Workers, Ecology, Ideas
Part One: Workers
These photos were taken by Alexis Gross at some of our Los Angeles factories just weeks before the reality of COVID-19 hit the city hard.
Her entire brief was to focus on hands.
We wanted to illustrate that by the time a garment reaches you—even if it's a 'basic' t-shirt—around 60 workers have been directly involved in making it.
If you’ve ever worn a 100% Recycled Cotton Trash Tee (or Ariel’s Everyday Shorts, or 100% Hoodie), the people in these photos are linked to you!
With this series, our hope is to show not only the resources that go into every item we make, but the combined centuries of skill and gorgeous humanity that lies behind every single thing on our website, as well as every single thing on earth. It’s equally awe-inspiring and troubling.
As we write this, some of these same factories are closed down. If they’re open, workers are wearing (and most likely making) masks, frequently using hand sanitizer and keeping physical distance as a new normal.
THE HEALTH AND STABILITY OF THE INDIVIDUALS AND FACTORIES WHO MAKE OUR PRODUCTS IS CRITICAL TO THE WELLBEING OF OUR ECOSYSTEM—AND THE WORLD’S.
JUST LIKE YOUR WELLBEING IS CRITICAL TO OURS, AND OURS TO WORKERS AND FACTORIES, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
It’s sort of a long, rambling version of what Prakash Gokalchand has been saying to us all along:
'All is one.'
'Workers, Ecology, Ideas' are the foundation of our model.
SINCE LAUNCHING IN 2016, WE’VE AIMED TO 'MAKE USEFUL THINGS WITHOUT EXPLOITING PEOPLE OR THE PLANET' AND THAT’S WHAT WE’VE DONE.
BUT NOW'S THE TIME TO GO DEEPER.
MORE SOLUTIONS NEED TO BE TESTED, PROVEN AND POSSIBLY SCALED OR REPRODUCED IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING AND BUYING THINGS.
WE'RE INTERESTED IN CONTINUING THE EXPERIMENT AND SHAPING A BETTER FUTURE. IF YOU'VE READ THIS FAR, MAYBE YOU ARE TOO?
