This industry is akin to a meter of patchwork fabric. A mass variety of textiles from global regions stitched together with unique qualities (some great, some not so great) which make up a diverse and ever changing textile as a whole. Each part played in this business represents a patchwork of this metaphorical textile; from the humble supply chain in foreign lands, onto elite runways in top 4 cities, into retail stores, and into customers wardrobes. My objective is to bring my audience to view the world as this cohesive textile. To dignify the fact that we cannot have the beauty without the ugly, and there is a way to transmute this excess into beauty. When one part of the bolt of our social fabric frays, we must do everything we can to reimagine it. Essentially, what has historically made this industry beautiful, collaborative, and free is fading away. The issues at hand are an interconnected web, sensitively binding its participants regardless if we choose to see it that way or not (or care).

I don’t think the issue is that consumers are ignorant; it’s that there has been absolutely no way to scale sustainable operations of innovation. This industry needs a disruption to jump-start an awakening; an affective, collaborative, and exciting call to action, led by a true individual who is humbled to be the driving force. Consumers are tired of green-washing campaigns, false hopes, or pessimistically think it’s already too late to make a difference. They are tired of gimmicks and just want great fashion that is quality and lasts at an affordable price range. Most think sustainable fashion is simple, boring, and overpriced. On the other hand, statistical and extremely depressing. My job is to mind these issues prior to marketing and selling my collections, while attaching my own personal, creative direction to it.

Stevie Crowne is and will continue to be a disruptor in the way the marketplace views and purchases sustainable fashion. We can reframe it into something provocative, youthful, collaborative, bright, infectious. I see discarded clothing as an opportunity to manifest something either interesting, beautiful, or resellable. To be an alchemist of fashion is the part I play in this industry. In many ways, I see the reimagining of clothing as a metaphor for my own life. To take something overlooked and transform it into something powerful. The key is consumer empowerment; it’s time to turn the tables and in the long term, let the consumer have a voice on a higher scale than before. A way to streamline what I do face to face with demi-couture clients, and distribute this to the masses, while working with brands, garment waste facilities who cannot sell unsold merchandise.