Category: Fashion

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted in HAND/EYE Magazine on February 9, 2017.

 

Tennyson got to know the village families through her volunteer work. “We taught them things like money management skills.” What she had found was many families had up to 200 rugs stacked up in their homes that they couldn’t sell. “Tourism was down and big items like rugs were tough to sell so we looked at making woven bags. We felt like high-end bags that catered to the American market would sell. “

 

So Manos Zapotecas, a fair trade company, was born to help families support themselves while preserving the craft and cultural heritage. The company produces two to three collections a year, giving work to 50 families. One recent collection was inspired by artist Frida Kahlo and featured deep scarlet reds, teals and navy in the palette. 

 

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When they first started creating the collection, the first thing the creative team did was change colorations in the bags. Instead of making them in the traditional bright colors native to Oaxaca, she advised them on on-trend colors to use each season. While their rugs are in intricate designs – they may have six patterns and 12-15 colors (in their culture the more intricate, the more valuable a piece is), the bags are less so. In a bag they will have four colors maximum. Once colors are chosen, they dye the yarn, made of churro wool, and make all the patterns. The women create their own designs based on traditional symbols. “You see a lot of the same symbols from the Navajos, Incas and Aztecs,’ Tennyson explains. “Every indigenous group will say they have certain patterns. If a style is chosen for the line, the villagers will then hire people to produce it. 

 

A part-time style coordinator lives in Mexico and communicates with the weavers and California where Tennyson is.  “The weavers will suggest a style and size for their pattern and Samantha (the style coordinator) encourages them to mix it up where needed.”

 

While they sell many bags in the U.S., they are also selling in Australia, Japan and Europe. One recent German account found the company on Instagram. This fall, she started a new line of rugs and pillows in similar color palettes as the bags.  

 

In the future Tennyson, who employs four people who work from home in Portland, Chico and Oceanside, California in and a production team in Mexico, would like to get into larger U.S. stores and get an Asian distributor (they just found a European one) and have a strong ecommerce site. “We want to get into museums and specialty stores and diversify into other products as well.” 

 

The impact these bags have had on the community who makes them has been tremendous. Last year the company sent $250,000 to the village and much of it goes to education. Many can now send their children to university, make improvements to their housing and pay for healthcare.  

 

“For me this business is a natural result of all of my life endeavors, including a love of different languages and cultures, social services and responsibility, business entrepreneurship, and adventure, “says Tennyson. “In some ways it was inevitable that I would start Manos Zapotecas. To the artisans I think it is a way to continue their rich cultural heritage and weaving tradition, and still make a decent living. It also allows them to work at home and stay close to their extended families.”

 

For more information, visit www.manoszapotecas.com

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted on PhillyVoice on January 23, 2017.

Class is in session at Rachel Ford’s Made Institute in Old City.

The first cohort of aspiring designers in the 15-course Designer Development Program is sketching, draping and sewing, and this summer they will have new, bigger digs in the Spring Arts District as one of the centerpiece businesses in a new maker community masterminded by developer Craig Grossman.

Grossman, who worked for the late visionary developer Tony Goldman (SoHo, South Beach), is best known for revamping South 13th Street into the current Midtown Village and sees this section of town as a center for the creative class where art, culture and technology will co-exist. His father worked in the New York garment industry and when he met Ford last summer, they clicked.

THOM CARROLL/PHILLYVOICE

Ford, a designer and educator, has a vision, too: a new fashion ecosystem in a city that was once a hub for clothing and textile design and manufacturing.

In August, she will move Made Institute into a 3,400-square-foot space at 448 N. 10th St. The 7-story, 50,000-square-foot building formerly housed the Haverford Cycle Company, one of the last industrial buildings in the area. The Spring Arts District spans from 8th to 12th streets, from Noble to Spring Garden streets.

Grossman’s Arts and Crafts Holdings has also signed leases with two tech firms, Azavea and Boco Digital, and the Roy-Pitz brew pub.

“This pocket seemed like an overlooked area with a great history where some of the original makers of Philadelphia worked,” he said.

