When I designed my first very own clothing line in the 1980’s, I had many thoughts and ideas about clothing tags. Traditionally they just included the brand name and information about size, material and washing instructions.
Why not use the clothing tag to communicate about other, more important things?
I decided to include a short message to inspire people. On one of these old labels it says: ”A crisis is a time of change, a challenge to be creative and find new ways…”
Lea Redmond at Leafcutter Designs took it one step further when she designed the tag in the image. Her's is actually an instruction for deeper relationships, a way to honor the best of what clothing can be: something that connects us to the earth and each other in positive, beautiful ways.
It's also a way to introduce and cultivate an awareness that is necessary in order to change our shopping habits.
We have failed to create a system for manufacturing clothes that treats the earth and people well. This needs to change.
I have come across several people, companies and organizations, working with clothes, who stress the importance of knowing the whole story behind a garment. The IOWEYOU Project and The Krochet Kids, to name a few, have put in thought and effort to make sure the costumer is able to trace a garment back to the particular artisan who made it.
This feels like a fresh breeze in our existing unsustainable garment industry, where we are used to being passive consumers, cut off from the whole story.
The IOWEYOU Project makes it possible to trace each individual garment back to its particular weaver and maker. The intention is to add a deeper experience to a a piece of clothing through this emotional link as well as to show due respect. This process ensures that the garment is no longer just another piece of mass produced clothing, but one uniquely made for you. By someone you (almost) know.
But there are other untold stories that hide in the seams of our clothes…
What was the designer’s deeper intention with the garment?
What do the colors and surface patterns whisper to our souls?
Those are stories I would like to know as a costumer. As they are told, they give us the freedom to chose garments whose stories speak strongest to us.
Are you interested in conscious clothing and the future of clothes?
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