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Cotton Basics - Building a legacy of timeless classics for your everyday wardrobe

Cottonbasics

ABOUT

COTTON BASICS has been domestically manufactured in Oakland California Since 1982. We specialize in small batch production and natural dyeing since our founding days, which allows us the ability to provide our customers with custom design options, and exclusive color formulations all while offering our legacy designs year round. We make everything with care and with our end customer in mind. We preshrink & wash all our clothing. We handle 99% of our processes in house, from production, screen printing, garment dyeing, packaging and fulfillment. Because of this, we can truly say that our process is unique, but the loyalty of our customers is our proudest accomplishment yet. The knowledge, pride, and commitment of our brand by our loyal customer base serves as a constant reminder that we're doing something right and constantly inspires us to keep going and keep the legacy alive.

HISTORY

In 1980 a young thriving designer and her sister walked the streets of Fisherman's Wharf selling their San Francisco branded T-shirts. Unexpectedly, embarking on a life long journey that set her path as a designer for the next 40 years.

Susan Ciochetto established the San Francisco Legacy brand "COTTON BASICS" in 1982. Rapidly expanding to offer a wide variety of apparel and shifting its emphasis from producing T-shirts to cut and sew, with its focus on manufacturing clothing made with natural fibers.

COTTON BASICS quickly gained popularity among locals and tourists alike, becoming synonymous with the vibrant and unique spirit of San Francisco and overtime expanding up to 8 stores in the Bay Area. Today, After 41 years of successfully operating the business, COTTON BASICS continues to thrive under new ownership. As of November, 2022. Susan passes the business to local designer, entrepreneur and Bay Area native Rebecca Cahua, who is now the new sole owner of Cotton Basics.

PROCESS

In a world where everything is instant we choose to stick to our process & pride ourselves in our values and traditions, we value & care about our customers & we pride ourselves in delivering USA made clothing for over 40 years.

Our process is not fast, but more of a made to order model. But it varies, some orders can get out within a week while others require more customization and production time, which in rare cases can then take up to 6 - 8 weeks. Traditionally you can expect your orders to arrive within 1- 4 weeks.

MADE TO ORDER!

Process:

Cut, sew, dye, wash and send

How our process works:

There are three possible scenarios to our process, which will affect the timeline of delivery.

Scenario 1. Finished Garment

When a customer order is received, we immediately check the warehouse and all stores for inventory. If we are lucky we may have the exact color, size and finished garment in stock which then we will proceed to ship to you right away.

Scenario 2. Ready to Dye Garment

If the finished garment is not available we will pull from our ready to dye back stock and send through the dye process. We produce the majority of our garments in white, shelve them, and dye as we receive orders and store requests.

Scenario 3. Full Production Process

If the garment is not sewn, has a special hemming or dye request, we will likely have to go through the entire production process of cutting, sewing and dyeing. These orders are often the orders that take up to 6-8 weeks.

Although our process can seem long, it is the only way to offer our customers with over 30 color options and design customizations year round. Don’t worry if you have a timeline or special occasion, please let us know as we will try our best to accommodate and meet your needs and we often do.

Note from previous owner Susan & new owner Rebecca...

“Dear Customers, it has been a humbling and exciting journey and a true pleasure serving you over the last 40 years. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for supporting us over all these years. You’re in good hands with Rebecca, this is not a goodbye but a see you later, as Cotton Basics will always be home.”
- Susan Ciochetto

"Hello Cotton Basics family, I’m excited and honored to take on this new venture. Owning my own brand is a dream come true and a goal I have worked towards my entire career. I’m committed to maintaining the core values and aesthetics of Cotton Basics. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and honored to be the one to continue providing you with all your favorite basics.
- Sincerely Rebecca Cahua