Good afternoon.
Or good morning.
W I want to, wherever you are zooming in from.
I am not.
Rachel.
The programs manager legacy and editorial person director for the
American craft council. Unfortunately,
Rachel is in labor getting ready to have birth.
So I will be stepping in as her host today.
I am.
When Smith and I am the director of community and creative work with
the American craft council.
And I'm very pleased to welcome you all.
To this American craft forums program in association with.
Of American craft.
I'm speaking to you today.
Not from my home is in Asheville, North Carolina,
but the American craft council is located in Minneapolis and
Minneapolis.
His boat is located on the traditional ancestry and contemporary lands
of the Dakota and the Ojibwe people.
This place carries a complicated and layered history.
And the thousands of years,
the Dakota people have been in relationship and kinship with the land
here and in several hundred years since European settlers.
Co colonize, the land that the state of Minnesota now occupies.
The United States land seizure was a project of destruction that did
not denied the Dakota free and unhindered access to land
that fundamentally shapes their identity and their lives.
We pay tribute to the Dakota and the OB.
And invite you to consider the land.
On which you live and the confluence of legacies that bring you to
stand where you are,
particularly your critical reflection in conversation with your own
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With that being located in Asheville, North Carolina,
I'd like to also recognize that I currently reside on the land of the
Eastern band of the Cherokee nation.
Fostering conversation community.
At the heart of ECCs mission.
And American craft serves as one of the most vital contributions and
service to this mission and hopefully to the field of craft in
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Our world continues to change and we continue to do what we can to
meet this moment.
This year American craft reflects on when and where this publication
has at its best rooted in the present moment.
Shining a light on the diversity.
Resilience.
Beauty and impact of American craft and its makers.
In 2022, we look at craft through the lens of four themes.
Wonder fashion, forge and gather.
The editorial team has plans well underway for our summer and fall
issues. And we're excited to announce our 2023 themes.
Inhabit.
The vessel.
Wild and collect.
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information on the 2023 themes on our website.
Please check under the writer's guidelines and submissions for more
information.
Before I dive into the program.
And in my introduction,
I also just want to take a moment to thank the ECC staff,
particularly our editor in chief, Karen Olson.
And our amazing marketing team and our it bureau.
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organization as such.
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make programs like this possible.
And a very special,
special thank you to the Minnesota state arts board.
And the Wingate charitable foundation for their generous support.
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In the spring issue.
Our craft version of the fashion issue.
We take a deep look at fashion in a couple of different ways.
To fashion to create something new,
to use your hands and fashion as a noun,
that connection between craft and adornment.
One of the pieces that we were most excited to present.
And you'll see in the slideshow running now.
Addresses this connection between craft and couture fashion in a
pretty direct way.
Beautifully written by fashion scholar, Jonathan Michael square.
The article beloved patches of orange tells you incredible story of an
amazing community of textile artists in the G's bend.
And the Greg Lauren,
the designer who wanted to flip the narrative by putting those artists
who inspired him front and center in a collection about collaboration.
In a nutshell and leaving out the nuance that we'll explore in this
conversation.
The process starts with the scraps of leftover material from Greg's
Los Angeles studio that gets bundled up and sent to the quilters in GS
Ben.
These quilters,
these artists who have been working together as a community for
several generations.
Take the studio scraps and using their unique and celebrated.
Aesthetic stitch them together into incredible swatches of pattern and
color.
That then get transported back to Greg's studio.
And compiled are fashioned into stunning garments that have been
presented in an exhibition at Bergdorf Goodman in New York
and on the Paris runway.
Even the name of the collection, mosaic.
Which was a collaboration decision between Greg and the GS Benz
artists refers to the beauty of this partnership.
Now I like to introduce a representative of an organization that
played a major role in making this collaboration possible.
Amanda Lee is the director of brand strategy and sourcing it nest.
And nonprofit supporting the growth of a more equitable creative
economy. I'd like to invite Amanda to take the screen,
to talk a little bit more about nest and to introduce the G's Ben
quilters participating in this program.
Thanks, Amanda.
Hi, good morning.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Looking at that beautiful slideshow.
Just gives me chills all over again.
I'm Amanda Lee.
I am.
Director of brand strategy.
I'm working very closely with the GS Ben community and Greg on this
beautiful collaboration.
Again, looking at those photos just reminds me of.
Many many months ago when we started the initial conversation with
Greg.
And it just brings me such great joy and it really truly is an honor.
To be able to participate in this conversation today. So thank you,
American craft council.
For inviting us.
I just wanted to share a quick background on nest.
Before we dive in.
About our work.
Generally, and then also more specifically.
With this very special community of Gee's bend.
We were founded in 2006 by our founder, Rebecca.
This was the same year that Mohammed and Eunice actually won the Nobel
peace prize.
From microcredit.
Less embraced this idea and really began to work with female artisans
in the form of micro bartering, whereby loans are paid back.
Via product.
A few years later.
Yes, the answer to engage more deeply and then really.
I began our journey with brand partners and connecting them directly
with artisans.
So they're able to build collections together and a very creative and
responsible way.
Fast-forward a few years to 2015.
And that's really what it's a formalize this mess.
This maker and artisan network and began the nest artisan guilt.
This is an open access for artists and businesses all around the world
to receive free learning opportunities,
meant mentorship opportunities and also brand sourcing and market
access opportunities.
In 2018,
we looked a little bit deeper within the maker movement within the U
S.
And we really want it to be able to provide a program that really
emphasized.
Makers of colors and being able to provide them.
Programs.
Such as business training and markets.
Market access opportunities.
For them to be able to develop and grow their businesses.
2021 Was a very special year for us.
We started working with the Gee's bend quilting community.
A few, a couple of years prior, but 2021 really marked.
The start of successful brand collaborations.
Starting with a brand.
In San Francisco.
And this also was the year that 10 GS Ben quilters launched their very
first Etsy shop.
By which over $300,000.
Was directly generated to the quilting community within the matter of
a few short months.
And those shops continue to grow.
Additional cultures have also joined.
And this is a way that a lot of the quilters are able to sell their
products directly.
To jeez.
That admires worldwide.
And then in 2022.
In addition to supporting the influx of over $500,000 to the GS Ben
quilting community.
Messes also reaching over 280,000 artisans in 120 countries
around the world.
So with that, I just want to say thank you again.
It is my absolute privilege to be here and.
To introduce my friends.
And a daily source of inspiration for me. And I know a lot of you.
So I'd love to pass the microphone to the quilters who I think
are all together. So Stella may Petway,
I'm a mini Pettway and Mary Margaret.
