Local Products Made to

Provide & Protect

Underwear is on the urgent needs list at almost every domestic violence and homeless shelter. Not only would underwear donations make a woman feel comfy and clean, but they would help bring back confidence. For every item sold, we donate a pair of underwear.

Our Vision

"I came up with the name MADI Apparel because it stands for (Make a Difference), and MADI is a common woman's name. Anytime I meet a survivor and she thanks us for donating underwear, I picture my family member - a survivor of domestic violence - telling me her story, years ago. I want our customers to picture a real woman - with a name and a family and a journey, who matters - and know that their purchase will help this woman in need with a simple but necessary pair of underwear."

- Hayley Besheer Santell, Founder and Designer

In the Community

For every item purchased, we donate a pair of underwear to a woman in need in domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, rape clinics and disaster relief situations. We fulfill domestic and international urgent donation requests regularly. Through your orders, we've donated underwear to over 9,000 women in over 55 organizations and eight countries!  

More About Our Impact
Manufacturing Domestically

Made in Kansas City

Our ethical products are designed by our founder Hayley and cut and sewn in our small batch sewing factories in the Kansas City Crossroads and West Bottoms neighborhoods - both within a mile of our flagship operations. Our sew teams are made up of experienced artisan contractors (like woman-owned business KC Fashion Tech) and multiple refugee women now based in KC who've spent most of their lives sewing garments. By keeping all production in the same city as our headquarters, we are able to oversee and ensure that workers making our products are paid a living wage, that environmental standards are met and that our sewers feel part of our team. We visit our sew team and factory on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. We even regularly contract a local dye artist and a local pattern maker to collaborate on our product production.

Our Sustainable Fabrics

We stand by our promise to source only ethical and sustainable fabrics, and we test them months before introducing anything new into our line. Your skin, your health and your comfort are our priorities. Since we make products that lay closest to your body than perhaps others, we figured these are important elements to stay true to. We also care about the people making these fabrics and how the factories we work with are treating the environment. 95% of our products are 100% biodegradable.

More About Our Process

Meet Hayley

This whole idea evolved into wanting to create a brand that made a difference in ALL AREAS - not just through donations.  I realized that the apparel industry was missing a brand that made a full impact. If I was going to start a business that makes a difference - why stop at the donations? It all started after learning my family member is a survivor of domestic violence and wondering how I could help. After discovering underwear is the most needed clothing item in these shelters, the answer was simple. My goal starting in 2012 was to begin developing MADI Apparel into a brand that not only donated underwear with every purchase, but that would make a difference in every other element, too!

Meet the Team

We're on a mission to Make a Difference in every way: through sustainability, underwear donations, seamstress training and employment for women, and many other areas. It takes a crew of high quality humans working together (and your support of course) to achieve our impact goals.

Our Ethical Approach

The majority of our products are cut and sewn by women-owned sewing businesses we contract like KC Fashion Tech. Head of the team is owner and sewing artisan Laura Treas whose hands have carefully produced our products for almost six years. #whomadeyourclothes? They're located in a shared sewing factory with our staff payroll sewers, conveniently just a six block walk from our flagship store! We also train at-risk women in our city to sew through our free non-profit seamstress training program, MADI Makes. Once trainees learn and master a lifetime job skill and then graduate from our sewing program, our for-profit MADI Apparel hires qualified graduates to sew our underwear donations as part-time payroll employees, and they're paid a living wage.

More About Our Impact

Featured in the Media

We're so grateful to all media outlets who've covered the story of MADI Apparel. We've been featured in hundreds of print and online media platforms and would love to get in touch with you, as well. A few of our favorites features include: Washington Post, Nylon, BRIDES, The Knot, Huff Post, Forbes, Entrepreneur and more!

Get in Touch for Media Inquiries

Visit Flagship Store

Come visit our special events, outdoor concert series, and tye-dye workshops in our lush-vined and treed backyard space of our flagship store in the Kansas City Westside neighborhood.

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