• edited by Meghan Scott

    Stadsmissionens REMAKE - Sustainable and Conscious Fashion.

    Written by Fashion Tales

    Edited by Meghan Scott

    Every person living in Stockholm is familiar with Stockholms Stadmission, a chain of stores that sells second hand clothing at very reasonable prices. REMAKE, Stadmissions new label revives, deconstructs, reconstructs and then sells recycled clothing by incorporating new shapes and designs. REMAKE is a project that will not only benefit the environment but also the employees at REMAKE who are from Stadsmissionen’s own community. 

    Maria Lagerman, operations manager, tells us that, “The idea came from the fact that the second-hand industry always has a certain flow of garments and materials that could not be resold. Since some of us had good fashion design skills, we began this project”.

    Stockholm Stadsmission doesn’t only work with recycled clothes, it is a distinguished and respected non-profit organisation that was established in 1853.  The mission was and still is to make Stockholm a more humane city for all. The organization is there for people without a home or are victims of abuse, children, young and the elderly in need. For the young adults, they arrange youth activities, summer camps, youth clinics and counselling among other services. In addition, Stadmission helps underpriviledged people acquire basic needs such as food, clean clothes, and housing. Employment opportunities are given through organising job training and internships.

    Yasmine had the opportunity to sit down with Maria Lagerman and discuss REMAKE.

    Yasmine:
    Maria, tell me more about the background of REMAKE?

    Maria:
    The ideology behind REMAKE is progressive in Sweden, producing sustainable products with recycled materials. REMAKE has now evolved it’s mission to focus primarily on excess garments and materials such as Denim and shirts. They serve as the foundation to our concept.

    Long-term thinking and sustainability are a high goal for us. Sustainable thinking is used in choosing of materials as well as who works on the production.

    Our stores are run as social enterprises which create job opportunities for through job training and internships, helping people grow. The profits from sales go to the Stadsmission’s efforts to work with labor integration.

    Yasmine:
    Who are the people behind the clothes?

    Maria:
    The designs and our collections are produced by our in-house design professionals.  However, at REMAKE we work together as a team to reach our full potential as individuals as well as being a part of our mission to reach out to more people that appreciate sustainable fashion. Essentially all of our employees input ideas.  Our employees want to share their experiences and be a part of a more sustainable society. We believe that everyone can be a part of our production at REMAKE. We have no special requirements, but make sure we have methods that allow for as many people as possible to work with us. Social responsibility with sustainability are the keywords for Stadsmission, As a customer or partner, you become aware that things may take a little longer than expected. Here we create a good working environment providing everyone with meaningful tasks. Read more in our Sustainability Guide or read more about our sustainability efforts in the Annual Report 2015.

    Yasmine:
    What's REMAKE’s social morality? Are there principles that everyone who works with REMAKE needs to follow?

    Maria:
    If a group works with us then they should also stand behind REMAKE's and Stockholm City Mission values. In regard to production, all who work with us must work within the parameters of our sustainability guide. http://www.stadsmissionen.se/Secondhand/Remake 

    The project has given us the chance to contribute to a more sustainable way of living. By buying second-hand, you save a lot fabrics and clothes from just going to waste, and is instead put to good use and being recycled. Used garments contains less chemicals than new because they’ve already been washed many times. The bags that you can buy in the store are compostable bags that decompose within 18 months as part of REMAKE's concept based on sustainability and durability.

    We step in where the community resources and efforts are not sufficient in adapting its business based on the needs of the people in Stockholm - both short and long-term. The point is - it is possible to change the lives of all who are in need or might have fallen off. 

    Our most important task is to help people build confidence in their own abilities and regain power over their lives.’

    Yasmine:
    How would you explain what this project does for society?

    Maria:
    We believe that materials and people are worth much more than one chance. We want our work to focus on social responsibility by supporting the people and we want to contribute to influencing the fashion industry to focus on environmental and social sustainability. We are also thinking differently about about fashion, we aren’t using labels for gender and size, our garment are ‘suitable size’, you will find something that fits you and wear it how you like. Our style is long-term, we try and eliminate fads, trends and seasons.

    Yasmine:
    What do you think society’s responsibility is in embracing similar projects?

    Maria:
    Society needs to promote similar projects by setting up clear guidelines for producing sustainable fashion and design. Enforce policies and providing better working conditions and convert existing businesses who do not comply, both domestically and globally. The community could also start a larger dialogue about the capabilities found in individuals who may have difficulty succeeding in the current work force.

    Yasmine:
    What do you wish that we as a society could do better?

