Summer Petitt, a former Delta College Fashion student, has always been drawn to clothes and fashion.
More importantly, she’s drawn to being an entrepreneur.
At a young age, Petitt knew she wanted to own a business. When she was little, she’d gather neighborhood children to sell lemonade or make crafts for others to purchase.
“Looking back I have second-hand embarrassment of what I choose to wear but that’s how I wanted to express myself,” she said.
“I take fashion inspiration from people that don’t necessarily dress ethically or sustainably. But I can get ideas from them. I look towards a lot of strong female entrepreneurs and leads in the industry,” she said.
Her passion for business was only rivaled by her interest in elaborate clothing.
One of those strong women entrepreneurs is her grandmother, Faye. The owner of a clothing manufacturing brand named, Faye California.
Being able to live on her grandmother’s legacy, Petitt continues to create unique, sustainable bags and hopes to be a strong female leader like the many strong women she looks up to.
Petitt’s love of clothing stemmed from her grandmother, who was a manufacturer for many years.
Petitt also revisited memories when talking about her grandmother’s manufacturing factory that started in Stockton.
“I spent a lot of my childhood in that factory in I sew now.
Just like messing around and being a kid but grandmother taught me how to sew when I was little, so I just kept that with me. Now I sew more than I have in my entire life,” she said.
Combining the two passions together, she started to upcycle, thrifting items and making alterations to enhance the pieces.
Petitt wanted make herself stand apart from other clothiers.
Not losing touch with her childhood dream and having expanded her knowledge from Delta and her family, she became an entrepreneur by creating Faye, tote-bag company.
“Anyone can wear a bag, any size bag, but with clothing it’s harder because you have to have a wide variety of sizes and styles. With bags its easy, anyone can wear any size bag, it doesn’t matter what size you are, you can just throw on a bag. Its inclusive, it’s easy, and I love tote bags,” she thought.
The original name to the bag company was Faye In Fortune, because of her grandmother’s name, Faye.
Faye is one of Petitt’s greatest inspirations and has supported her through all her different hobbies and phases, making sure she had tools to succeed.
“She’s always been there to support me, so I knew I wanted to incorporate her name,” Petitt said.
She takes her upcycling further by using her grandmother’s old clothing tags from Faye California, incorporating sustainability into her production.
She has since settled on the Faye name only.
“ I thought, Faye is fine! I have the resources here, I’m going to run with it,” said Peititt.