MIO

M.I.O. No, not a new riff on the hipster heroine of Paper Planes fame, nor a new-fangled military acronym for a soldier Minted In Oklahoma. Made in Oakland, MIO for short, is a new fair-wage not for profit sewing studio in the Fruitvale neighborhood of East Oakland. Funded by a $700,000 Federal grant, the studio aims to redefine the parameters of a textile factory and create over sixty living wage + health benefited jobs for skilled women while doing it.

Seamster Irene Torres at MIO
Photo by Jenny Pfeiffer for the East Bay Express

Many small-run designers seeking local, more accessible and not to mention equitable ways of making their products have few options for doing so. For those handful of factories still located in the U.S., you have to order a plethora if you order one. But MIO's no-minimum policy means that any designer has access to the resources of efficiency and skill offered by a factory set-up, without the harsh lighting or poor ventilation. However small, the amount saved by this efficiency without added shipping can benefit the finances of a small operation dramatically. MIO offers a full range of services, taking a designer's idea all the way from inception through to finished garment. Eventually, the organization also plans to sort all its fibers waste and process them back into fabrics which they will use to manufacture their own line of products. The building they occupy was renovated using green building materials (LEEDing by example!). And according to the recent article, they're even looking into getting machines that allow the operator to stand, a more ergonomic and therefore sustainable position.

I learned of this inspiring bunch through a Feature in the East Bay Express titled "Slow Fashion" featuring a handful of Bay Area designers doing their part to stay local and incorporate sustainable practices into the fashion community. Likening the movement to the similar trend in food systems was rather apt; the author relayed the growing demand by consumers for information on how and where their clothes come from. Especially in these hard financial times, I think people will more and more turn to handmade, especially on the local level, when they do choose to spend money on fashion. It's no coincidence that Made In Oakland's moniker articulates the studio's location. Just like quoting the county where a peach was grown, MIO is named for a city in California. They are proud of being from here. And they should be.

Designing Women

Naturally, FH has a bit of a soft spot for companies that go after a niche market. People who go crazy just to make things specifically designed for a very narrow task or object or moment. Sometimes this manifests as genuine garbage: the Clapper, for instance or Tater Mitts. But when the idea is good and the motives are sound you get well executed, targeted design that really helps people out. And sometimes things exit the realm of mere function and aesthetics and become something altogether greater. That's when truly brilliant design becomes so important to society that it changes the character of our collective life.

Pretty lofty aspirations for a design. And when it comes to niche markets, sometimes even when a good design achieves such greatness, the people it is designed for don't know it exists. Or where to find it. And that's where Shop Well with You comes in. This is an organization based in New York that helps to connect a specific group of people--women who have experienced physical consequences as a result of cancer treatment--with clothing and accessories that tailor to their specific needs. The nonprofit believes in helping women cancer survivors to have a positive body image and sense of self. They identify as a body image resource center. They offer lists of places to find clothing tailored to women who are living after a mastectomy or chemotherapy, and also a forum for other women to share experiences and stories about their own battles with cancer and any tips for dealing with the aftermath they find useful. It is a collaboration between the organization, the companies designing items specific to cancer survivors, and the women themselves: a threefold project to benefit a sadly growing niche market of women.

More often than not, I think that significant design that aims to solve problems like these requires the aid of a not for profit organization. Is this just the way it has to be? I feel like design and profit are stuck in this constant tango between huge profitability for design that aims low and low profitability for things we really need. My mom was visiting last weekend and two of her friends have been diagnosed with cancer in the last month. So when Carrie expressed the same experience of her mom's friends increasingly being diagnosed, we felt strongly that we wanted to tell you guys about this successful organization that deals with an incredibly important issue. They are doing admirable work.