Care has multiple meanings for us. Simply put it can describe the physical act of caring for our garments. Basic directions, which anyone who knows me, has burned into their memories: cold water wash and hang dry. It also applies to the attention that we give our production practices
Our clothing is a proposition. An aspiration. For a life that slows down. One that offers an opportunity to live in the present moment, to engage in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels that often go missed as we rush through our lives with the blinders up.
Our clothing is produced in painstaking fashion....our development leadtimes often close in on a 12 month cycle. The yarns are spun, often by hand, then hand dyed, and handwoven. As a result it demands a little extra love and care.
Why care? People and planet is a combo that gets tossed around a lot. We care about how things are made - with respect to the maker and to the local environment where our pieces are produced. The brand has always been an experiment in looking to the past for ways of producing that contradict the damage created by fast fashion and high volume production which oftentimes incorporates synthetic fibers and synthetic dyes.
Quality and what to expect -
COLOR FASTNESS: The same way a great pair of jeans fade and fit to your body over time - our clothing is made exclusively with natural dyes. Natural dyes are not as colorfast as synthetic dyes. We love this about them - the dyes that we use are sensitive to oxidation and sun fading - as you wear the clothing it evolves and changes with you - a reflection of how you choose to spend your days. Expect a fade...most often in places where the sun hits the most - the fades bring a new level of beauty to the garment, exposing secondary dyes and mordants. A great example is our Olive Drab color - It took us a year and a half to develop this color and its become one of our favorites - Henna and Turmeric are combined with iron - which shifts the yellows and oranges to a drab green - when the sun fades notes of rusty orange appear in the heavily faded areas. Embrace the fade. In order to avoid awkward oxidation lines try not to leave our pieces hangig with uneven sun exposure and store hanging not folded.
TENSILE STRENGTH: A lot of time is spent inspecting our fabric prior to cut and sew in order to identify weave defects or inconsis- tencies. Since the majority of our fabrics are handwoven, we cut each garment one by one, and a single tailor constructs the garment from start to finish, so that all of the fabric can be inspected before sewing. Weaving can be inconsistent - something as simple as the time of day weaving, before lunch or after lunch, can impact the density of the weave and sometimes these inconsistencies are not visible to the naked eye. If our garments tear at a tension point, or if the fabric opens up in an area, we are happy to provide visible mending services at our shop, but cost of shipping and return is the responsibility of the customer.