CityLine: The value chain of fashion

CONTINUES TO DRIVE CONSUMER PATTERNS OF CONSUMPTION AND DISPOSAL OF CLOTHING. ACCORDING TO MCKINSEY. FOR EVERY FIVE GARMENTS PRODUCED, THE EQUIVALENT OF THREE END UP IN A LANDFILL OR ARE INCINERATED EACH YEAR. THIS NEXT DESIGNER IS CREATING WOMEN’S WEAR THAT IS BUILT TO LAST. THE LATEST FASHION TRENDS ARE ARRIVING IN STORES AND ON DOORSTEPS FASTER THAN EVER. FASHIONISTAS AND EVERYDAY SHOPPERS HAVE MORE CHOICES. BUT DOES SUSTAINABILITY HAVE AN IMPACT ON WHAT YOU CHOOSE? MASSART, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF THE FASHION DESIGN PROGRAM JENNIFER VERKAMP, UNDERSTANDS THAT CONSUMERS MAY NOT BELIEVE THAT SUSTAINABLE GOODS ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL BUDGETS. ANYTHING I FIND THAT’S SUSTAINABLE IS MORE EXPENSIVE. AND AND GENERALLY THAT’S TRUE. AND THERE IS AN EQUITY ISSUE, LIKE EVEN WITH ORGANIC FOODS. RIGHT. LIKE THE IRONY OF IT IS EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO THAT. LIKE TO MAKE YOURSELF HEALTHIER OR TO TO BE MORE MINDFUL. AND IT SHOULDN’T EVEN BE THAT WE’RE SAYING LIKE ORGANIC FOOD OR SUSTAINABLE FASHION. IT SHOULD JUST BE. THAT’S THE WAY EVERYTHING’S DONE. AND EVERYBODY CAN GET THAT LOCAL DESIGNER QUEEN ALEPPO WANTS CONSUMERS TO THINK BEYOND WHAT IS ON THE PRICE TAG OF THEIR PURCHASES. MOST OF THE TIME, WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT FASHION IS NEVER CHEAP. THE COST IS BEING BORNE BY SOMEBODY ELSE. THAT PRICE HAS BEEN PAID FOR THAT BY THAT WORKER WHO HAS HAD TO BE IN A FACTORY WORKING ODD HOURS, BEING PAID SINCE IT’S, UM, THEIR ENVIRONMENT HAVE HAD TO PAY THE PRICE OF MASS PRODUCTION AND NO PROPER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAWS IN PLACE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT THAT PRODUCTION PROCESS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. ACCORDING TO MCKINSEY, 40% OF U.S. CONSUMERS HAVE SHOPPED AT SHEEHAN OR TEMU IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS. THESE E-COMMERCE RETAILERS BOAST FRESH OFF THE RUNWAY STYLES IN A MATTER OF DAYS. THERE’S NO VALUE LEFT IN CLOTHING, AND THAT HAS FOR ME AS A DESIGNER, IS REALLY SAD BECAUSE WHAT IS VALUE LIKE? VALUE IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO HOLD ON TO, LIKE SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE MAKES FOR YOU OR SOMETHING YOU BUY THAT YOU LOVE BECAUSE IT’S MADE WELL AND YOU CONTINUE TO WEAR IT NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU’VE HAD IT. VAREKAMP POINTS OUT THE CYCLE OF BUYING CHEAPLY CAN’T END UP COSTING CONSUMERS MORE IN THE LONG RUN. SO KIND OF THINKING MORE CONSCIOUSLY ABOUT THAT LIKE, DO I REALLY NEED THAT? WOULDN’T IT BE BETTER IF I SPENT A LITTLE, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE INVESTED IN SOMETHING THAT’S MAYBE HIGHER QUALITY AND MORE SUSTAINABLY MADE DOING SOMETHING THAT’S GOOD FOR A LOT OF CONSTITUENTS, AND THEN I DON’T NEED TO BUY ANOTHER ONE. QUALITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN CENTRAL TO ALEPPO’S FASHION LINE, NAMED QUEEN ADELINE. FIRST AND FOREMOST, I WANTED TO MAKE WELL-MADE CLOTHING THAT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE THAT’S PART OF THE EQUATION OF FAST FASHION AND WASTEFUL FASHION. LIKE I WANTED TO MAKE PIECES THAT WOULD LAST. WHAT CONSTITUTES A WELL CONSTRUCTED PIECE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THERE ARE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS TO BEING SUSTAINABLE. AND SO FOR ME, THAT’S HOW QUEEN ADELINE WAS BUILT. IT WAS GOING TO BE A BRAND THAT WAS GOING TO BRING MY AFRICAN HERITAGE OF MY COLORFUL, VIBRANT, UM, PATTERNS INTO CLOTHING FOR, UM, EVERYDAY WEAR, FOR WORKING WOMEN SO THAT THEY COULD SHOW UP VERY BOLD AND CONFIDENT IN HOW THEY WERE PRESENTING