If you want to say hello.
You're on my left.
I don't know if you buy it just when I go from left to, right.
But if you want it to say hello to everyone and maybe just a little
bit about yourself.
Hello.
I'll spell it.
I'm a third generation.
And I just love using different colors of fabric.
And all during my free time.
I just love to do it.
Hello.
My name's Emma.
And I just want to say.
Thanks to.
And I love.
Well, Mary Margaret.
I was the 2019.
Fellows.
Heritage fellows.
I am presently.
Board chair for the sole strong deep foundation.
I am a quilted.
But I'll stick with.
And as you can see, I like him.
And also I piece my hand sometimes.
And I do.
I enjoy it.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Looks like you're working on something nice. There.
Mary Margaret.
Oh, yeah, I'm done.
A little quilt, very special to me.
Yellow is not my most favorite color,
but I will work with any color possible.
I'm excited.
Well, it's nice to meet.
The three of you and Amanda, thank you so much.
And thanks nest for all that you do to support artists and the
creative economy.
And we welcome Mary Margaret Stella may and Emma.
We'll see you all back on screen in just a moment.
But for now,
I'd like to take this quick opportunity to introduce both
Jonathan Michael square and Greg Lauren.
If you both like to join me on screen, that would be wonderful.
Jonathan is the assistant professor of black visual culture at Parsons
school of design.
He has taught at the university of Pennsylvania,
the fashion Institute of technology,
and most recently Harvard university.
He has a PhD from New York university and ma from the university of
Texas at Austin and a BA from Cornell university.
Proponent in the power of social media as a platform for radical
pedagogy.
He founded and runs the digital humanities project,
fashioning the self and slavery and freedom.
Which explores the intersection of fashion and slavery.
Well, serving as a fellow at the costume Institute.
Square we'll work on a book manuscript on the same topic,
tentatively titled Negro cloth. How slavery birth,
the global fashion industry. Jonathan welcome today.
Yeah, Greg Lauren is a fashion designer who, when he launched his app.
Men's and women's label in 2011 was on a mission to create clothing
from the perspective of being an artist.
Known for artisanal clock collections.
He's been re-imagining and redefining class classic archetypes and
making handcrafted clothes out of damage and upcycled fabrics since
the inception.
And when his team and Los Angeles.
Zayic the Gee's bend.
And Greg Lauren is a collaboration between 14 quilters from GS Ben and
Greg Lauren celebrating the engine.
Ingenious artwork by the women of this community. So welcome Greg,
as well to this conversation.
Thank you.
It's so amazing to be here.
Just want to take a second to say thank you to the American craft
council.
To you to Karen.
I think we all should send some amazing energy to Rachel who is in the
moment.
In the middle of the most incredible creation herself.
So we're sending positive vibes.
I want to thank Mary Margaret Stella and Emma and the other,
what is now 15.
Builders that we've had the gift of collaborating with on this amazing
project.
A very heartfelt, thank you to Jonathan,
which is what has brought this particular group together. Your words.
Our art they're stunning and a.
You know, it's a special relationship.
Your academic and creative guidance has been so integral to shaping
this project. Amanda nest.
I mean,
you literally have built a bridge to create those finding and working
together in an equitable way. And it's,
it's incredible at what the potential is with what you've created.
I like I should do a shout out to my team here in Los Angeles.
My team of amazing makers who worked with the quilters to create these
pieces.
And especially shout out to, to dear friends,
teachers, and thought leaders who were such an important part of this.
A woman named Tabba at the St. Bernard Jacobs and my dear friend,
George MacPherson,
who were instrumental in this project happening and remaining true to
its intention. So.
Those are just a few shout outs and seeing that slideshow is just
literally it's emotional because it took me right back to the
beginning and those incredible images in the storytelling of huge
thank you to.
And then I'll look period for that wonderful communication of the
work. So thank you. And it's so great to be here.
That's great.
Why don't we go ahead and bring Amanda and the GS Ben artists back up
on screen. And I'm Jonathan,
I'm going to turn it over to you to get the conversation started.
Well,
I first have to echo and Greg and start off with just expressing.
Thank you.
You know, Karen.
And the pref council I have to thank Rachel.
Who's here in spirit.
In the middle of giving.
Birth as we speak.
Oh, I want to thank Amanda. I want to thank, you know,
Mary Margaret.
Emma.
Thank you all for being here.
In a purse, you know, I love chatting with you, Greg.
It's always a treat.
Being in conversation with you.
So, you know, I'm not going to take up too much of the floor.
Because I know the real reason that people are here is to hear.
Mary Margaret Emma and Stella.
But before I hand over the floor to you all, I just want to say that.
You know, geez, Ben is often evoked and it's often referenced.
People want to hear.
They want to hear more about the community from your own words.
So I'm wondering just to start off.
Could you just tell us, how would you describe T's?
But your community in your own terms.
There's one are all three of us.
Go for it.
Jeez.
Without sight is a cell community.
Even though it took me 50 plus years to figure out.
I was living at.
In an artist colony. Okay.
This is a place where.
If you're a child.
Leads from home.
You don't have to worry about.
Because we will bring them back to.
It may be the end of the day. We'll bring them back.
We are.
As I say, very settled here.
You know,
Slowly.
That's all I can think about.
Okay.
Nick.
Community.
You can look in.
In a community.
As I was growing up.
If I did something wrong.
My neighbor house.
So.
I have a problem with the chaff.
And we grew up at.
And it made us closer together.
Because he in this community,
Everybody just live.
I go way back.
Yeah.
I'll come at a time that there was no electrolyte. No. Right.
The house. So now, you know, I can say.
He's driving communities.
And we are doing.
At that time we didn't get a safe zone.
Growing up who made all of the decisions?
Well, we didn't know what to do a how to say, but now.
It generation.
They know what they want.
I either try.
But nah.
Back then.
We just bit off.
What about pants to do?
But now growing up.
At that time.
I would talk to make with and how to use all of the old fabric.
Not much else left around.
And beyond the way we make.
It was, if you had an old relative who had died or pay.
On the head, maybe some good stuff.
Close left.
And you would give them maybe an old dress.
Or maybe a path.
You use that and make your quilt.
As you can.
You know, consult.
It was not really much, but now.
I can get ahold of a lot that I can solve.
Now way back from the outset.
That I have not completed.
I didn't have the fabric to do that.
I hope I'm not talking to.
I guess when I look back.
The thing that my mother taught me when she didn't have anything to
work with. And she.
I wanted me to learn.
And I didn't want to do it.
