and with Asher Market’s ethically and sustainably made clothes. Boom! You’re welcome 😉
Because I can’t get enough of this Family Day exploring the Pismo Promenade and beach…you’re getting all my faves!
