What would it look like to truly transform the fashion industry from the ground up?

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Founded in 2017, Suay Sew Shop is a sustainable sewing and production company, producing a range of items, from apparel to memory quilts to custom furniture upholstery, through the upcycling of donated textiles.

Suay is a model for transformation. “We’re constantly evolving and shifting for change of what the current climate and community requires of us,” Medoff says.

“Suay” in Thai means “beautiful.” And the beauty comes through in the work that goes on under that banner. Suay specializes in repairing beloved garments and repurposing up to of diverted clothing coming from landfill, including a “combination of post-consumer waste, deadstock, and domestically, organically grown fibers” that’s gathered from community donations and corporate recycling. “I’m inspired by being able to make something beautiful from something someone threw away,” says Dosewell.

Director of Operations Anita Vuong, first-generation Vietnamese and Chinese American, also grew up in sewing shops alongside her mom, a hardworking sewer. She still can’t believe she works where she does: “It feels like magic to me,” she says. “I wish my parents had a place to work at like Suay when I was growing up — a place that’s communal and puts human rights first.”

There’s something galvanizing about Suay’s mission, which is so far from the norm in the fashion industry it feels like it’s on another planet. All sewing shops operate differently. Practices, payment, working conditions are wildly exploitative and inconsistent. Some workers get paid minimum wages. Others are paid per piece, which creates conflict and competitiveness between the sewers. “That’s not good at all, because they’re already getting paid very little money as is,” Vuong says.

It’s all about fashionand not about fashion at the same time. Seeing the bigger picture means giving back. Medoff believes that Suay can and should become bigger. Going against the grain feels worth it, especially when you’re taking care of what matters most: your people.

 

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