Finders Keepers

Inspired by the classic soul track by Bill Withers, this collection is an ode to the two most important people in my life: my mother and grandmother. They are my idols, and I owe my strength and resilience to them. Growing up, my Mom would get most of our clothes from a local second hand store for kids clothing which my siblings and I so ungratefully referred to in Dutch as the “stomme winkel” or “stupid store,” (actually called Finder’s Keepers) mostly because of the smell but we also didn’t understand that we were outgrowing our clothes every few months, so financially it made the most sense. My Mom always had a sewing machine around to fix the inevitable tears from running around, and I was always fascinated by her ability to fix any clothing. My Grandma did the same for her growing up, and whenever she visited us, she took the time to go through and stitch up any holes or tears, clean, fold, and tuck everything away, and say nothing as surprise for us to come home to. This Men’s capsule collection was aimed at capturing my Mom and Grandma’s love for us and appreciate their unshakable resourcefulness by utilizing only up-cycled fabrics. Everything exclusive of one zipper used on the bomber jacket came from the Brooklyn-based fabric recycling non-profit FabScrap. The collection emphasizes the eclecticism of our clothing growing up and my Mom’s ability to take whatever she could get her hands on and make it work.