Fashion Forward
C
By Judy Piercey
Pen and Lens Communications
Designer Claire Theaker-Brown wants us to think about what we wear
laire Theaker-Brown is a
woman on a mission:
She wants everyone to
ask “Who Made My Clothes?”
Claire is the owner of an Edmonton business with an international market. Her product, Unbelt, is a belt designed to be worn comfortably by women of all sizes and shapes. Like many entrepreneurs, Claire developed her business out of necessity.
The necessity in Claire’s case was the need for a comfortable belt to hold up her jeans without any bulk under shirts as her weight fluctuated after moving to China. At that time, she says, the issue was exacerbated because Western-sized clothes were much harder to come by.
With a degree in design and a minor in Mandarin from the University of Alberta, she had landed a job with a non-profit and settled into a neighbourhood in Shanghai where every morning she would see seamstresses set up shop for the day.
“They would literally wheel out their treadle Singer sewing machines every morning and they would do mending all day long. These were not desperate women, you know, it was an honest living and they were serving a real need in the community. So the more I got to know these women, the more I realized that they are amazing sewers, but they couldn't work in regular factory situations because they are also caregivers. And as I learned more about their work, I saw that it wasn't always stable. If it was a rainy day, they couldn't wheel their sewing machine out.”
As Claire came up with a design for her own belt, she started to wonder if other women would want to buy a belt that would fit no matter what their body shape. She also wondered whether the highly skilled seamstresses in her neighbourhood would be able to produce the belts, creating regular and stable work. The superior quality of their sewing was the opposite of “cheap, made in China.”
“I really had a different story about what made in China could look like.”
She now has eight team members sewing for Unbelts in Shanghai, all of whom grew up in or around Shanghai, and all of whom have caregiving responsibilities for children, grandchildren, or parents.
“One of them, Mrs. Wu, has been sewing for Unbelts since Day One, and remembers her grandmother spinning, dyeing, and weaving cotton to make into homemade shoes,” says Claire. “ Our team has recruited its own members as it’s grown, meaning the studio is populated by close friends whose history far predates Unbelts' launch. It makes for a really cool team spirit.”
Her commitment to creating a high-quality product while paying a living wage was the seed that grew into her leadership in the sustainable fashion movement.
Business of the month