Michigan Made: Xtended Threads
(CBS DETROIT) - For this week's Michigan Made, CBS News Detroit's Amyre Makupson introduces us to Xtended Threads.
Eva Toby took a life-long struggle and turned it into a triumph.
"I've been pretty much this height since I was like 12 or 13. I'm 6-foot-2, so it was just always a struggle. I mean, God bless my parents trying to find me clothes," said Eva Toby, founder of Xtended Threads.
"One day, I was just so frustrated, and I saw this quote that said, 'In the absence of resources, creativity is born,' and that was kind of God's way of like, 'Remember that dream you had almost 16-plus years ago? Pick it back up.' Then here we are today," she said.
"I am my own brand, I am my own model, and you even see me on the website. Me and another young lady, and that's another thing to kind of give people a different perspective," Toby said.
As owner and designer of Xtended Threads, Toby created an athleisure line for tall women.
"The positive thing is that people were so excited for it. There was really a need. That's what I tell people. I'm literally my own customer ... just really feeling that gap and that need," Toby said.
This is not to say that those longer in-seams and extra fabric didn't come without a struggle.
"As a Black woman, the funding and the resources that are available, because we need the funding in order to grow the business, and purchase more inventory, and as we're getting more feedback, and people are like, you should have this and that, and what about this? We need capital to get that started. That's what I would say is one of the challenges in growing a business as a Black woman," Toby said.
With faith and persistence, she prevailed.
"My faith is really what keeps me grounded, just really putting everything before God, asking for direction, and of course, with just the support of the growing community, it's been really, really exciting," Toby said.
And now, she's defying those short-sided notions that cute stops a 5-foot-6.
"Our in-seams are longer. Sweatshirts that fit when it comes to length in the arms, which is a struggle," Toby said.
With sought-after designs that show the sky is the limit.
"It's a really good feeling ... it was a lot of hard work in building it, you know, taking it from the idea of the idea that came back in 2022 to actually releasing it," Toby said.
