Tactica Defense Fashion Answers Call for Concealed Carry Clothing

Tactica Defense Fashion offers fashion-forward concealed carry clothing, gear and holsters to women. (Photo: Tactica Defense Fashion)

Working in the fashion industry for over 20 years, Sandi Little knows a thing or two about style, trends and all things fashionista. The mom of three now puts her talents and know-how to use as the President of Tactica Fashion — a new concealed carry apparel and accessory maker housed under the Alien Gear Holsters family banner.

Tactica Defense Fashion could just be a spot for women to shop for concealed carry gear but Little has bigger plans for the company, looking to bring female gun owners together in a supportive, encouraging network. Guns.com sat down with Little to talk about Tactica Defense Fashion, its mission and what sets this concealed carry focused company apart.

Guns.com: Give me a little backstory on the company and how you got involved.

Little: Alien Gear Holsters obviously has been one of the leaders in concealed carry for many years. They’ve been trying to break into the women’s market, but the team consisted of a lot of guys. I have been in the garment and fashion design business pretty much my entire life. Also, I am a pro-2A person, so when they reached out to me I decided to put that fashion industry background to use with the gun industry to launch this company. We want to help women really find a solution for carrying without giving up their fashion sense.

Guns.com: It seems like you guys are moving right along. I learned about you back at SHOT Show in January and since then I’ve seen more and more items creep up on the website.

Little: That was just us dipping our toes in. The actual garment and fashion side are about to be launched in about a month. We have a huge release coming out for fall. I have spent the last year in development figuring out what is comfortable and fashionable without sacrificing safety.

President Sandi Little has a background steeped in fashion design. (Photo: Tactica Defense Fashion)

Guns.com: It’s interesting that you mention that because there are a lot of so-called women’s products out there that are borderline unsafe and obviously focus on the aesthetic rather than safe carry. How do you balance that at Tactica Defense Fashion?

Little: With our clothing, there is no concern that if you run or move or carry a child that the gun is going to fall over. Being a manufacturer of holsters, safety is always going to be our first concern. From there we branch out to comfort and fashion.

With every design, I am focused on first of all is it safe? Does it conceal? Is it fashionable? All of our clothing has to have all of those things. A lot of our clothing has built-in trigger guards — all patent-pending designs. We also have an entire garment collection designed to work around our Belly Band, so you can draw from that hard shell Belly Band through your clothing.

The company offers innovative designs that cater to women. (Photo: Tactica Defense Fashion)

Guns.com: I actually have the sweater that works with the belly band and I have to say, it’s a pretty unique concept. I don’t think many other manufacturers, if any, are really doing this kind of full integration. Do you think this is what sets Tactica Defense apart from other concealed carry companies?

Little: Absolutely! We are feminine, but there’s no frou-frou in what we’re doing. It’s just simple concealment. When I first got into this, I heard people saying “just put a scarf around your neck and no one will look at your hip area where your gun is.” That’s not a solution for me. If you look at what I went for, I went for solid colors which are notoriously the hardest colors for concealment. I’m launching most of my clothing in solid colors. There will be prints in the future, but I really want to show how to conceal without having to wear prints.

Guns.com: Is there anything else you think our readers should know about Tactica Defense Fashion?

Little: I think we have a great product and I’m proud of the products we are creating, but I am also really about creating a community. I want to build a like-minded community for women. I am finding that social groups for women that are like us are really far and few in between. I want to fill that void.

We just did our first lunch here last week where we had a powerful group of 35 to 40 women in our office. We had an instructor come talk about safety, concepts on carrying and just overall what it’s like as a woman carrying. I want women to have a forum in every state to gather and talk and ask questions. It’s one of my big missions.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy what I am doing!

Building a community of like-minded women is just as important as the products, Little says. (Photo: Tactica Defense Fashion)