Meet the Maker ⋒
We are honored to feature this Bay Area based maker , Alec Nakashima of @akashi_kama . Pride and rootedness in his Japanese American heritage is the foundation of his brand.
Pronouns: he/him/his.
Visual description: Alec is a tall 5th generation Japanese American man with thick black hair. He often wears various shades of navy with white sneakers.
An excerpt of the interview is shared below and the full interview is in our stories and on our website, linked in our profile.
What inspired you to become a maker?
I'm Japanese-American, and went to Japan for the very first time in 2018. It was an incredible experience, and after I came home I kept looking for something that blended a traditional aesthetic and that I could wear in an everyday context. I couldn't find anything like what I was picturing, so I decided to make my own. That idea of being fully Japanese and fully American inspired AKASHI-KAMA. I wanted to create something from these two worlds, not quite something fully traditional like in my grandma's closet or something bad like a bathrobe called 'a kimono', but something new and different. Like many others, my family felt terrible effects from the internment camps, wounds that took generations to heal. Rediscovering that heritage and pride, and helping others to do the same with their cultures is a huge part of AKASHI-KAMA.
What is something about your heritage that makes you proud?
I'm often just in awe of the generations that came before us. It makes me immensely proud to be the product of Japanese Americans who took on hatred that I can't even imagine, and emerged with hope rather than bitterness. To carry on that heritage, and especially the importance of it in 2020 makes me very proud.
Image description: [The first photo is of Alec standing next to a clothing rack of his noragi jackets. The border is collage art by @elanbyrd . The other nine photos are of models of various genders wearing noragi jackets in different materials.]
Innovator Interview ⋒
We are thrilled to share an interview with intersectional sustainable fashion advocate and photographer @aditimayer .
Pronouns: she/her/hers.
Visual description: Aditi is a Punjabi American cis gender woman with long black wavy hair, tan skin, and a passion for decolonizing fashion and sustainability through her subjective South Asian lens.
Interview is linked in our profile and in our stories. An excerpt is shared below.
How did you first get into sustainable fashion?
My catalyst to enter the sustainable fashion world was the 2013 Rana Plaza Factory Collapse-- which was an 8-story garment factory that killed over 1,134 people; one of the largest industrial disasters of our time. The day before the collapse, deep cracks had appeared in the eight-story building, but there was so much pressure from upper management to have workers finish orders, facilitating this mass industrial homicide.
So my entry into the world of sustainable fashion was rooted in looking at the industry through a lens of social justice. After the 2012 Rana Plaza Factory collapse, my eyes were opened to the intersection between labor rights and marginalized communities.
I was just about starting college at the time, and concurrently started my blog. At the time, my understanding of sustainable fashion was quite elementary-- I always describe my blog as a platform that grew alongside me and my nuanced understanding of sustainability.
As I entered the space, I quickly realized that the sustainable fashion scene was dominated by well-off white women and a narrative of luxury sustainable fashion markets. There was a huge gap in terms folks not understanding the systemic and structural underpinnings of fashion-- conversations rooted in colonialism, racism, patriarchy, and more-- and I decided that was the gap that I wanted to address through my work.
Image description: [Ten photos of Aditi in various beautiful sustainable outfits in nature and urban spaces. First photo has artwork bordering the photo of earth toned geometric shapes by @elanbyrd ]
Repost from @little_kotos_closet
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Laughter, joy, taking up space, sharing, connecting— women of color at the table— this is what sustainable fashion needs to be about. I want more servings of this, please!! My heart has been so full after this panel that we recorded for the @thesustainablefashionforum. Grateful to have this infusion of hope from @aditimayer and @iam_samata and Karen Foster... especially during this intense time of global pandemic.
Also thankful for the opportunity to represent @buyfrombipoc and my co-moderators @thebeaologist and @yokeandbore . Our work is all about putting Black, Indigenous, and other people of color makers, creatives, and innovators in sustainable fashion (and beyond) front and center.
This whole experience was incredibly empowering. I had imposter syndrome for weeks leading up to our recording session. And now that it is over I am affirmed in my right to have a seat at the table.
You can follow the link in my stories to access the Digitial Vault for @thesustainablefashionforum .
Image description: [A screenshot of our recording session. We are four women of color smiling and laughing. Karen Foster was our moderator and @aditimayer and @iam_samata are on the panel with me. The second image is the cover image for accessing our session in the Digital Vault: A Seat at the Table. Creating Space for BIPOC. I was honored to wear a tumeric dress from @thetinycloset and earrings from @slanttstudio . Both women of color are amazing makers we have been lucky enough to feature on @buyfrombipoc.]
It’s time for our Throwback Thursday post where we celebrate secondhand and vintage owners and their shops ! ⋒
We are excited to feature Natasha of @theconsistencyproject .
