This story begins with fabric scraps, and an idea out of the Middle Ages. Since she was a child, Apol Massebieau would spend hours watching her mother make beautiful dresses. One of her earliest memories was sewing in the beads for her aunt’s wedding dress. “I had to sew in the pearls one by one. It was such a heavy gown,” she explains. “I loved it, and it became a core memory.”

When she got to college, she joined UP Repertory to make costumes. She had also started designing her own clothes to suit her eclectic style. What she realized, in the process, is how much fabric scraps were left behind in the process. This led to a small business idea that would later evolve into a fun fashion brand that is cool, leaves minimal waste, and is inclusive to all.

So Good Luck, Humans was born.

The brand started out as part of the answer to Massebieau’s conundrum about what to do with all fabric scraps. She had the idea to turn them into little balls, patiently sewing and stuffing each one by hand. This led to the Lucky Necklace, which became the first GLH product. She also pieced them together to make Lucky Button pillows.

By 2018, Massebieau started R&D on adding garments to her product line. When the pandemic rolled around, she made the decision to pivot her business to focus on designing clothes. “Everybody just seems to have more fun doing it,” she explains further. “I’m really into experimenting with the different shapes that we can do, and the different manipulations.” She hasn’t fully let go of the lucky buttons though, applying them to bags and small accessories when production permits.

It was her lifelong fascination with textures that led Massebieau to the idea of smocking, which would become her brand’s trademark. “When I was making clothes as a club kid in the ‘90s, I always wanted something with shebang — synthetic fur, buttons, beading,” she recalls. “I want the clothes I make to get noticed.”

She took this idea to the drawing board, doing a lot of research on how to apply the technique to her designs. “Smocking has been around since the Middle Ages, but nowadays, it’s not very common anymore. I try different stitches and patterns, and apply them to different fabrics,” she adds.