‘SO MUCH ROOM TO GROW HERE’

Made’s space will not only hold classes for aspiring fashion designers but also feature a membership-based “Fashion Co-Working Space,” fully equipped with industrial machinery, cutting tables, dress forms and resources for the growing fashion community in the city. This past August, Ford received a license from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the program. She has already received more than 50 application requests for the spring session.

She and her staff will train students to become professional sewers, tailors, fashion designers and design entrepreneurs. 

“This is a new approach to fashion and design schooling. We want to help designers launch small fashion companies of their own,” Ford explained. “We focus our curriculum on the entrepreneurial experience, while still presenting the fashion landscape as a whole. A focus on sustainability, resourcefulness, and embracing the latest technical methods are what really set us apart from other school experiences.”

Before launching Made, Ford designed for Urban Outfitters and was a cutter/draper for the Philadelphia Opera. Her instructors have master’s degrees or work as fashion designers, she said. Her students come to her with other degree backgrounds, looking to switch careers or save money getting training. The Designer Development Diploma in Fashion Design, which focuses on teaching start-up designers what they need to know to enter the marketplace, can be completed in one year. The full cost of the diploma is $7,845.

The second prong to the Institute is the launch of their Fashion CoWorking Space, which allows members to use their state-of-the-art machinery, tables and start-up know-how to produce small collections. It will be open late night and offer three levels of membership (4 visits monthly, $75; 12 visits monthly, $150; 25 visits monthly, $300) as well as locker storage, access to machinery and 10 percent off classes. Ford received a $10,000 grant from The Merchants Fund to purchase 12 new industrial sewing machines for the making of both knit and woven garments. 

“Designers that need a home base can avoid the costs of equipment capital and space, and use our studio whenever they need to,” Ford said. “In order to bring some manufacturing back to Philadelphia, there needs to be an investment made by private businesses like us into the design community at large. Our fashion co-working space is created to be a hub, open to the public at a low cost to promote and facilitate Philadelphia design businesses.

“I hope that the space serves to inspire other aspects of the industry, like textile factories, fashion tech resources, and manufacturers will start to pop up and grow to inspire Philly’s designers to stay in Philadelphia and imagine their design goals,” she continued. “Textiles, fashion tech and manufacturing have so much room to grow here in Philadelphia.”

STITCHING A PATH TO SUCCESS

It was just four years ago Ford opened her doors in Old City teaching skills to the start-up designer, dressmaker, or home sewer with hands on instruction. She expanded to courses in patternmaking, textiles, tailoring and design studio. She will now add product development to the list of services they offer.

“I am now in a position to create a full circle ecosystem, where designers and makers are treated as equals, working together toward the common goal of making beautiful garments for their customers,” she said.

Ford said the program will have two starts a year. While the curriculum she wrote is heavy on technical sewing, a designer who doesn’t care for sewing can come to the fashion gym and pull from their batch of sewers to complete a small collection.

“Small-batch manufacturing and direct-to-consumer selling is a trend in the industry for smaller designers,” she noted.

Her long-term vision addresses the challenges of domestic clothing manufacturing. For many emerging designers, getting into a factory means reaching certain piece minimums that are just too risky for start-up businesses. The challenge for factories is finding sewers to man machines.

The trade of sewing and patternmaking has been harder and harder to sustain in this country, according to Ford.

“With fast fashion driving price points and constant deliveries, American consumers have a false sense of what a garment should cost,” she explained. “This creates a false bottom line for what designers can spend on manufacturing and in turn, what manufacturers can pay their workers. By educating designers and their customers about how a slower, more sustainable fashion landscape can keep sewing jobs domestic, more and more people will seek out sewing as a viable living. Independent designers could hire their own small team of sewers, and manage production themselves.”

Grossman has high hopes for Ford’s enterprise.

“When I was introduced to Rachel and visited Made Studio, I saw the Wolf forms and the machines and it brought me back to visiting my dad in Midtown Manhattan,” said Grossman of his father, who worked in the childrenswear business his whole life.

“I have been intrigued by makers my whole life,” he said. “What Rachel is doing speaks to me. She is a true maker and feel she can attract other makers to this area.”

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted in HAND/EYE Magazine on December 15, 2016.