    Maria:
    That we would make more conscious decisions in our garment consumption and how we take care of our clothes with both people and the environment in mind.

    Yasmine:
    Do you hope other brands and social projects will take similar initiatives as you have with REMAKE?

    Maria:
    Absolutely! We need more people who want to work with design while simultaneously prioritising social responsibility, and we are happy to share our experiences and how we work.

    Yasmine:
    What are your future dreams and plans for this project?

    Maria:
    We want to continue working with our business model and continue creating quality garment designs and methods and continue creating quality lasting garments. We imagine the quality and style will ensure that the garment survives a lifetime, starting in your closet, then to another’s maintaining it’s original form, or even be constructed in to something new. Most importantly we want to continue to capture the skills and abilities of all who work with us, and to be a part of contributing to each individual reaching positive goals.

     

  • Odalisque Magazine x Son Lux

    Written by Klokie

    Odalisque had the pleasure of interviewing New York based Son Lux preparing for their performance at the Moogfest. The band consists of guitarist Rafiq Bhatia (RB), drummer Ian Chang (IC), and singer Ryan Lott (RL). Once described as “the world’s most lethal band” by NPR, they claim they are really all sweet and mild-mannered and describe their music as “Gangsta ass beat with a choir boy melody.”

    OM: Can you tell us briefly about your life, like where you were born and when you moved to New York?

    RL: I grew up all over [the US]. My wife and I moved to New York on our sixth anniversary in 2007. We had four suitcases and took a Greyhound bus.

    I didn’t come from a musical family, and music wasn’t an important part of my life early on — the “oldies” station on road trips, that’s my only early memory of music. But it was a family rule for us kids to play the piano, as a matter of discipline, more than anything. It was one of the best things my parents have done for me, along with ignoring my years of protestation on the matter.

    But after a few years, I began to feel an urge to write my own music and change what was on the page. As soon as music became something that I could author, it came alive for me. Eventually, a life in music was my only option.

    OM: When and how did you and your collaborators become aware of each other’s work?

    RB: Rafiq and Ryan met through mutual friends, and Ryan asked Rafiq to guest on some Son Lux projects after hearing his solo material. Rafiq and Ian met on a one-off gig they played with a different band. When Ryan decided to start touring behind Lanterns, he reached out to Rafiq, who in turn brought in Ian. A few short rehearsals later, we began the tour that would ultimately lead to Son Lux becoming a band.

    OM: What did you do for your debut show as Son Lux?

    RL: Our first show as a band was in front of 750 people in Berlin. We’d never played any of the material live before, and we had only rehearsed four times. And before sound check, I fell on a glass bottle and cut open my hand, dropping my laptop down a flight of concrete stairs. So what we did was survive, basically.

    OM: The videos for “Change Is Everything” and “Breathe Out” are fantastic, and you’ve been getting some great awards and recognition for those collaborations.

    RL: We’re so proud of our videos, but we can’t take any credit for them. We’ve always approached videos as open collaborations.

    OM: You’ve also written film scores - what is that process like for you?

    RL: I’ve scored three features now, the most recent of which just premiered at Cannes. It’s extremely challenging work, and the process is necessarily a bit different for each movie. The goal of a score is to serve the picture, to assist. For that reason, the act of scoring feels very different than making an album, and it’s an opportunity to allow an external force to cull new approaches to making music, both technically and philosophically.

    OM: Have you been writing new material while on the road?

    RL: We’re always writing. Most of the Bones record was made on the road.

    What works on a record doesn’t automatically work on stage. The inverse is also true. The two worlds are divergent Live, there is more improvisation, and the arrangements are generally less dense.

    OM: What was the creative process behind “Bones”?

    RB: It started in the back of a van, and often involved fastening a makeshift music stand / desk to the floor with gaffe tape. We all collaborated heavily on the sonics, flow, and presentation. A lot of it was born from the excitement and potential we discovered when touring behind Lanterns together, which is when Son Lux expanded from being just Ryan to a full band.

    OM: How did it compare to your previous projects?

    RB: Well, a lot of the contrast is explainable by circumstances: this is our first record as a band, and the first since Son Lux became a touring project - we played about 200 shows in 18 months while making Bones. It’s also the most outwardly-focused Son Lux release to date.

    OM: Where do you find inspiration for making music?

    RB: It comes from all over, and from within. Some recent sources include Richard Serra’s massive iron sculptures; traditional West African musical structures and instruments; sounds that have an ephemeral nature, that reflect a specific instant in time; Brooklyn, New York; and Ryan’s dog, Leroy.