And I just enjoy it.
The type of hood she taught me to make,
because she didn't have my fabric. He didn't.
And see that. Well,
And she didn't like, couldn't smell a thing.
In a way and going back to then.
We didn't have seals.
Maybe.
No 90 Jeff and the club.
That's why I do a lot of trying at that time we were making
triangle, but we didn't know it when you posted.
And you rip apart.
It would kind of rip into a triangle shape.
We didn't know people often times.
At the pattern and put it aside.
The use of a later, but we never knew we were making, tracking.
Until later, but now my mother taught me.
You know,
A couple of different clusters.
The families and stuff.
At that time.
Yeah.
And now the young children, just like my knee.
She knows how to make was now, but they are called.
So many different from mine itching.
Different colors.
Like different color, all bright colors.
I like to do.
New.
I'll just mix it up.
Well, I'm going to copy.
He always the first.
He's been as a community of artists.
And you are a community of artists.
You're often referred to as a collective.
We each have your own aesthetic in your own practice.
And I'm wondering if you could just describe.
Like the colors that you gravitate towards your particular form of
quilting that you like.
Each one.
Well for me.
I'm like really?
And for Willem black and blended in together.
What I'm doing.
I liked it.
And see what it look like.
And then I come here with that.
Full of color.
That changed the whole thing.
Yeah.
When you get the three colors and you keep working at it on and off.
It began to look.
Exactly.
So you have to get something to break it, pat.
So either we're pulling a real dog.
A bright color, the brake pad.
Okay.
But I love the bright colors and useless.
Bright.
Yeah.
And Arizona.
That way.
And I use.
Press and stuff.
I like dealing with press.
But this is my favorite.
Right, right.
And when I sit at the.
Taco lip.
My children.
Oh, the grandchildren start talking about.
Clifton.
And they will ask me about.
One of my favorite colors.
I always love real.
And tell them to pick a color.
And then we worked from there.
And put together.
If your heart is.
It's going to be totally different.
I even liked, I liked the Browns.
I love it all.
It doesn't make a difference to me.
If it looks too blind.
I'll put a little something different in that a Brighton.
Brighten it up big green.
My most favorite color.
Shades of green.
Or a splasher.
Orange.
Bright blue.
A piece of bread.
You know, it really is not a difference. You.
If I can.
My thing is mother nature has the best palate in the world.
Okay.
And then blast them out the window right now.
And I see a bright green, which trees.
But I also see a brown house.
And it actually goes together.
You know, and those are two colors. If you thinking about it.
And not looking at it.
Those go together.
In nature, they do. So guess.
Yeah.
I like it all.
And at this point, I would love to look Greg into the conversation.
I'm wondering, when did you learn about G's been in.
And we want you to talk a little bit about, you know,
working relationship with them.
Wow, that that was the first of all.
What you just heard and what we just heard. I mean, that,
that's the inspiration for this collaboration, those words that,
that approach that Egypt you just shared is it's so remarkable.
And it just.
I'm jumping ahead to things that I know that we'll get to,
but it's just that pure artistry and that courageous and
bold use of, of color, but an approach that has such a clear.
Confident.
Vision for the art.
That's really what ultimately inspired the collaboration and the
pieces that we made because I always strive to
re-imagine the normal and, and.
And do it.
Do something differently with a fresh twist, a new twist.
And I can't think of.
Are any,
or that does that more beautifully and more successfully then each of
your work and the way you just described your approach.
It's so natural.
When I officially.
Really.
You know, learned about geez.
Ben was interesting because I feel like I had been exposed to it
subconsciously.
As an artist, as a designer.
Somebody who appreciated quilts and it was, it was exposed to quilts.
My eye.
Entire life, but it really happened in 2020 when,
after a number of transformative.
Conversations with teachers and academics and people like yourself.
Jonathan,
it led to a real examination of the roots of some of the
inspirations that I use that other designers use that are so
ubiquitous in the, in the fashion industry. And I really.
Really wanted to take a look at some of our inspirations,
seen through the lens of how to be more accountable as a designer.
And I was doing some research on quilts and I came across this
incredible quilt by a geez Ben quilter named Criollo Bennett pet
weight was made in 1949 happened to be red and white,
but the shapes in the geometry were so amazing. It was called half.
Log cabin variation.
And I knew that I had seen this image somewhere and I was seeing it
with fresh eyes, but I walked over to my wall,
which I think everybody who is watching today has their inspiration
while their artist's wall. And.
And there was a pile of, of,
of printouts that were taped onto the wall. And I was like, oh my God,
it was remarkable. There,
it was a kind of slightly blurred lo Rez print out of that quilt
that I had found maybe a couple of years earlier from a Google search
on red and white quilts. And.
It was that moment that I truly, truly discovered Gee's bend.
And the difference is I no longer just so quilts and colors and
designs, but I saw these brilliant individual artists,
not just the community is as you mentioned, but,
but the individual work and.
I saw no, either work. I saw stories. I saw families. I saw.
The history of the community. And, and, you know,
as I go further into the work.
I felt like I was suddenly learning so much about quilting that I'd
never seen before I was exposed for the first time,
even though I think we all,
all the fashion industry is a huge debt to the,
the work where quilts that geez, Ben is as known for.
You know, as far as I know, invented and, and was part of, you know,
making that something that is out of necessity.
Elevated to an art form.
And with sustainability and quilt making,
and patchworking being such a part of, of,
of the fashion consciousness now.
It was just, I suddenly was like, wow, this is,
this community needs to be.
Seen, I want to know more. I want to learn more,
want to learn more from the quilters.
It was also something that I was going through as a,
as a designer and as an artist. And I started to have thoughts, you.
It's not okay to be inspired by or to use the designs or
materials or ideas of other artists,
unless they're involved in the decision from the beginning and Bennett
benefit mutually throughout the process.
And I really became committed to this idea as a designer that my work
and what we do at this studio has to benefit not only those customers
that buy it, the stores that sell it.
With the actual artists who.
Contributed to the inspiration. And was it that moment that I was,
I had no doubt if we did it correctly, if we did it correctly in.
And I knew that we would with the help of souls grown deep and
obviously with nest.
That this could not only.
Shine a spotlight on this incredible work of each and every artist
from the, from the community that had gotten involved.
But we would really,
we had an opportunity to create a model of how to work with artists,
how to work with artists correctly, equitably,
and that's really where it began. That's.
That's kind of a.
The rest is history, as you could say.
I don't know if, if one of the.
Quilters want to speak, but I can share how we began the process,
but I'd love to.
You know,
Throw it back to them at this point.
