Mendwear was an experiment with textile waste that began during Covid, and played out across 2021-23. It began with learning to mend clothes by patching and darning, activities that helped me stay calm, cool and creatively engaged during that period of global isolation. It eventually grew into a little collection of side hustles which culminated in Mendwear’s participation in a group show of textile art at Albuquerque's Tortuga Gallery.

The process: Albuquerque thrift store, The Common Good, takes in donations from its suburban community. Volunteers pick through this material, putting their selections out on the floor for sale, and bagging up the rest —often 30-40 cubic yards of apparel waste per month. I bought 5-10 cubic yards from them each month and picked through it with a new rubric:
 

• clothes in good repair that met the criteria of a handful of community organizations that clothed asylum-seekers from Latin America, folks recently released from prison, and unhoused folks

• clothes in good repair that would sell on eBay, particularly odd or vintage items

• unsalable clothes in bad repair but made of natural fibers that I could repair and sell or give away

• unsalable clothes that other artists could tinker with

• unsalable clothes in bad repair that I could deconstruct into materials for upcycled apparel

Over the course of the project, I experimented with that process, learning about the “value” in a garment, and the values held close by the many folks impacted by the political and ecological realities of fast fashion. Operating at a limited scale of production, I saw the limited potential for financial gain. But I also learned that the value of upcycled clothes wasn't tangible or measurable.

In bringing Mendwear to life, I made connections with local community organizers; picked, processed and sold hundreds of items of apparel on eBay; and mended beloved items for all kinds of folks from my communities, from family and friends to strangers. I cut up hundreds of garments that I couldn’t sell on, building a big bank of 100% natural fiber materials; and I made items for sale, for gifts, and for my own use: newsboy hats, vests, tote bags.

Through the Mendwear process, I also established and nourished relationships between local communities and their organizations of care. Mendwear created a bridge between the Northeast Heights donors to The Common Good and the recipients of the rejuvenated garments received by Whittier Elementary and a group of asylum-seekers at an Episcopal church in Martineztown. 

 

Read more of my reflections about Mendwear on my blog.