When it comes to marrying the language of style and comfort in loungewear, Ocio stands out as a mesmerizing symphony. Founded by Samantha Meyer and Tayler Coffin, the brand personifies “comfort, uncompromised” — sustainable, inclusive, and fashion-forward loungewear that raises the bar.
Every stitch and seam in Ocio’s collection tells a tale of functionality steeped in elegance. Their classic SoftCore collection cleverly conceals any excess fabric, offering a semi-fitted silhouette that enhances your natural shape. For a more relaxed, laid-back vibe, the Organic Cotton Teddy collection comes to the rescue, exuding an air of effortless chic. The brand’s innovative features, like deep pockets and thoughtfully designed waistbands, are a testament to this philosophy. Every stitch on the garments not only elevates their aesthetic appeal but also ensures an extra layer of comfort.
Fabric is where Ocio’s “comfort, uncompromised” truly comes to life. Their custom SoftCore blend, a unique mix of organic cotton, Tencel lyocell, and a hint of spandex, creates a breathable, luxuriously soft, and flexible mid-weight French terry fabric. From hoodies and joggers that you can mix and match in classic colors like black, white, sage, and other muted tones to other everyday basics like shorts, cropped tank tops, and crewneck sweaters, each piece can be styled up or down to match your mood and the occasion. This level of precision in design underpins the brand’s mantra that your loungewear should work as hard as you do.
No matter what your loungewear preference is, the label has an option that ensures optimal comfort and style. To learn more about Ocio’s journey in revolutionizing loungewear, read on for our in-depth conversation with co-founder Tayler Coffin.
To start with, I’d love to know more about how you and Samantha met, and what later led you two down the path of launching Ocio?
My co-founder, Samantha, and I have been friends for many years. We were hanging out with some friends playing a game that asked specific questions about people in the group. It asked, “If Samantha were to start a company, what would it be?” And because our entire group of friends likes to poke fun at her for wearing loungewear 24/7, we all said a version of “Just Sweatpants.”
After the game, I asked her where I should invest in some loungewear (this was in 2018, so pre-pandemic) as I was starting to work from home more and she replied with, “I like Alo, but it’s too pricey to not be sustainable. I like Lululemon, but the fit isn’t great. I like Eberjey, but they’re stuff is too pajama-y and I like to wear sweats out of the house. So nothing’s perfect.” I, knowing Samantha is a next level expert shopper, knew she would know if the perfect loungewear already existed.
A lightbulb went off in my head. She had worked in fashion for many years, I had been on the creative side in the innovation industry for most of my career… I thought, “We could do this.” We started meeting once a week to work on it and it took off from there!
The label prides itself on softer, better-fitting, and size-inclusive loungewear that ranges from XXS all the way up to 4X. Were there any unexpected challenges that came up in the design process?
There were definitely design challenges along the way! We worked with a ton of fit models of all different sizes to determine our perfect fit, and we found that many brands completely changed the design of their plus size version of their products to the point where the plus size pieces basically become unrecognizable from the original product.
On the other side of that, there are certain design elements that are necessary to incorporate in order to give plus-size customers their best fit. Our process is we size up our loungewear according to standard sizing increments, along with making small adjustments on the way to fit and flatter the most sizes and body types possible. This ends up looking like only lengthening our bottoms up to a 1X, so that our 2X, 3X, and 4X wearers aren’t wearing pants and shorts that are egregiously long. But, for everything else about the fit, we size up the standard increment.
In much of the brand’s campaigns and product imagery, you’ll find a diverse range of women and different body types. That being said, why do you think inclusivity is growing increasingly important and why don’t more brands cater to more sizes?
For larger brands, honestly, they’re actively choosing not to for whatever reason, could be branding, could be resisting change, could be keeping the largest margins possible… all of them are inexcusable in my book. Clothes should be made available for as many people as possible, and major brands with multi-million dollar budgets really don’t have an excuse.
For smaller brands, it’s a big investment when you’re working with a limited budget! It increases both your manufacturing costs (the more sizes you have, the more pieces you have to produce in order to meet minimums and not incur additional fees for not meeting those minimums) and your marketing costs (more models, longer shoots, more editing, etc.). It’s a commitment that’s been incredibly important to us from the very start.
Let’s talk about Ocio’s signature fabrics, Cotton Teddy Fleece and SoftCore—can you walk us through the concept of creating your signature fabrics and how they separate themselves from others in the space?
Both of our fabrics are completely custom to our brand – we work with a local fabric mill in LA to source the best and most ethical raw materials to create our fabrics. SoftCore was our first – it’s light, soft, breathable, moisture-wicking, and stretchy. We chose Organic Cotton for weight, Tencel Lyocell for breathability and softness, and a tiny bit of Spandex for stretch. It makes really great streamlined-fitting loungewear and ultra-supportive tank tops (one of my personal favorite items we sell).
It’s our favorite fabric for the spring and summer months, and we wanted to add something heftier for the Fall and Winter. That’s why we created our Organic Cotton Teddy fabric, made from 100% organic cotton heavyweight sherpa fleece that’ll keep you nice and toasty through the winter. OCT (for short) lends itself to a more oversized fit for that ultra-cozy vibe.
One of the most exciting things about the brand is you have so many comfortable pieces that you can mix and match or put together a set. Out of curiosity, what are your favorite pieces to wear?
My current favorite Ocio outfit is a Flare Pant (Fawn (a caramel-y light brown) is my current go-to color) and a Double Scoop Tank (usually in Bone (creamy off-white), which pairs nicely with the Fawn pants). The flare pants have a really fun, unique, early-2000s fit; fitted at the top and a flared bottom with a slit on the side. Our tanks are a forever favorite; they’re super soft and supportive (#NoBraLife) without being restrictive.
Although still in the early stages, how do you envision the future of loungewear and Ocio’s role in shaping that future?
The future of loungewear is it’s going to integrate more and more into people’s everyday wardrobes. People are prioritizing comfort now more than ever. I mean, we’ve even seen loungewear on red carpets increasing in the past few years and we just saw Irina Shayk wear sweatpants and a tank top to a 2023 Met Gala Afterparty. Loungewear is here to stay.