Yeah, let's talk about the actual collaboration.
And you can jump in.
Mary Margaret or.
Emma, you can jump in,
but walk us through sort of the early stages of the collaboration,
like how the.
How are you connected?
And tell us about.
You know, your decision to use.
Fabric.
[Unknown] et cetera.
Well,
Mary Margaret or I don't know.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
This collaboration is woo.
Kind of nervous going.
Because we didn't know what to expect.
You know, usually people would tell us what they want.
Greg gave us free. Will we ran? Wow.
Great designs.
I mean, I think some of the first ones.
The best actually.
Hey.
He got strips here.
A little corner pieces. They're triangles.
You know, he's gotten some of the best with.
We love great.
I can see everybody now.
In this collaboration with.
We love great.
We are ready on another project.
With Greg.
And we will, we will continue doing so much more.
You know what Mary Margaret was speaking to.
It started. Well, first of all, it started with a phone call,
a zoom at that Mary Margaret was on along with Amanda and the team
from souls grown deep.
And in terms of the collaboration and what was most important,
I think as Mary Margaret said was.
Is everybody interested in doing this would be,
is everyone inspired by it?
Is this something that would be interesting?
Is this okay. To see your.
My goal. And our goal was to create a project where the artists,
these three women and 11 others.
And one beautiful quilter who may she rest in peace? Many, many may.
You know, the idea was.
You tell us what you need.
We don't want this to be something where we come in and assume that we
know what you want, what you need, what do you,
how does this going to fulfill not only your needs as a community,
but fulfilling as an artist. And so that was the first step.
And then once we.
Mary Margaret spelled it out very clearly. It was,
it was it really set the tone for the entire collaboration.
Very clearly Mary Margaret said we need.
Revenue and jobs because we love what we do.
And we love making quilts and we love, love, love doing this.
And if we can earn by doing it, then, then,
then we're off to a great start.
The second part was not only recognition to the community,
but individual recognition.
To each quilter who this has been so, so long overdue and deserved,
but as you mentioned,
every single quilt during the community is an individual artists with
their own style, own technique and own voice.
And the quilts are all worthy of hanging on a wall next to great
paintings from the art historical timeline.
But that was the first part.
And then the final part was can we create a model that other designers
and brands and.
Or organizations can follow to work with the community.
And it has to be something where every step of the way we,
we not only centered the community, but turn to them for.
Decisions we didn't move forward on any step of the process without
consent.
Without approval with ideas.
I mean, the community came up with the name, mosaic. I think,
I think you put it to a vote and there were,
there were a number of ideas and, and.
And we settled on mosaic and it's such a beautiful name because it
says it all, but in the label,
We went right back to the community and Mary Margaret.
We said.
Can someone from the community, from one of the artists design,
the logo that represents this and Mary Margaret did a hand drawn.
Couple of two hand drawn.
Pieces that we then turned into the, into the logo.
That is the label and symbol of the collaboration I haven't had,
even though it's supposed to be sent down. This is where it all began.
Is this look familiar?
This is the swatch book that we made at our studio that was filled
with all of our, I won't do it justice,
but it's just filled with every fabric that we had.
Either scraps of extra bolts up that's part of our jail scraps
initiative.
We use all of the extra fabric and the cutting wastage from all of our
pieces that we cut. And so it was,
we've done our own version of patchworking those pieces together,
which.
As I said,
a complete debt to all of the work of Gee's bend and other quilters.
You know, in the United States, but that's where it started.
And it was so much fun to send down.
This swatch book and just to hear from the quilters,
what they wanted and as Mary.
As each of you said.
I was struck by how everyone chose everything,
bold colors, fabrics, and you know, this has,
this has got nylons and it's got velvets.
It has tweeds. It has everything that we've ever made. And I said,
this'll be interesting to see. And.
I was pleasantly surprised and tickled when every single quilter
wanted to try something interesting. Some interesting combination,
which speaks of course, to the approach and aesthetic that we know.
Geez, geez, Ben, for.
And this is a really small detail, but I think it's really important.
When the quilter sent their coats back to your tele.
They were identified with.
Fabrics with their names on it. And you actually.
Each to quilters names.
Into the garments.
What was that? That was a really beautiful detail.
It was essential.
I mean it's, it's, it's something that was never even a question.
You know, first of all, and I think that that became clear that,
that we always knew we would do find a way to recognize the individual
quilters, but one of the first meetings that we had.
Which was.
Breathtaking.
Is breathtaking as a zoom can be.
I don't know if everyone remembers, but.
The first zoom we had was when each of you shared panels that you had
started to make,
just to kind of see if it was feeling the way we all want it to feel.
But each of you also then shared the story.
Of that panel.
Where you might've learned that pattern where you, what, you know,
a little bit of history.
And it was so incredible to see, first of all,
it was mind blowing to see what you had created from our scraps.
And I know, I know those fabrics, like the back of my hand for years,
some of them, and it was like, I was seeing them for the first time,
the way.
The way tweeds were combined with bright colors and, you know,
Mary Margaret, like when you mentioned, you know,
brightening something up with, with some improvisational use of color.
Emma the way you talk about, you know,
using bright colors and Stella may, you know,
your love for color combinations.
That was so clear from every panel that was held up to the
computer. And as best as I could see it through the computer camera.
It was moving just from that moment. And it was clear that.
My job was literally to let these panels speak and to try to find
silhouettes.
That that allow them to, to, to sing if you will,
and allow these panels to really shine and,
and figure out how to do that. And yes, it was, we had every quilter.
Sen a number of their signatures,
which was done mostly with just simple Sharpie or a pen on a piece of
organic Muslim.
And every piece has there has the name of the quilter who contributed
to that piece stitched into the piece?
There are a couple of new pieces behind me that I can't really,
but like right here, for example,
Is one of the quilters names.
Back here is another one.
Here's Mary Margaret right here on this leave of this dress.
So.
So every single garment has the.
The signature of the quilt.
And for the original installation,
we also stitch the bio of each quilter.
Into the lining of every piece so that whoever was lucky enough to own
a piece or to buy piece or have a piece.
Would be surrounded by, by the story of each quilter.
I love that. That's beautiful. I mean, Mary Morgan.
You said.
We love working with Greg.
But I'm wondering.
Could you talk a little bit more about the experience of working with
textiles from.
[Unknown] oh man.
This, like I said, we've never, we've had people that Demond.
Into the community and collect.
With the promise. Oh, we'll be back with a center.
And all our friends, they ended up the dead. Okay.
They might've gotten one piece. They might've got three.
