Tye Dye Everything owner Arlene Falcon can tie-dye just about anything — T-shirts, socks, boxer briefs, tennis balls, elk hides and drum heads.
For 20 years, Falcon and her four employees have been mastering the craft.
The colorful little shop in the heart of downtown Moscow came to be after Falcon attended a Grateful Dead concert in Eugene, Oregon, in 1987.
Inspired by all the psychedelia and tie-dye tees, Falcon said she made a move to make and sell her own tie-dyed items.
A couple years later at the 20th annual Woodstock festival in Spokane, Washington, she said she sold everything she made, coming home with $200.
“I turned to my husband at the time, and said, ‘Wow, maybe we have something,’” Falcon recalled.
Eventually, attending events and bartering at fairs lead to a business shop of her own and goodbye to tie-dying on her kitchen counter, she said.
The first workplace Falcon said she set up was a screen printing shop, equipped with washers and dryers in the back — perfect for tie-dying.
In 1999, Falcon said she bought the current shop on Main Street and has been working hard ever since, building a name for her business.
Olivia Heersink | Argonaut
Tye Dye Everything, owned by Arlene Falcon, in downtown Moscow opened in 1999.
Earlier this year, Falcon said she received an email from Vogue UK requesting 50 samples of her work for a photoshoot.
Falcon, too busy with her own work and not too interested in the offer, said she ignored the email.
A day passed when a follow up messaged appeared in Falcon’s inbox. This time, however, she said she took up the offer, bartering the sample items down to 25 and shipping the works to the magazine.
Several months later, British singer Lorde had her team reach out to Falcon after a Vogue UK Instagram post displayed a model in a pair of Falcon’s handmade rainbow overalls, she said.
After Falcon’s overalls were featured in the magazine, the singer told her she fell in love with the dyed creation, so Falcon sent her two pairs. After the full-page spread in the fall fashion issue of Vogue UK, Falcon and her business gained more publicity than she ever expected, she said.
Falcon was on KREM 2 News Sept. 20 following the magazine feature.
“I was so shocked,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Since 1987 concert, the Grateful Dead remains her favorite band, Falcon said. She hosts a show on Moscow’s local radio station, 90.3 KRFP, where she plays ‘60s music, reminding her of the colorful times that led her to where she is now — Tye Dye Everything.
Avery Pittman can be reached at [email protected]