This past winter we hosted a local pop-up. The racks were full and the shop was buzzing. We enjoyed watching the garments getting so much love from the local people who came for the event. The evening began to slow down, and right before we were ready to pack up, a couple walked in the door. We watched as they tried on clothes, and one decided to make a purchase. Rose exclaimed, “Wow, that looks so beautiful on her!”
The customer replied, “You mean it looks beautiful on them.”
In that moment we made mental notes—about the power of clothing, about the power of language, about the power of clothing as language. We have always believed ourselves to be inclusive people, but did our brand fully reflect that? We went on to have some important conversations about the Conscious Clothing brand, realizing that we needed to make some adjustments so that our words—and our products—reflect our values. The reality is, we can no longer assume that our primary customer base is identifying as female…or will be in the future. As a growing sustainable clothing brand, we are proud to make our designs accessible to everyone and adjust our patterns to accommodate an expanding audience. Why? It’s simple_
The cultural and human landscape is constantly evolving, and we want to stand behind what we believe in_ offering designs that are non-binary and label-free, focusing more on their accessibility for different bodies without being bound by typical gender norms.
Coming from our background primarily designing for women’s bodies, we understand both the strengths and the limitations of those designs as we seek to expand our offerings. We feel the excitement, and the occasional growing pains, as we offer something completely new and exciting to our customers. We have long been featuring various shapes, ages, and skin tones across our designs, but we recognize we were still only acknowledging a few degrees of diversity; in our mission to be truly inclusive, we realize there is so much more ground to cover. With an evolving understanding of our audience—an audience that is and is not define by its gender(s)—our brand must evolve as well. That is, we want to continue to expand our reach and our options for EveryBODY.
The EveryBODY descriptor is birthed from the embodiment of the gender-neutral and unisex collaborative, but we had our own vision and wanted vocabulary that wasn’t politically charged or overused. Specifically designed to be worn by any and every body—whether you have broad shoulders or bodacious hips—these garments are intentionally designed to be comfortable, wearable, and flattering for all.
We love to learn from the diversity of our customers and their interests; it makes our brand better when we broaden our mindset and question our cultural biases. We are grateful for the opportunity to expand our perspective and push our design comfort zone to the next level, opening our arms to a growing audience. We are still focused on the tenets of our company that we know to be true_ we will offer handmade and sustainable clothing and refuse to cut corners when it comes to quality. We believe in our fabrics, we care for our resources, we love our customers, and our team works incredibly hard to craft garments that are well-made and available to an expanding audience.
We thank you a million times over for your support and for embracing our growth along this journey. As you explore this collection, we hope you find beautiful, useful, and sustainable pieces that you can share with your partner, your best friend, your parents, or your siblings—in whatever body they are in.