But they never came.
He never recommended us.
Greg is the one artist that I do know.
This is problem in the sense that he gave
us.
The recognition.
Growing to feel that we deserve as artists.
And also he paid us.
And he took those pounds and he didn't, he didn't do it for.
He created something.
Totally totally different.
You know,
I grew up in the sixties and seventies. Right.
So.
It was a time down here.
We were really poor. Right.
And it lists the time down here that everybody wore patches. No.
Nobody was ashamed.
You know,
Came to school with shoes on. If they.
They had a whole, so was somebody else add a whole.
But, you know, oh,
Now it is.
It's just so much different.
And it feels good.
For an artist to recognize my word.
And everybody else's work in GSPN to,
to create the things that he does create. I love.
I wouldn't know how to get out of his mind,
but I would love to get into his mind to see.
What is driving?
That's the way it is.
Wow.
All.
And different fabric.
I should that bag.
At the fabric.
Sitting there. And my son.
Just looking at the fabric.
It was just like talking to me.
It was talking back to me.
I was talking to my son.
He was talking back to me telling me this is.
You can do this. And so I pick up.
This wood is not working.
Then I pick up the pizza.
I'm getting kind of frightened.
What I was saying to myself.
And I said now,
As possible. So.
I said.
No one else can do this. I can do.
And so the last.
Just a little SRAP.
He's putting it together.
Then I say, oh, I like this piece.
I'm only disappointed.
But I'm not really disappointed because I know.
That Dylan isn't doing it from my heart and doing my best.
It'll work out. So.
Just start.
It may go.
Whatever way it goes.
They love it.
He showed that he loved the work that we did.
And I'm so thankful that he chose.
Well for me.
It was just exciting.
To see.
[Unknown] some of the color that I chose them.
But it was like,
How can I.
You may have not thought looking at the measurement.
I said, this is a place to start from.
Look at the measurement that I made a little block and I just kept
having to get bigger and bigger.
It got to be that size.
I said, oh, it's coming.
I began to talk to myself.
I'm working.
On my bed.
I would like pull the curtain and look out.
So they would hear me.
But it was fun.
And I got so motivated.
And Kevin waving. I looked up, I had cut up my favorite sheet.
But I think I kept it, but I just love talking with the other cave.
You.
You know about the other quilters.
And looking at our work to get out of the.
Especially when the cancer came down.
We was all just like one big family.
So I enjoy it.
I hope we can get more.
I mean, what strikes me is the mutual respect. That's radiating.
From you all.
I mean, and this is a question for everyone.
I'm wondering what you all learn from each other.
And maybe how does collaboration can be a model for other ethical
partnerships?
Well for me.
Mom.
It was great.
Sometimes you can't get communication.
To work.
You don't project.
You trying to do something together.
What we discuss this project.
And we've made a work.
And it was just fun. You.
You know, everybody had their way of doing that.
All of us.
Different, but what we talk about it.
And put things together.
I worked out. So it was just fun.
And for me.
We all met on time. We were here.
We just had a great time talking together.
Although we put a block together.
We had a great time.
Meeting here together, gave us something to do.
And it was different. All of the young, especially for me,
because I was getting resolved.
Again, because I go way back. I'm one of.
Oh, the quiz.
So it was good meeting all of us. Young quizzes.
Get it together.
Well, for me, it brought back, man.
Of the time.
We used to visit each other's houses.
And sit down and actually have a cup of coffee.
This thought will know. So whoever clip was, you know,
Pretend.
So speed.
So.
It was all.
There were no furnaces, everybody.
Communicated. Well, if they didn't have enough of one color,
they would ask somebody else and they would actually get it.
So am I, you know,
It was just.
We're community people.
But we act more like a family.
Then at any point.
Likely. So it actually brought us together a little bit more.
Yeah.
You know, for.
For me, I think,
I think that fashion with a capital F or the industry.
It's such a wonderful time.
Seeing there's so many designers and creators in fashion now who
understand the need more than ever to create from a responsible,
conscious place. And.
And I think that that is often scary for some businesses,
because it might affect the business. It might affect the bottom line.
It might affect.
You know, fashion is a fairly exploited exploitative.
Industry.
When creatives come together with a purity of
intention.
And are aligned and everyone comes to it with a mutual respect and an
understanding that we're all working on something together.
It's truly incredible. And I think that this project.
Is as an example, and I hope.
That I know this one will continue. I hope that others.
I couldn't be more excited to see the collaboration that just happened
between the quilters in the community with, with Chloe,
the amazing brand. I mean,
there are there's incredible opportunity for fashion to continue
shining the light on and working in the right way with.
Incredible artists all over the world and, and communities like,
geez, Ben,
because there's been this relationship it's just in the past,
it was often not done in the right way. It was more of a, see,
something be inspired by it, take it and move on.
And I just learned so much about.
How the gift of respecting each other and artists working together,
and there is room for everybody to shine. And the more,
the more that you let everyone shine in the collaboration,
the stronger and more powerful that is.
And I learned so much artistically. I was just able.
I just forced myself.
As a designer.
It was,
I learned the benefit of just taking myself out of it and decentering
myself and getting out of my head and.
And just allowing the work of the quilters to speak.
Learning techniques. I mean,
Again, they're not things that I could do.
I was better appreciating it. I mean, I,
it was so synonymous with what we,
what we do in terms of contradictions of materials and
ideas and images, but to see it come to life with the fabrics.
Was just magical. It spoke so much to,
to what we're trying to do and sort of change the way people see
things.
See things and actually affect the way they look at the world around
us. I mean,
these scraps became these incredible pieces of art that we just were
vessels for to allow to suddenly have movement and walk on individuals
who in part brought them to life. I mean, that's.
That's the beauty that is that these things are walking and breathing
and living on people as we speak. I mean,
The success of the collaboration and a huge thank you to.
Bergdorf Goodman who understood what this collaboration.
Men's and again,
with the permission of the quilters that we showcase this,
this in a retail space.
Really allowed for, I think that the collaborations here.
Go all the way to say, we're going to take this art,
take this respect, take this equitable collaboration.
And put it right off of fifth avenue.
Fifth avenue,
New York so that people could walk in and experience it and immerse
themselves in it and leave with pieces. And we see pictures from.
These pieces all over now and they they're out in the world and with
people, you know, just loving to where the art.
Yeah. And speaking of.
Thinks of collaboration. I mean, this is an ongoing collaboration.
We see something like the newest.
Pieces right behind you.
So, I mean,
And, you know, you didn't simply dip into community into belt.
Like you, this is an ongoing sort of relationship.