THEMSELVES, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THEY COULD MAKE A CONSCIOUS CHOICE AS TO HOW THEY WERE SHOWING UP AND WHAT SORT OF FASHION CHOICES THEY WERE MAKING IN HER STUDIO IN LOWELL A.R.T., PEPO DESIGNS CLOTHING AND COMPLEMENTARY ACCESSORIES TO MINIMIZE FABRIC WASTE. SHE ALSO PUTS IMPORTANCE ON HER ROLE IN THE CRAFT ECOSYSTEM. MY WORK IS WORKING TOWARDS HELPING TO SUSTAIN ART MAKING COMMUNITIES SO THAT THE SEAMSTRESSES THAT COME TO HELP ME SO, INCLUDING MYSELF LIKE I AM PRESERVING THE SKILL SET IF IF MY BEING IN BUSINESS HELPS TO PRESERVE THAT CRAFT, THEN MY PART IS DONE AND THAT IS A PART OF SUSTAINABILITY THAT ALWAYS GETS LEFT OUT. WE ALWAYS FOCUS ON, UM, CLIMATE ACTIVISM, AND WE FORGET ABOUT THE PEOPLE AND THE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE INVOLVED. NOW. CHRONICLES SHAYNA SEYMOUR INTRODUCES US TO A LOCAL DESIGNER WHOSE UNIQUE PRICES, PIECES AND SUSTAINABLE METHODS CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF A HOLLYWOOD STAR INSIDE THE TOWN OF GROTON’S PRESCOTT COMMUNITY CENTER IS MARIGOLD, A ONE WOMAN ATELIER THAT’S ATTRACTING A BIT OF ATTENTION. I HAVE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE. I AM LIVING SOMETHING THAT I’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF DOING, SHARON CHANDLER KAREN FIRST LEARNED TO SEW FROM HER MOTHER. SHE CREATED THESE DIRNDL SKIRTS AND LITTLE CAPES KNITS AND THIS IS WHAT WE WORE ON EASTER SUNDAY. IT’S A MIX OF DIFFERENT DENIM. IT’S AS EASY TO TAKE CARE OF. JUST THROW IT IN THE WASH. CHANDLER CORRENTE HAS HAD A LIFELONG LOVE FOR TEXTILES AND DESIGN. A RETIRED ART TEACHER, SHE RECENTLY BEGAN MAKING DRESSES OUT OF SALVAGED FABRIC AND ANTIQUE QUILTS. THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF TEXTILES, AND I THINK BY GIVING IT A NEW LIFE, BY ALTERING THE COLOR AND NOT USING ANOTHER CHEMICAL, WHY NOT PUT IT TO GOOD USE AND MAKE IT A FUNCTIONAL ITEM AND IF THERE STAINS, WHY NOT PUT IT THROUGH A DYE BATH? CHANDLER CURRENTLY MAKES THOSE DYES FROM PLANTS AND FLOWERS, INCLUDING MARY GOLDS. SHE DOESN’T USE SEWING PATTERNS IN ALL OF HER CLOTHES ARE ONE SIZE, SHE SAYS HER DESIGNS ARE INSPIRED BY HER DAUGHTER’S RACHEL, GLORIA ADAMS AND WREN MANLEY, WHO ARE BOTH IN THE ART WORLD. I CONSIDER MY DAUGHTERS ACTUALLY MY MARIGOLD MUSE. UM, BOTH OF THEM ARE REALLY HELPFUL. WHAT DO YOU THINK? I FEEL LIKE IT’S ME IN EARLY 2023. CHANDLER CORRENTE ACCOMPANIED WREN TO AN EVENT IN MAINE. WREN WAS WEARING THIS QUILT DRESS. A WOMAN APPROACHED HER AND AND LITERALLY ASKED WHERE DID YOU GET THAT DRESS? WREN SAID, MY MOM MADE THIS DRESS. TURNS OUT THAT PERSON WAS GOLDEN GLOBE WINNING ACTRESS AND STYLE ICON CHLOE SEVIGNY. SOON AFTER THAT MEETING, SHE PURCHASED THREE OF THE DRESSES, THEN SEVEN, YE POSTED ON INSTAGRAM. THE POST TOOK OFF LIKE IT EXPLODED AND I STARTED GETTING MESSAGES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. ARTICLES IN MAGAZINES INCLUDING BRITISH VOGUE FOLLOWED. IT WAS ALWAYS A PROUD MOMENT FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT MY MOM MADE THIS, WREN MANLEY SAYS. HER MOM’S DESIGNS ARE NOT ONLY ONE OF A KIND, BUT ALSO MADE WITH INTEGRITY. I LIKE TO KNOW WHO’S MAKING MY GARMENTS. I LIKE TO KNOW HOW IT WAS MADE, IF IT WAS MADE IN PROPER WORKING CONDITIONS AND JUST THE MOST SUSTAINABLE WAY POSSIBLE, AND ESPECIALLY IF IT’S FROM A WORKING ARTIST AND THERE’S, YOU KNOW, JUST A WONDERFUL STORY BEHIND IT. I COME IN HERE AND, AND I THINK ABOUT MY PARENTS. I LOOK AT THEIR PICTURE AND I KNOW THEY’D BE REALLY HAPPY AND EXCITED. THE WOMEN IN MY ANCESTRY WERE ALL SOWERS, MADE THEIR OWN CLOTHING. I WANT MY LEGACY FOR MY CHILDREN AND FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN TO KNOW THAT I JUST KEPT DOING IT. HOW TO SHOP MORE CONSCIOUSLY. WE’VE GOT SOME TIPS FOR YOU