    OM: You’ve made a number of great collaborations, both musical and visual. How did those start – where do the ideas come from and how do the interactions take place?

    RB: We are lucky that our music seems to draw in so many amazing creative minds, particularly in visual media. Often, we provide very little direction aside from encouraging the people we work with to take risks and enjoy themselves. But perhaps the cohesion of it all suggests the music itself provides a fair amount of direction, even if it’s just in terms of the type of artists that are drawn to it.

    OM: What do you do when you’re not making music?

    RB: Sleep, eat, love, feel, learn, and watch House of Cards.

    OM: What are you looking forward to about summer?

    IC: European festival season is always exciting for us! In particular, we have the opportunity to perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at Holland Festival. And imminent transmutations.

    Before the next album, transmutations are imminent. Keep your ears and eyes open.

    photo credits: Shervin Lainez

    Son Lux
    Son Lux
  • photography by TESS’ STORC / Eyesonnets

    An interview with Giovanni Leonardo Bassan

    Written by pari

    Being bailed out of jail by Michele Lamy the same evening you were modelling naked at a Rick Owens installation in Paris for “Dazed and Confused” is quite an uncommon experience, except for 25 year old Italian artist Giovanni Leonardo Bassan. Since the occasion several years ago he has developed a strong bond with the Owens couple and now considers them mentors.

    Bassan works with Rick Owens as a creative in his studio in Paris and retreats to his personal art at his own studio when he’s not there. Bassan was recently noticed by international press for his sold-out debut exhibition “Martyrdoms” at The Mine Gallery in Dubai. His drawings are considered a holy punk interpretation of modern culture.

    Agata Fabri: What is it like working with Michele Lamy?

    Giovanni Leonardo Bassan: Michele is an polyhedric artist. Her demeanor could instill fear at the same time, she is so maternal in nature.

    That night I ended up at the police station for no particular reason. Michele bailed me out. She also invited me to spend the rest of the night in their home. She paid my ticket to go back to Milan the day after. I was in shock.

    Afterwards, she kept me under her wing and she still pushes me to explore my art.

    AF: When did you get into art?

    GLB: Ever since I was a child, I have been drawing. In the past I used to draw only what I believed was beautiful. Today I have a different point of view. I’ve changed. I have a studio in Paris, a basement where I invite friends over to discuss our generation’s issues. And this is a way to get into my art, being inspired by frequent dialogues.

    AF: What kind of issues do you discuss?

    GLB: I find that Paris lacks collective thinking. Parisians all behave as individuals. Once I asked my friends if they shared my need to have a say about what surrounds us nowadays, because I find that I keep wondering: “What battles are we fighting? How does it feel to be a 25 year old male, in Paris, in 2016?” That is just the starting point of our discussion.

    By the end we’re all questioning our lives and issues like drug addiction, religion, homosexuality and gender transitions. The power of youth is not just about having the freedom to express ourselves, but, more than anything, it is about shouting out loud what we are feeling. I’ve had sort of an epiphany, a revelation. I don’t want to draw only because I like it, but I consider it a way to express what I feel.

    AF: Can you explain the background of your art?

    GLB: I consider my art as a personal study. I express myself through it. I started with an exhibition in Paris at my studio where I showcased my work. Then, in an Iranian gallery in Dubai, I showed drawings that I had made just before and immediately after the Paris terrorist attacks last November, presented in an exhibition I called “Martyrdoms”.

    I asked myself, “Who’s the martyr?” In Italy there is a huge, vivid tradition of worshipping saints. So I decided to study the paths of saints: they expressed their ideas, even though this caused their deaths. Society and politicians condemned these people for their ideas because they didn’t understand what they were stating. Nowadays, people who are marching in Moscow for gay pride, black people who are still abused in the USA, and Syrian refugees all represent martyrs in my mind.

    I put together images I had researched and then I mixed them with the golden backgrounds used as a symbol of purity in Christian art. Then I went to Dubai to show these works. In Dubai people wanted to know about the stories about the saints, and visitors kept asking me, “Are these myths? Is it true?”

    AF: Do you feel that people understand your art?

    GLB: I have a feeling that in Dubai, they understood my art.

    And, the fact that they asked me about historical martyrs, about Italian culture and about the Paris terrorist attack that inspired my works, made me feel I was going in the right direction. And of course I didn’t expect a sold–out exhibition at all.

    AF: Next projects?

    GLB: I am working on a mid-June exhibition in Paris, in partnership with “The Mine Gallery” in Dubai, and another project in New York with a group of artists that will take place in October.

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