So what do we have to look forward to in the future?
Well, right behind me are pieces from the second iteration of the
collaboration. And this was fun.
This is had a different kind of approach and a different kind of
rollout because.
The first one was all about.
I mean.
The amount of panels for the first version,
276 panels were made that we turned into roughly
98 garments and accessories bucket hats, tote bags.
Recovered shoes.
I mean, it was incredible. And that was really,
we wanted to really have an impactful launch in order to have
longevity and sustainability for the collaboration.
The idea was, well, how do we do that?
And so again,
I asked the community if they would be willing to try something,
which is a lot of fun. Let's,
let's see what happens when we apply the art form and the ingenuity of
the quilters.
With not control, but a little bit of inspiration or direction.
And so we, we,
we were doing a lot of black and white formal pieces in the collection
and the larger collection. And so.
I asked the quilters, if they'd be open to.
Doing some panels that were just using black and white,
whatever the fabric was, do whatever you want, but black and white.
And then we were also exploring a lot of pieces using natural dyes,
whether it was indigo.
Coral. I mean, we do a lot of that and so.
The indigo would you see behind me was a natural fit for the pieces,
but we sent down PFD fabrics.
Which was you're just prepared for die blank.
Whites and creams and anything that was dyeable. And I said,
You know,
I promise you the quilting and the stitch work and the pattern is what
will bring these to life.
So it was an interesting challenge that I think the quilters.
We're excited by because it just offered a new avenue of creativity.
I'm not sure how you all felt, but,
but it was different than having a palette of colors to work with.
I don't know. Maybe you can.
I hope it was as much fun as I think it was.
It was a little different.
But guess what?
That took me to a place that I've been before.
In the sense that back.
When I.
When I was living with my mother, she was still living.
We used to do what we call pieces of battle of a, a quilt.
And when you do in that.
You're piecing the line, right.
So you have different size pieces of muzzling.
Everything is the same color.
But you got to make it.
At a square or whatever shape you want that quilt.
Yeah. So that's why that took me back to.
I don't know about the other ladies.
It's just on a smaller scale.
This is the result of that. This is,
so this is all made from PFD fabrics that we hand dyed here using
natural indigo extract.
What's incredible about all the pizzas that were made from this is,
is that you really see without knowing there's,
it's sort of a planned accident, beautiful imperfections,
which is something that we embrace with.
Which geez, Ben quilters embraced. And so every different fabric.
Captures the die differently.
And it was just a beautiful way to highlight the actual quilting
technique without it being about the fabric or the color. I mean,
these are stunning pieces in their own, right.
There was stunning before we dive them in the dye just brings out the
natural beauty.
And so these,
we want it to use our fall collection as a new kind of platform to
offer the pieces to, to more of our wholesale partners.
So the idea there was to take it beyond an installation and we had so
many requests after the first one, it felt like it thought, I thought,
well, we can really expand this model by actually doing fewer styles
and offering it to everyone to see.
Who would be interested in carrying in their stores.
And we have stores all over the world now who have one of these
pieces. So the expansion,
both in terms of the revenue recognition and.
You know,
a model that now goes into a kind of wholesale concept that others can
use is exciting about this. And, and we're getting a tremendous,
I know I shared it before, but.
Because we work with a lot of visible individuals out there,
whether they're entertainers or athletes.
We do a lot of custom work and a lot of,
we get a lot of incoming requests and.
It was really exciting.
I think I can share this, but we.
An amazing NBA player.
Named Joel Embiid decided he reached out to us to see if he could wear
the, he chose to wear one of the hoodies,
which has about 18 different, small quilted patches done by,
by.
By the quilters.
That was what he chose to wear in a very visible high profile
television commercial. So that was exciting. And.
Fingers crossed, but I think everyone here knows and loves Questlove.
He's nominated for an Oscar this weekend.
For a documentary called summer of soul.
And I think he's the front runner to win. So my fingers are crossed,
but, but we used,
we used the leftover black and white panels to create a custom piece
for him as well. So the intention,
so he will be wearing that to the Oscars this weekend. It's official.
We, one of the most beautiful things.
That, you know,
I like to hear is when they opened the box in New York.
A woman named the Rebecca.
Yeah, tree, who is, who is a beautiful creator and artist.
She said she cried.
Open the box.
When she saw when she saw the names of the quilters and the piece
itself. And then of course it was music to my ears. When I,
when I said, how did the fitting go? And in all caps,
she wrote perfect.
So that means he will be wearing it on Sunday.
So we'll keep our eyes out for that. But that's.
That speaks to the,
how this collaboration is growing in ways that we don't even know.
Beyond the model, but.
Truly as a result of how the fashion industry works and has the
potential to spread a message.
But it's just beautiful and inspiring.
So, thank you all for sharing.
I'm wondering if anyone has any questions.
I haven't been paying attention to the chat.
But if you have any questions,
Either for Mary Margaret's dilemma.
Emma, our great Lauren.
Please put them in the chat.
And Jonathan I've captured a few of those.
So we'll just start at the top. If that works for y'all.
The first question actually comes from Randy and she wanted to know
what advice you would give young designers.
As they enter into their careers.
So I don't know if the cheese Ben ladies have any advice or Greg,
if you have any advice for young designers,
As a designer, I think.
What is,
and I think that this collaboration speaks to this more than anything.
A lesson that I learned.
Early on.
And I was lucky to learn was tell the story that you are uniquely
qualified to tell.
And that usually is your story. So if you can.
Get out of the way and not.
Worry about.
What you think others want to see what you think will sell there's
room for that there's room for those kinds of decisions,
but there is always room for.
Talent hard work and a story and a personal story that if you really.
Tell that story through execution.
And craft.
It will resonate on a universal level. So work hard.
We're learning.
Until the day, we're no longer here. So continue learning,
continue seeking.
Practice learning techniques.
Continue to get better at the craft of making things or designing
things or sketching, but it goes hand in hand with really.
Digging deep and telling that story that is yours,
that no one else can tell better than you.
Ladies. Do you have any pieces of advice for starting designers?
Well, my advice.
Don't be too hot on the set.
Give yourself time to learn your craft and you will get better at,
as you worked on.
I don't criticize yourself too.
And work hard and learn everything you can.
Beautiful.
Great.
All right.
Another question.
Do you, if it looks good to you,
I can guarantee you it's going to look good to somebody else.
Yeah.
That's great.
Anything else, ladies cut you off again by accident.
I got a big mouth.
No such thing.
This is great.
Under better understand.
The panels that are quilted by Gee's bend quilters.
