Seattle designer Debbie Daley started Seattle Gear in 1984. She called her designs “high-end specialty sportswear,” and was particularly known for comfortable knitwear and jumpsuits. Her collections featured denim prominently in 1986 and 1987. The brand was sold at small Seattle boutiques such as Local Brilliance and Marlee, as well as larger stores like Nordstrom and Sak’s Fifth Avenue. The company closed its Seattle factory in 1998 as the high labor costs in the United States made it difficult to compete with companies making clothing for cheaper in other countries. This layoff of 105 local employees was given as an example in a November 1999 Seattle Times article about why labor organizers in Seattle were planning mass protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO) conference later that month.