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted in HAND/EYE Magazine on November 30, 2016.

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted in HAND/EYE Magazine on November 25, 2016.

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted in Triple Pundit on September 13, 2016.

Social entrepreneur Jason Keehn, CEO of Accompany, worked in fashion brand strategy for most of his life. Mid-career he felt he was missing a sense of purpose. He went back to graduate school to study global ethics but knew policy work and academia weren’t for him. How could he combine ethics and fashion in an entrepreneurial venture?

“I asked myself: Why wasn’t I currently an ethical fashion shopper? I shopped ethically for food,” he says.  In 2013, he set out to create a socially responsible brand that he calls a Barney’s-meets-Whole Foods e-commerce site selling curated high-end apparel, accessories and home goods from around the world.

On Accompany, you can buy everything from a baby alpaca fringed poncho dress made in Peru or a windowpane woven dress from India, to a black horn inlay bracelet from Kenya, a beaded clutch from Guatemala, or a leather backpack from Ethiopia. The products are artisan made, fair trade and also serve a philanthropic or humanitarian need.

The traditional craft techniques used in making the products on the site are reflective of the cultural heritage of a community. “People are looking for brands that are sustainable and related to human values. We have 125 brands impacting 43 countries that are stylish and do the most good, “ Keehn explains. “The idea of supporting people and communities inspired the name Accompany.”

The Accompany design team comb the world looking for items for their shoppers who are fashion forward, words not normally reserved for eco/fair-trade. Some are contemporary fashion labels like Lemlem, an Ethiopian line of handwoven clothing found in high-end retailers like at Barney’s. “At Lemlem, for example, we are simply picking from their line of sheets, knowing they produce ethically and fit our conscious sourcing model,” Keehn explains. With other brands, his team works closely on creating exclusive designs for Accompany that are often a design shift or color change of an existing style.  “With other partners, we are creating products from scratch for the site.”

Everything Keehn and his team does comes back to human impact. Merchandise they choose on the site supports artisans with indigenous craft, often in remote regions without market access; or fair trade workshops focused on paying above-average wages, good working conditions, training in underprivileged areas and capacity building. Keehn believes consumers are looking for a “return to humanity” in their shopping choices.

“In our modern techy world, with so much digital impersonal communication, and faced with large, opaque corporations steering our lives — people are, in response, really appreciating things made by humans for humans — the maker, the artisan, cultural authenticity, handcrafted items that are special and not mass produced, but rather made with intention and with a unique personal touch.”

In three years, Accompany tripled the number of brands it works with. When creating original items with artisans, it’s an interesting balance to make sure the company respects the craft and traditions of the “maker” community, while at the same time giving the products a modern twist to make them marketable.  “I think it’s in the intersection of modern trend and the timeless tradition of the crafts and ethnic influence — the tension between the two — where the products become truly compelling,” Keehn says.

“It’s a respectful collaboration and co-creation,” he continues.  “Many of the artisans appreciate the outside push to try new things, get them out of their comfort zone a bit more, shake things up artistically.  And at the same time, we don’t want to simply be commercializing their heritage of craftwork or appropriate their culture.  It’s a balance – respect and representation should always lead the exercise.”

While initial research shows visitors to the site are mostly from the New York metropolitan area, the company’s scope is expanding as consumers learn more about ethics and sustainability in fashion and hear about Accompany through social media and press.

“Consumers are now becoming educated, and therefore guilty, about making the wrong choices,” he says. “And at the same time, they love the positive stories of making a difference, knowing that something on your body was made intentionally by a person with local skills in an overlooked corner of the world, who is appreciative of the fair work and environment.  It feels nice to know that as you wear your clothes, and tell that story when you’re asked about it.”

For the same reason, gifting is a huge area for Accompany.  “It’s so great to give a special, unique item that has a positive impact,” Keehn says. “We are all aware that we have too much ‘stuff’ and overly commercial, mass-produced items don’t have the same meaning that they used to, compared to something made by hand, influenced by a remote local culture, and authentically different than everything else you see.”

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted on New Jersey Monthly on March 22, 2016.