How do they go from panels to garments?
Do the quilters have input on what their panels will become?
Are made into you.
And then there's a lot of questions. Just kind of about how that Greg,
maybe how you decided.
If the quilters don't have the ability to give you input on what those
panels should become,
how you decided to turn those different panels into different pieces.
So it's a great question. Thank you.
So when I first started designing clothing,
it was really as an artist and,
and I was creating clothing from the perspective of being an artist,
most of the pieces that the very first.
Jacket that I ever made was using the paint splattered
stain drop cloth from my art studio, because I,
I was so excited to make something I hadn't gotten any fabric yet.
And I looked down and it was so beautiful to me because it had my
whole story of my life in the studio and being a painter.
And,
and so from the very beginning I had developed a practice of that was
unique and difficult. And I broke a lot of needles, many, many,
many needles, trying to sew jackets,
tailored pieces out of fabrics that were not normally used for
garments.
And that included things that were like vintage us army duffel bags,
and.
And not just work, wear, but work pieces,
anything that I found beautiful that had been discarded,
I would deconstruct and literally treat like fabric.
So you might've seen me back in the day on.
And on the floor of my studio, holding a pattern piece,
a true pattern piece over a remnant or piece of something that I
deconstructed didn't matter to me, but at zippers, grommets hardware,
I just figured out a way to cut around that.
And it allowed me to really pick and choose these beautiful
things that for me at the time where the.
The story and the soul of these vintage materials.
With the panels. That was just a very elevated.
Luxury for me to be able to work with such.
It was actually difficult because everything was so beautiful and is
so beautiful.
But that process is something that I've become very familiar with,
which was even from using vintage materials, just.
Letting the material speak to me.
So what we did is the panels were not fully quilted. So what.
The one thing we had agreed on was that the panels that were sent back
were different sizes. They were quilted with the design.
But they were not backed because we would ultimately line the
garments, like in a traditional way.
And I will tell you that.
It took a long time for me to even finally gather up
the.
The, the nerve to start cutting into these because what I started,
we strung them all over the studio here.
And so I was just surrounded by this beauty.
That were like paintings floating in the space around me.
And I think a number of times I would mention to everyone who was
involved in the project.
I just needed to spend time with them. They were so beautiful.
I would let each panel sort of speak to me.
And the goal was to do a few and then have one of the most daunting
parts of the collaboration was I had to show the few pieces that we
made to the quilters and,
and I watched the zoom of, of that experience. And I was,
I was holding my breath and sweating as,
as I would hear what was basically a positive response,
but it was so truthful.
Another thing that was so beautiful about working with these women was
it was just, everything was so.
Transparent.
And so authentic.
That there was no need to feel something didn't work.
If it wasn't something that everyone liked. I remember, as you were.
Discussing what you would seen in those first images?
I heard what you liked, what you didn't like, what worked best,
what you thought was great.
And that then informed the rest of the pieces because.
My goal was just to find the best way to show the artistry of the
panels and then finish a garment. So that's,
that's what we do here is it's all about.
Using every bit of it,
the scraps that were not used from the panels became bucket hats
became topes.
That's the joy of it. That's the fun of it.
And laying down classic pad of paper, pattern pieces.
We've used flat patterns. So.
We literally would lay them out. I'd be on the floor and I would,
I would start to assemble what looked like a coat.
What looked like I would pick the silhouettes that we make that had
the largest panel,
largest pattern pieces so that we could get the most in.
And then it started to become kind of like a, a.
I don't want to say that it was became sort of a dance I'd see certain
panels and start to think that would be amazing.
That would be amazing lapel on a jacket. That would be wow.
That would be a fantastic, the same way Mary Margaret said.
Earlier that sometimes when things hit you and you let the inspiration
in and seeing the beautiful green of the trees against the brown of.
Have a house.
I would sit with panels that were just sheer beauty.
And I would lay them on different fabrics that we use and I'd say,
wow, that looks amazing next to a vintage.
Army paint.
Maybe we can make a pant just out of that or,
or lay it next to a piece of, you know, up-cycled denim and decide,
well, let's make a pair of pants.
That one leg is fully panels and the other is repurposed.
What.
I have no idea where that sound is coming from.
Anybody else's microphones.
Hm.
But maybe, you know, I remember Mary Margaret and Emma. And so it may,
when you first saw the pictures of the pieces, I mean,
I was terrified. I was terrified.
You know, I wanted to make sure that I had done made you proud and,
and, and use these pieces. I was worried that they're gonna say what.
What did Greg do to my, to our quilts? You know, what did he do? And.
I was pleased that you enjoyed the process.
That's great.
That's beautiful.
I also posted if anybody's interested to see more quilts from the
Gee's.
I did post a link to their Etsy shop.
And if you so desire to buy wine, you may do so as well.
Quick question, Greg are all your pieces. One of a kind.
Every single piece is one of a kind, even though with this,
the second round.
The styles will be similar because that's what we've offered.
Our retail partners, but each one will still be one of a kind.
And that's,
that's sort of the ethos of what we do in general at Greg Lauren.
And that's why the collaboration was so perfect.
Every single piece.
Is its own unique piece of artwork.
Even if you put that was actually one of the great things was to see
them all at Bergdorf, Goodman, and Jonathan, you can speak to this.
And I know Claudia, who was one of the quilters we worked with,
got to see it in person.
Mary Margaret came to Los Angeles and was part of the photo shoot and
the casting process and the styling process.
I mean, that was amazing. And I think that was,
that was one of the most fun aspects of the collaboration was seeing
you.
Give your thoughts on what pieces looked came to life best on certain
models.
What you liked with what? And, and it was interesting.
I got off my train of thought,
but I was saying that seeing all of the collection,
when it was done together,
It was just this.
It was amazing because there were pieces that were the same
silhouette, but when you looked at them quickly, you had no idea.
They look like.
Two completely different pieces because of the artistry of the quilts
and the personality of each.
Quilter though it was in those pieces.
That's great.
So this question is actually for the G's Ben ladies,
do you ever wear any of the pieces that were turned into clothing?
Thanks so much. Just wanted to know.
And I think it's an interesting question.
That Greg.
No.
Pieces out.
That's what we handle.
And then again,
we cover it up under the patchwork pieces because usually our old
clothes were made out of.
No.
Oh, quilts were made out of that older clothes. So yeah.
That's great.
And then a couple of people wanted to understand how you recruit young
people to teach them quilting.
And then do you work together for a while before they go off on their
own?
What is the process?
With my knee. It was a long process. Cause.
Cause he would get depressed. Like I can't do it. It's not good.
