The Pacific Northwest faces a crisis not seen since the early consolidation of the global fashion industrial supply chain in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Thousands of workers furloughed, laid off, or even worse. Record unemployment levels. Businesses in need of SBA assistance. The Federal Government offering the largest economic stimulus in United States history. All in response to one of the most transmissible viruses we’ve faced since polio was eradicated last century.
When faced with uncertainty, our fashion community chose to take the challenges head-on. Numerous fashion houses and businesses strategically converted their production facilities in order to mass-produce Personal Protective Equipment desperately needed by Healthcare Providers including Swedish, Valley, and Virginia Mason hospitals. Patterns for homemade face masks were given freely online, and tutorial videos were produced to walk us through their construction. And for those without the ability to cut-and-sew, masks were offered for reduced or pay-what-you-can prices to cover costs of shipping and materials. To name but a few examples of an independent movement greater than the sum of its opposition.
The April Issue features over 90+ pages of Northwest stories from fashion professionals impacted by our current crisis. And the issue is presented without sponsorships or commercial advertisements. Each story flows directly into the next in an unbroken narrative and remains a statement of where we’re at right now while looking ahead to fashion’s unwritten future.
Get your digital Edition of The April Issue today. Featuring interviews with Suk Chai of SCHAI, Creative Director Naz Afshar, Luis Velez of Guillermo Bravo, Alexis Devine of Squirrel Vs. Coyote, Victor Loo of Asian Counseling and Referral Services, Fashion designer Cassie Yuan, and our latest entry in The Designer Series with Angeline Oei of A.Oei Studio.