Jason Schott, 42, spent his childhood sweeping the floors of his family’s New Jersey coat factory.  Now, as COO for the Union-based company, Schott NYC, he still loves the smell of leather as he walks the floor, managing day-to-day operations of the brand his great, grandfather Irving Schott started with his brother Jack in his Lower East Side apartment in 1913. Irving first made a raincoat; later, the brothers were commissioned by the Air Force to make bomber jackets and pea coats for soldiers in World War II. After the war,  the pair created a classic motorcycle jacket that landed on the back of Marlon Brando in The Wild One and became James Dean’s signature look. Both styles are still in the line today. In the ’70s and ’80s, the brand, known for its rebel look, became a favorite of rock and punk artists like Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, Blondie, Joan Jett and the Sex Pistols. Today’s superstar fans include Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Rihanna.

But mere mortals have loved Schott’s jackets for years, and now a new legion of fans have discovered the collection. “For years people saw us as a jacket company. [We’re] now a lifestyle brand with sweaters, shirts, sweatshirts, hats and T-shirts,” says Schott. He’s even collaborated with designer Ralph Lauren, who visited Schott’s New York store one day and admired the vintage jackets on display.  Schott worked on a few styles with the designer under the Double RL label, which retailed in both companies’ stores.

The majority of Schott’s time is spent in Union at the offices and factory with his mother, the president, and his uncle, the CEO, and 100 employees. “We invite people to tour our factory, and they are amazed at the amount of work that goes into one jacket,” he explains. It takes about eight hours to complete one, and 40 to 50 hands touch it. Prices range from cloth coats at $175 to leathers that run as high as $1,300. When many companies moved production overseas for cheaper prices, Schott resisted.

“In places like Japan, they’ve appreciated made-in-America brands for a long time. In the last five years, I think Americans are doing the same. Through our website and social media, we have told the story of how the product is made, and customers are interested in that. I think the trend in fashion is supporting heritage brands, things that hold up over time.”

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted on Sustainable Brands on October 27, 2015.

If washing and drying clothes is a major culprit in the environmental waste wars, what if there were more natural fabrics that repelled stains, resulting in fewer washings? One such solution, introduced by Kelby & Co. at the Fashion Tech Lab demo day this summer, is being rolled out in the market next month.

Dropel fuses hydrophobic (water- & stain-repellent) nanotechnology with cotton fibers to create enhanced cotton that resists stains as stubborn as soy sauce and red wine. Spills can be rinsed off with a squirt of water.

Founders Sim Gulati and Brad Feinstein are working with cotton now, though they say they have the capabilities to blend all types of natural fabrics such as cashmere, silk, linen and wool.

“Maintaining natural feel (softness), breathability, draping and all other fabric characteristics are our differentiators,” Feinstein says.

He says Dropel is working in the types of innovation usually reserved for polyester.

“We want to move away from synthetics towards a world where we can use natural textiles with added benefits that require less energy and resources in the process,” he says. ”We’ve used synthetics for decades and we believe we’re at a point now where we no longer need to resort to petroleum-based fabrics for innovative properties. We provide a sustainable alternative.”

The proprietary development process was designed in a research lab and adapted for mass-scale manufacturing. Feinstein and Gilutai have filed their first patent application for Dropel.

While the company is currently working with a handful of luxury menswear ecommerce companies, the team sees the fabric as being suitable for women’s and children’s wear, home furnishings, and uniforms. Dropel Fabrics is expected to come to market soon – the company has begun trials with several brands for Spring and Summer 2016, with some doing full garment manufacturing with the company and others sourcing the fabric. Regardless, the company says brands like that the innovative fabric with embedded technology is a purchase consumers can feel good about.

“We feel sustainability and environmental care are elements of our value proposition,” Feinstein says.

