The rise of independent fashion: interview with MasGarmz
What sparked your interest in making clothes?
It’s weird cause when I was younger (like 9 / 10 years young) I would tell everyone that I was gonna be some kind of designer. I remember drawing bare emo and goth clothes for my dolls, cutting up t shirts and making macramé friendship bracelets. My nan also taught me how to knit and sew, both by hand and machine, which now I am extremely grateful for, so big up Nan. As I got into my teens though, I sort of lost passion for making clothes really, but always kept my interest in style and creating art. Fast forward a few years: I graduated with a degree in Fine Art and travelled Asia. Being in India is what really re-sparked my passion and want to create clothes. You’re surrounded constantly by colour and energy, and this is translated into the garms: they’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen! People there are handcrafting the most amazing pieces, a lot of the time from second hand materials, and then selling them themselves; there’s a personal connection between the creator and the garms, and that is something special. The sustainability, and personality, is something that I wanted to translate but in my own, British style. So when I got back from travelling, I decided that I would start my own brand, with individuality and sustainability at its core. I began by making funky trousers, reworking sportswear and t shirts, with things like bleach and tie dye (both very fun and easy techniques to make old clothes fresh), and it’s really just evolved from there. And then after various failed attempts at the ‘real world’, I also decided that I never wanted to work for anyone but myself, which really has given me the drive to create like never before.
What are the main sources of inspiration behind your designs?/ what influences your designs?
A lot of my style and fit inspo comes from my experiences at festivals and parties, where everyone’s just feeling free and wearing whatever they want. You see people looking all trippy dancing with people all g’d up and it’s awesome, you can’t help but feel inspired. I try to imagine what I have designed / created being worn at a dutty U.K festival, and then sort of go from there. I also take a lot of inspo from all kinds of different places: the psychedelic sixties/ seventies, the acid rave revolution or the East coast / West coast hip-hop rivalry of the 90’s, stoner culture, growing up being emo, artworks, the list goes on to be fair… A lot of the designs come from what I can do with the materials themselves: as I work with purely second hand sourced materials (things like bedsheets and curtains, material offcuts, vintage sportswear, I try and work with whatever I can get my hands on), I sort of envision what the material can be transformed into, and then create a design based off of that. The designs I’m currently working on are inspired by this lil pixie girl that I keep envisioning in my head, she real cute! During the lockdowns, a lot of my inspo has come from Depop and IG, and the hella talented creatives out there. The clothes people are making are next level, like completely next level, and the looks people are putting out there are on par, again you can’t help but feel inspired everytime you’re scrolling!
Why do you think younger people are preferring to buy thrifted or customized clothes from sites like depop rather than clothes from high st stores?
I rate the main force that drives this is the desire to be, or at least look, individual and different. It feels so awesome owning (and making) one of a kind / custom garms, whether it’s been handcrafted, or it’s a vintage and customised item, knowing that no one else has it or ever will, is a very special feeling. It’s the ultimate statement of individuality, and I think a lot of people realise the importance of literally just being yourself: what better way to express this than with custom, handcrafted pieces. Anyone can buy a mass produced dress or whatever from a high st shop, or off of one of the many, many fast fashion websites, but how many people also own that garm? What’s the moral and environmental impact of you buying that £6 dress? I think a lot of people are waking up to the various ways that the corporate and fast fashion industries are destroying both people and the planet, which I think has ultimately driven this greater shift in peoples’ buying and spending habits. When you buy from small, independent businesses, you are literally helping us creatives get by, and enabling us to continue to create, it’s really positive and encouraging, that people are choosing to spend their money on our products: people on Depop / IG, the support they give you is nothing but maaad love! A good way to not buy from high street / fast fashion is… Charity shop shopping. You end up finding the most craziest garms, sportswear, and sometimes, the occasional designer gems, it’s always for a bargain as well!
Do you think DIY fashion has been accelerated during lockdown?
Yes of course! Since the very first lockdowns, there’s been a massive rise in not only us creatives making the DIY fashion, but a massive rise in people rocking and turning looks. The community on IG and Depop, (and I guess TikTok as well, but I don’t use that) is really buzzing right now. There are soooo many incredibly cool, talented, U.K based, individuals completely smashing it: with such a wide range of products being created, not just garms, people are creating really cool accessories, artworks, smoking accessories, zines, all kinds of amazing things, and these are being skillfully handcrafted by U.K based creators and talent. All the damaging and negative effects aside, the lockdowns have actually given us creatives the time, and therefore the opportunity to improve and showcase our skills, talents and voices. Many of us (not only in the DIY fashion community) are creating at a rate, and with an energy that’s never been possible before. Alongside the decline of the high streets, IG and Depop have been perfect for facilitating and accelerating the consumption of DIY fashion, (especially with the controversial new shopping feature that IG introduced). Us creatives now have global exposure like never before, and many of us are kinda taking full advantage of the situation. We are living through the most insane time in modern history, and even getting by day to day has been a massive struggle for many of us, so it’s been really energizing to see so many of us putting our skills to good use and trying to better ourselves, whilst being in the middle of all this chaos.
What would you like to achieve with your brand in the upcoming months?
I’m currently working on some really exciting and, I think, quite beautiful designs, and these should hopefully be finished and available very very soon (fingers crossed, just in time for Christmas!), so obviously, I would like to see them do well. At the moment, I hand draw a small artwork, and these go in each order of handmade clothing, so I really wanna get some of my artwork made into prints and stickers to put in orders instead: as special as each art work is, it does take me a lot of time to create each one! In the New Year I’m hoping to expand my resources and production, and will be looking to hook up with a vintage / sportswear supplier so I can carry on customizing, and reworking branded garms: I’ll then be able to make a wider range of styles and sizes and that excites me. I am still in the very early stages of my independent business; continuing to grow, and learn is really at the forefront of my aspirations. One of my dreams is to have a trippy lil festival stall, selling all kind of weird and wonderful garms, accessories and artworks, but obviously that reality won’t be happening in the foreseeable future. I’m really just rolling with it at the moment, being adaptable, having loads of fun… I wanna meet some cool people, and carry on making beautiful clothes.
Would you ever want your designs mass produced or do you prefer them as one offs?
I couldn’t see my business taking the mass produced route. Unless I was 100% sure that the products were being produced in a sustainable way, with correct wages for the workers, otherwise, I couldn’t see it happening. Seeing as my garms are all one offs, I feel like mass producing them would mean my brand would loose this quality, and I feel this is something that makes my clothing extra special. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to scale up: in the future I would love to have a collaborative team of creatives: artists, designers, sewers, crafters, photographers, all of us working together to create some really cool, one of pieces, but on a larger scale. I never say never tho: you never know what the future holds!
instagram: masGarmz (@masgarmz) • Instagram photos and videos
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