A new way of doing things
Every time you choose between mass manufactured or handmade, you are keeping artisans at work in their craft. - Charlotte Kwon Hello and Happy New Year ✨
I’d love to share something that’s been on my mind for some time. Actually years. It’s been on my mind for two years.
It’s no secret that I’m a minimalist who truly values experiences over things, detests fast fashion {et al. built to last a season > a lifetime} and generally wishes we all craved less stuff in our lives.
More and more this creates a personal conundrum when it comes to some of the goods that I sell.
I dye and paint to make art. And I need something to apply the color on/to. When I opened the studio, buying new clothes to dye (aka blanks) was not only something people requested— sweatshirts! t-shirts! robes! but it was also a very safe place to start. It made sense. I loved creating the pieces, and people love wearing them.
But I didn’t set out to design a clothing “brand”. And I have zero interest/energy in elaborate seasonal photoshoots to try to get as many people as possible to buy a ____________ {insert clothing item of your choice here}.
Though I work with things one can wear.
It was more of a love offering like “Hey! I can make these in colors I love or colors you love, if you’d like”.
And people liked. And from the bottom of my heart I truly thank you for that!
AND—
I think it’s time to switch things up around here. The cool thing is, we can do that. Making informed and empowered moves that would make the likes of Jiminy Cricket proud is the jam.
Also {checks reminders} We Are the Committee !!!
The studio will always be evolving and is ever shaping itself, but its ethos are well defined and clear.
Acknowledging and embracing the information I’ve been absorbing re: textile industry waste means I can’t in good conscience continue to order new clothing blanks. Which doesn't mean I won’t dye clothes. It just means not like that. The options for things we can create together are so far and wide— we don’t need to rely on new materials being produced when there is more than enough already in existence (vintage, dead stock, up-cycle).
If not for the stock I have on hand, we’d already be under way with the new vision. But, like I said— I’ve got stock. And I’m going to start moving through it, and not re-order the same pieces once they’re gone. Maybe I should amend/add to that statement with an emphasis on “I”. I won’t carry these items, but if your heart pines for a brand spankin’ new item to be dyed… I’d be open to custom one-off’s, not otherwise kept on hand, and it better be good. While that feels oxymoron-esque, let’s start there.
And now I have an invitation for you (with 0% scarcity mindset, because we don’t do that here):
If you’ve had your eye on any number of the clothing styles/items I’ve dyed over the past few years, sooner than later could be a good time to pick one up— especially if you want it in custom colors.
Also cooking for 2024 are more in-person studio experiences! Class listings and super exciting, razzle dazzle collaborations are coming right up.
ding ding 🛎️
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For my friends who’d enjoy a smidgen more on the information inspiration for this new creative direction, may I present you with: a quote, excerpt tidbits from one article (highlighting a fraction of the damage of mindless fashion creation → consumption → waste) and one concise and informative podcast episode. Let’s get all Jerry Maguire manifesto-y for a moment, shall we?
While the studio doesn’t utilize synthetic fabrics or rely on fast fashion blanks, the fact that there are enough clothes currently in existence to outfit the next six generations of un-born peoples is enough for me to want to move away from working with newly manufactured wearables altogether.
Enjoy 🥴
✨ “Today, many don’t know how cotton grows or who farms it; few understand how it is dyed, woven into cloth, and sewn into something to wear. To fill this void modern clothing is heavily branded— and the story of the brand fills the space that used to be filled by the voice of the cloth itself. “
- Charlotte Kwon, founder Maiwa
✨ “You can see the world’s textile waste from space. In Chile’s Atacama Desert, almost 800 acres of unused and no longer loved clothing sits to rot. The mostly polyester-laden fast fashion shipped from US, Europe, and Asia will take centuries to decompose. So that slinky going-out dress from 2016 will either slowly disintegrate, leeching its chemicals into nearby water systems, or be burned to create space, which in turn shoots chemicals into the air.
Waste is only one of the environmental downsides of the fashion industry. Synthetic materials made from fossil fuels like polyester, nylon and acrylic contribute chemical byproducts to the air, water systems and soil that are difficult to contain. Natural fibers— cotton, wool, silk, leather— require massive quantities of land and water use, not to mention the animal welfare of it all. The fashion industry is also a significant source of pollution. A recent estimate from the United Nations calculates that the fashion industry is responsible from anywhere between 2 to 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. At this pace, the industry’s share of emissions could surge by 50 percent by 2030, according to the World Bank.
{In 2022} Gap had around 12,000 different clothing styles; H&M had approximately 25,000; and Zara clocked in around 35,000. Shein had 1.3 million. Mind you, that’s not the total number of individual garments, but the number of styles. Shein’s pricing is also a differentiator. In no world do those prices make any logical sense, but they do allow consumers to normalize low price tags and buy a high volume of low-quality products.
$40 isn’t nothing. But once you factor in labor, production costs, and overhead, it’s hard to say that it isn’t an ethical, reasonable price for a t-shirt. The vast majority of people do not know what things actually cost. Aja Barber (author of Consumed: The Need For Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism) likes to do a thought experiment, asking people how much they’d like to be paid hourly. Garment workers, she points out, deserve a living wage too— and hey, guess how long that t-shirt takes to make?
This also doesn’t change the fact that poverty in the US, while horrific and unacceptable, pales in comparison to the everyday reality of those in the Global South. More likely than not, middle and upper class overconsumers are hiding behind the shield of affordability rather than simply acknowledging their culpability in the harms caused by the industry.
The notion that people are not being paid fairly, that people work in dangerous conditions, that people are exploited to make your $6 bathing suits doesn’t even enter the equation of what {Americans} see as oppression.
If you do decide to buy…
The best thing to do is buy nothing and take care of what you already have, but sometimes you will consider buying something new (or at least new to you).
Here are some questions you can ask yourself before buying something:
Do I actually need this item? Or is this a want?
Can I buy this secondhand or repair an older item?
Would I buy this if I didn’t see it on social media?
And if you do decide to buy something new, prioritize finding out what the brand pays its workers, either by searching available reports or emailing the brand directly. Look for fair wages, because fair wages are a huge part of fighting the climate crisis. It’s two for the price of one. If you’re paying people fairly, it’s much harder to engage in overproduction, and overproduction leads to overconsumption.
We have to remember that clothing hasn't historically been this cheap. It’s only a recent development in the last few decades, so we can change the system because it’s not inherent.
The responsibility for real and lasting change lies with corporations and governments. There’s no easy one-size-fits-all solution, no magic polyester blend made of recycled water bottles, no number of trees planted that will gloss over the need for systemic reconstruction and reimagining…. What’s needed is a deep shift in the current business model— and that will take time, collaboration, and pressure. If there’s one thing we can do, immediately and easily, it’s stop lying to ourselves that we need these brands, that we deserve to have this much stuff, and our wants and desires stateside are more important than the lives of people across the globe or the future of our planet.
We can either fix the system, or we can just drive the car until the wheels fall off.”
- Izzie Ramirez for Vox
A comforting palette cleanser on the way out ✌🏻❤️🌈
Choices |
A ship at sea can change her landfall
by a thousand miles
with a mere two degree shift
in her present course.
You can too.
You can pivot.
You can change direction.
You can do what you really love
and land in a place
that feels more like
home.
-Jeannette Encinias
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