Dropel is the latest in a spate of recent fabric innovations aimed at decreasing the environmental impact of textile production and use:

• In 2014, Scientists at City University in Hong Kong revealed a new treatment for cashmere that enables it to self-clean with some help from the sun. The technology coats cashmere fibers with tiny particles of the mineral anatase titanium dioxide. When exposed to sunlight for 24 hours, the mineral starts a chemical reaction creating oxidants that act as tiny electric currents to break down dust, dirt, bacteria and even trickier stains such as coffee and wine. If the project succeeds and is commercialized, it could lead to substantial savings on energy, water, washing liquids and dry cleaning chemicals.
• In April, textile upcycler Worn Again announced a partnership with H&M and Kering to trial a first-of-its-kind textile-to-textile chemical recycling technology that is able to separate and extract polyester and cotton from old or end-of-use clothing and textiles. Once separated, the aim is for this unique process to enable the ‘recaptured’ polyester and cellulose from cotton to be spun into new fabric, creating a circular resource model for textiles.
• In August, Swiss upcycled bag and clothing brand Freitag expanded its F-abric line of European-grown and -produced workwear with a compostable, cotton-free jean — the E500 jean line will comprise 81 percent linen and 19 percent hemp. The jeans will contain neither rivets nor nylon thread, making each pair 100 percent compostable after the removal of buttons.
• In September, adidas announced Sport Infinity, the sportswear giant’s plan for a new breed of sporting goods that will never be thrown away. Instead, football (soccer) players will be able to constantly reimagine and recycle their dream products using an inexhaustible 3-D “super-material.” The company’s goal is for every gram of sportswear to eventually be broken down to be remolded again into new products in a waste-free, adhesive-free process
• And just last month, Levi Strauss launched its Levi’s Wellthread™ Collection, which touts a holistic approach to sustainable product design: The line was made in 100 percent cotton for easier recyclability, by empowered workers — and includes the first garments to feature Levi’s Water<Less™ fabric, which saves more than 65 percent of the water in the dye process, as well as Water<Less denim finishes, which use up to 50 percent less water.

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By Kathleen Nicholson Webber

Originally posted on The Americanologists on October 18, 2015.

In November of 2012, the giant red doors of Stars & Stripes Ltd. on Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street were opened to the public. The building is a circa-1881 decommissioned Gothic-style church with original wood details and soaring leaded glass windows. Inside, you’ll find an elegant shop with a stylish collection of American-made clothing and home goods.

The store is owned by the husband and wife team of Jan and Robert Chevalier. Ten years ago they bought the church to house Robert’s furniture business, but left the parish house empty. A friend suggested it would make a great store. “Why not?” thought Robert, who has been an entrepreneur his whole life. ” I never want to look back and say I wish I had tried that.”

They filled the space with antique displays, but found it challenging to stock those displays with the Made-in-USA clothes they imagined. Their first season, they found only 30-40 vendors. “We found, in the beginning, everyone wanted to talk about it but no one wanted to do it,” says Robert.

“We would stop by booths at the trade shows and tell them that we wanted Made-in-America merchandise. They’d say, ‘Good luck with that’,” says Jan. Now the store, which is meticulously styled with vintage art, artifacts and accessories, has merchandise from close to 175 vendors.  They also wanted the merchandise to cater to a range of customers – from the college student to the career person who lives or works in the area.

The look at Stars & Stripes is classic American style with a twist. The men’s area is stocked with heritage brands like Bills Khakis (above), which makes sportswear ranging from boxers to overcoats; Haspel,which brings a new perspective to traditional gentleman’s style; Gitman and New England Shirt Co, two storied Ameircan shirt-makers; B. Ella, a knitting mill producing fun and comfortable socks for men and women; R. Hanauer, a manufacturer of classic silk repp ties and bowties, and Schott NY, a company that has made iconic coats for over 100 years.

On the women’s side of the store there are Leota, NY wrap dresses, architectural-looking career separates from Nora Gardener, new takes on classic shirts from Bell by Alicia Bell and merchandise from Fresh Laundry, like the sweater coat shown above. In accessories, there’s jewelry by Jan Michaels of San Francisco and Brewster Designs of Lambertville, NJ.

Felt and leather Graf and Lantz (Los Angeles) handbags pop on the shelves and are among the most popular items in the store.

Home pieces include Faribault Woolen Mills throws (Faribault, MN), and Visual Comfort Lighting (Houston, TX).

Stars and Stripes Ltd. is open daily 10 to 6, Sundays from 11 to 5. The store is located at 2129 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA. They can be contacted at (215) 587-2129.