WEARABLE ART

• EVER TO EXPLORE COLLECTION •

ONE BLISTERY FALL AFTERNOON, Marianna Phillips and Amanda Kelly Espiritu decided to have an art day in Williamsburg and throw some paint at clothes instead of canvases. As one does when they are in Brooklyn.

“Crazy idea. What if we designed a clothing line?”

“Crazier idea. What if we launch with a guerrilla fashion show?”

“Okay, okay. Craziest idea. What if we launch the clothing line with a guerrilla fashion show during NYFW?

OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL CUPS OF TEA, as Marianna painted some shirts and Amanda painted some shoes, a crazy idea was born. Both Marianna and Amanda hated how they’d see and hear about people throwing their clothes away instead of up-cycling their clothes or donating them to friends or other thrift stores. It was more than a little frustrating to see how people would go for a quick swipe of their credit card at the store to get something cheap that wouldn’t last more than a season rather than figure out how to mend old clothes that might have a bit of wear and tea to them. While it’s been great to see some parts of the fashion industry starting to turn agains the fast fashion tide, it’s been slow progress.

Sewing, cutting, and painting up a storm, Marianna and Amanda began gathering clothes from their own closets they were planning on donating and hit up their favorite thrift stores in NYC, SF, Tokyo, and beyond while they were traveling. Friends answered the call to consider providing an old piece or two for the cause and get some custom, wearable art of their very own. Family, friends of friends, and strangers began to commission pieces and asking for styling advice, so Marianna and Amanda began to search for pieces for each person’s taste and set them aside to be made new with acrylic leather paint and ink.