Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
For nearly three years, Neely Mancia has been growing an online brand. Now, the online brand officially has its own storefront.
Latina Dreamer Apparel came out of Mancia’s vision to see more Latin American countries in clothing.
“I felt like there wasn’t a lot of representation for other Latin American countries because I want to say, especially being in Texas, you see a lot of representation from Mexico, but even then, you don’t see it in a minimal way. Something that people can wear day to day,” she said.
Mancia said her Salvadoran American background inspired her brand.
“I didn’t see anything that was something other than a shirt from your country or going to your home country, and just finding artisanal items. There is not a brand that is very sleek,” she added. “I love embroidery, and I just love the way it feels.”
Minimalism is the main style of her items, utilizing neutral tones with lettering and the occasional pop of a yellow, pink and blue. Each clothing item is stitched to represent different countries or showcase phrases.
She started learning to embroider on a small machine, later going viral on TikTok and growing her brand more and more. Often, she would host pop-ups to sell her items in Dallas.
With the Texas weather, getting a storefront was her next move.
“Texas summer is so hot, the heat. I know what it’s like being a vendor and then you want people to come out, but again at the end of the day you’re in the Texas heat. You’re in the Texas winter,” she said. “You can’t force people to come out so especially having an apparel brand, you see that people want to come and try it on.”
Her new storefront in Oak Cliff Assembly gives people that new way to shop in person. Everything included in the shop, minus some prints by other artists, are designed by Mancia. The shop also includes stickers in addition to apparel items such as shirts, tanks, hats and crewnecks.
“As far as being first-gen and being Salvadoran American, I feel like there’s a lot of obstacles you face along the way, especially because I’m the first one to be a business owner within my immediate family … so I just want to say I’m proud of myself for doing this,” she said. “And also grateful to the community for sure because they see the vision. They also see what I’m trying to do within this brand, and so (I’m) super grateful to them and anybody that I’ve met along the way.”
Latina Dreamer Apparel is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Latina Dreamer Apparel is located at 907 Morrell Ave. Ste. 116