It was actually not SAS shop.
Oh, what up as he really started waiting and said, I can do it.
It made her feel problems.
You have to just move them and be patient and yeah.
Say you can do it. Eat.
Daughters.
They always wanted to.
Like clue. I learned how to quilt.
So they would just ask me the store.
About how I came up and I told him the way I came up about.
Hi, my mom.
Taught me how to make clothes.
And the clue.
And so I will sit down and talk with them about making the.
And Clifton and ascertain.
And I have three girls.
We will sit around the table and.
Cut fabric. Sometimes I said,
I just want to rip it.
And so they will rip the fabric and they assign.
I saw him with that hand and some on the machine.
And we all will work together until.
You know, lay a quilt. So.
You know,
They still answer.
And I'm teaching my grandchildren.
Well, my story is totally different.
My mother used quilting.
And as a punishment for me.
I was always in trouble.
And with a gang.
So she was always in trouble.
And my, my son, I only have two kids. My son.
And, you know, you gotta know your kids, right.
That actually knows how to sew and quilt.
And also she will not do it.
Not say anything in the west, you will not do.
My son.
On the other hand.
This won't get the saw machine. He'll get up down below,
get his needle and thread.
He will sit right there.
He's made several quilts.
And he's actually quilted one. I had to him, but he quilted.
And he saw this first quilt in September.
So that was an old writing charisma.
He's got three more, mate. I haven't even started on those yet.
But yeah.
How long does it typically make.
Take for each of you to make a quilt.
And do you work on one at a time or multiple quilts at one time?
I work on multiples. I'm sorry.
It's very short. So I work on several at a time. Actually. I got.
1, 2, 3.
I think I got four going right now.
So, yeah.
Several.
I work on Saturday.
At a time.
What I want to do with this one. So that will start a whole.
And I work on it for a while. So.
One to the up until I'm sad.
Then I will find that one to go. So it's a process that, you know,
And I love doing that.
Because it is challenging.
You know, you come back about what you may want to do with this.
And then you're trying to do.
You will put it on to the.
So that's what make it fun.
I mean, sometime it just like whirlwind.
Just turn it.
Three.
At the same time.
Sometime,
but it's someone asked me to do what I was starting to complete that
one.
Yeah, mostly, I just get the ideas.
My head and it just keeps spinning.
At night sometime I wake up.
That's a whole new quilt.
Pops into mind. If I get up and set that pattern,
I can do that quick.
But as I don't, it kind of laid my mind.
Yeah.
But I love doing.
At the same time it breaks it up.
But they are not the same.
Yeah.
Different styles.
Repeat that same.
Make it today or tomorrow.
And go do it different. What? I can't repeat that same pattern.
It would have the same color, but.
It may look slightly a light, but I can't do the same one over.
And the quilting D plan.
Your ideas before you start or do you just go by intuition?
As you're quilting.
No, no.
Sometime I plan, but it doesn't work out that way. Always.
Always turn into something different.
Yeah.
And may, I'm a traditional guy.
I.
Traditional.
I like running.
I want it planned out.
And then sometimes even with the best laid plans,
they do go on a ride. Right?
So sometimes those plans do challenge.
Yeah.
Yeah. How about you, Greg? When you're planning your fashion pieces,
do you ever just kind of take a pivot and go with intuition over kind
of your, your plan?
Oh, absolutely. I think especially early on.
A lot of times the pieces would inform themselves,
I'd have no idea where it was going.
And sometimes it would be the materials and the beauty and the
imperfections that I would discover that would actually inform what I
wanted to make out of it.
And then midway through it would turn into something else.
It might've started off as a jacket. And then I realized, wow,
that'd be a really great pair of pants. And then it just,
it's something that you feel and it's, and I think that as.
That's probably more the artist side of me that.
That gets to enjoy that because you stay open to the inspiration
throughout the process, then.
If you're building a business and you're,
you're doing coming from a different approach, them,
what is equally exciting is trying to plan you plan for the expected
accidents in the magic and that's different.
And that's something that we do as well, where we might, you know,
I have to make 51 of a kind pieces that all are inspired by the
original first piece. And no two of those are alike.
And it's exciting when we, when we work from that approach.
And sometimes have a material that was designated for that group. We,
I discover as much more.
Suited for a different style or different piece. That's great.
And I think that's a common all creatives as a maker, myself,
I'm a hot glass and.
I think you have a plan. And then once you gather that glass.
Sometimes it does not want to do hope. It does.
I think it's a very common.
For creatives to make those pivots.
With intuition.
This has been a wonderful conversation.
I just want to bring Amanda back up. If I can please.
Great.
You know, I just want to take a moment to thank everybody.
Mary Margaret, Emma and Stella,
may you three are truly gifts to the world with the beauty you create.
Thank you for taking time today to share those process with us,
as well as the collaboration that you did.
Greg,
thank you for pushing the boundaries of fashion and creating such an
amazing opportunity for impactful collaborations that include equity.
And actually true collaborative efforts.
And Jonathan,
thank you for that beautiful words in the article that you wrote on
this mosaic collect collection and collaboration.
And Amanda,
thank you for bringing equity to all who make through the work that
you do at nest.
And I want to give Amanda a moment to also say some thanks.
If she would like.
Yeah. I mean, all the things get us to the sneakers here on screen.
Really. It's just been such a privilege for us,
as I mentioned at the beginning.
You know, we were at the very,
very early stages with Mary Margaret and Greg his concept and the
idea,
and just to see how far we've come and the ways that we've learned and
grown and become friends with each other.
So just like where we started, where we are now and just, you know,
everything to come.
I think there's just so much excitement and momentum growing,
and we couldn't have done it without everybody here.
So thank you so much.
You know, for, for all of it.
Yeah.
Thank you.
And wonderful thoughts in the chat.
So we'll try to gather those and share with both you Greg and jeez,
Ben ladies.
Because I think it's always nice to see how much people love,
what you all have done and encouraging you to continue this wonderful
kind of work moving forward.
The combination of craft and fashion is a natural,
and it's just amazing to see what the results are that you all.
Are realizing. So thank you so much.
For being here today. Thank you to the community for amazing comments,
questions, and listening to this.
Program. We just really appreciate having you here.
Again, it is recorded. And so we will be sharing the recording after.
And if you're interested,
you can check out our website for the article and more images of the
pieces from the mosaic collection. And again, Jonathan, Greg.
AMA.
And Mary Margaret and Amanda,
thank you all so much for your time today and being part of this
conversation and for pushing the boundaries of fashion and craft.