Pronouns: she/her/hers.
Visual description: Natasha is a Chinese and Korean American woman with dark brown hair.
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Enjoy an excerpt of the interview below! See the full interview in our stories and in our website.
What inspired you to open your shop?
Although thrifting was always a part of my lifestyle growing up, at one point I was also a victim of fast fashion. As I began my journey of carving out a unique space for myself within fashion, I started to learn about the impact my buying decisions had on the environment and exploitation of many communities. Although upsetting, this inspired me to focus on building a brand around clothing that already existed and bring this conversation to the forefront of TCP. Instead of being a brand creating more “new”, I really wanted to focus on breaking the many stigmas of secondhand and inspire a lifestyle towards reuse.
How would you describe your own fashion/style?
I care about comfort and functionality but also love experimentation. When it comes to secondhand there’s those elements of discovery and play which push one’s creativity limits. It is so special! I love embracing the unknown at the same time I will always filter my decisions to make sure that what I’m wearing can get me through the day and is dog/baby proof. ;) Quality fabrics are also a must. My style is definitely reflected in the curation of TCP. If you check out the TCP shop it’ll definitely give you a sense of my personal vibe and energy. ;) Image descriptions: [Ten images of Natasha, her brick and mortar shop, and product images on various models. 3rd photo is by @ysabellalangdon and 4th photo is by @prynnemag. Artwork that borders first photo is by @elanbyrd ]
Meet the Maker ⋒
Sometimes we have the good fortune of meeting makers in person at various events and that was the case with Nisha. We saw her gorgeous woodblock print scarves beautifully folded and hung at her booth and we were in love. Today it is our great pleasure to feature Nisha Mirani of @shopsundaymonday whose scarves and home goods will delight and brighten your day.
Pronouns: She/her/hers.
Visual description: Nisha is an Indian American woman with black curly hair to her shoulders and brown eyes.
What inspires your work?
With SUNDAY/MONDAY, I hope to honor and support the preservation of indigenous Indian craft traditions while also creating space for innovation and growth. India has such a diversity of religions, languages, architecture, and landscapes, but we are exposed to a small part of the culture here in the US. While many textiles sold here are made in India, the people selling them often do not reflect the people making them.
SUNDAY/MONDAY allows me to stay connected with my roots and constantly learn more about my heritage. Even though I was born here, I was lucky to visit often growing up. Going back to India each year as an adult feels like coming home in a way. I feel light, joyful, and inspired there and want our textiles to reflect that spirit. With that said, I keep in mind the complexities of colonialism, identity, privilege, and immigration while navigating the business and sharing the story of our textiles.
Besides that, our work is inspired by: color, architecture, organic forms found in nature, my husband’s Japanese heritage, and artists including Isamu Noguchi and Hilma Af Klint.
What is your favorite piece in your collection and why?
My favorite piece in the collection is currently our Ripple scarf in fuchsia. Red and pink together is such a playful color combination and the scarf is easy to pair with a black jumpsuit or white button down. Also, our scarves and bandanas are all hand block printed on a soft silk cotton blend, so you don’t get overheated or itchy wearing them.
Image descriptions: [Ten photos of Nisha and models wearing the brightly colored woodblock print scarves as well as photos of the home goods]
Community Question ⋒
Do we accept tips or start a Patreon? Do we just ask people to donate toward a particular cause each month instead? We are really wrestling with these questions, so we thought we would share a bit more and ask for your input.
Brooke @yokeandbore and I @little_kotos_closet are co-moderating for now while Bea @thebeaologist steps away from social media for the foreseeable future. We are two East Asian light skinned, cis-gender, able bodied, thin privileged women. At the same time the work we do in this space is a labor of love and takes a lot of time and energy. On the one hand we want to just ask people to donate to a particular non-profit at the end of each month rather than join a Patreon or offer tips. On the other hand we’ve been discussing how nuanced it is as Asian women... the conditioning we have grown up with to defer, to do free labor, and stay quiet. So we are stuck.
If we did accept tips or start a Patreon we would split all proceeds three ways evenly between the three co-moderators because Bea has done so much for the many months she co-moderated with us and our understanding is she’ll be back eventually.
Whether or not we accept tips or start a Patreon, we are thinking that we would still like to highlight a monthly organization to support and might even see if makers might donate items from time to time for a fundraiser for particular non-profits.
We are really interested in honest feedback from our community. With that said we are also going to be closely monitoring comments and ask that comments be respectful and thoughtful.
Image description: [An art piece by @bleubyrdie of a think light skinned woman with dark brown hair wearing a lead print dress sitting on the ground leaning on one arm, legs partially stretched out to one side. The words in greenish brown “community question” have been added on top of the image.]
