Today we’d like to introduce you to Marta Swain.
Hi Marta, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been inspired and passionate about being part of Nature since early childhood.
I was disturbed by the fact that humans were the only species that destroyed what we and all other animals need to survive.
Direct involvement in passing The Clean Water Act, The Clean Air Act and The Endangered Species Act with my parents at age ten hooked me on being the change I wished to see in the world. As a teenager, desire to engage others in cultivating respect for life sparked Interplay, a self-designed methodology using art and language to explore interdependence of personal, social & ecological wellbeing.
I was fortunate to study with Buckminster Fuller and other visionaries prior to helping establish the Nantucket Island School of Design the Arts. I learned about sustainability first hand while harvesting and processing a daily limit of scallops offshore throughout the winter months.
After 18 years of facilitating Interplay workshops for people of all ages and backgrounds around the world, I was appalled to learn in 1996 that cotton was a most heavily treated crop with carcinogenic chemicals and pesticides, while being sold as the fabric of your life to generations of people one woman away from breast cancer.
Refusing to put another dollar into such an insidious problem, I wondered what was worth wearing and delved into researching alternatives. I discovered exquisitely designed 100% hemp manufactured in Berkeley CA and spent $400 for the first time in my life on the best clothing I’d ever seen. I showed it to others, sold it, and invested every dollar back into clothing I believed was most worthy of being worn and produced. It was well received everywhere I shared it, in pop ups at coffee shops, “clean” hair salons, festivals. and private home shows.
In 1998 I became a rep for 12 eco apparel lines, renting a showroom several times a year at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago and Minneapolis. I was the only representative of eco-apparel among 100s of conventional clothing sales persons. Store buyers from throughout and beyond ten states of the Midwest roamed the miles od aisles, many wondered why I informed them about the fibers of which the pieces they admired were made.
In 1998 I moved to Michigan to be near nieces and nephews and opened a 350 sq ft store named Hemp Goods.
The world was not ready.
I couldn’t have imagined the challenges ahead of me in the next 30 years.
Despite social injustices rampant in apparel manufacturing which was also a top polluter of water, it was excluded from sustainability conversations, classrooms, and conferences.
Instead of addressing the issue and consequences of 1000s of unregulated chemicals that are persistent, endocrine disrupting, carcinogenic and absorbable through skin into blood streams, even sustainability and wellness professional wore petroleum based, “plastic” polyester. These choices contributed heavily to sickening levels of microplastics in bodies everywhere. Massive amounts shed from polyester and fleece items in every wash load. A recent report confirms that human beings have an average of a plastic spoon worth of micro plastics in their brain.
The good news is that after 29 years of waiting for the world to become more aware, we see a change and are finally being sought out by those most informed and inspired to make healthier clothing choices.
More than ever, in its 30th year, Clothing Matters is a unique destination for a diverse and discerning clientele who appreciate our culture of helping people do more with less, enjoy the best, be more comfortable, get better returns on investment, “feel good in & about what they wear”, while avoiding toxic VOCs, PFCs, phthalates, PFAS, heavy metal dyes, etc.
Clothing Matters is thrilled to be 10 years into developing the largest collection of locally plant dyed, leaf and flower printed apparel and accessories we know of anywhere.
We’ve supporting over 125 local, regional, domestic & international design teams, most of whom have gone out of business, Today, Clothing Matters features a large percentage of our own “WeAre Nature” zero waste designs and a fabulous array of jewelry designed and made in our space.
This venture has required me to make it my top priority for three decades, ahead of all else. I’m extremely grateful for the amazing customer support that has encouraged me to persist through all the challenges, and for every gratifying opportunity to serve them as well as fabulous new customers ever day.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Ignorance about what clothing should cost.
Fast fashion.
Not being able to pay myself.
Not being able to give adequate time and attention to personal relationships
Contradictions, conflicts, lack of recognition from the sustainability community.
Though I was glad to support many great employees, two different people took advantage of the teaching, training and benefits before creating chaos for the team and attempting to start competing businesses very nearby.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Throughout my life, it has always been most important to contribute to the greater good, and help others improve personal, social and ecological well-being. I’ve always believed that art and creative, critical thinking are key to being healthy and whole. I devoted 18 years to eliciting the brilliance inherent in all people through exercises that allowed them to develop new perspective and wider view of themselves, communities, and our world,
For the last 30’years, my art has taken the form of finding, fashioning, and generating fascination around tangible threads that connect and honor lives across borders and boundaries.
My own creativity and brilliance has been honed by all the everyday acts required to maintain and develop a world class collection of sustainable—non-toxic, ethically, sourced apparel.
I love to invite, inform, engage, inspire and delight people of all ages and backgrounds in discovery of how good clothing can be.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was very much at home in and part of Nature. A special woman did a lot to nurture that proclivity; her name was Auntie Si. She oriented children to the natural world alive in the woods and dunes of Lake Michigan. I was most fortunate.
My parents cared deeply about protecting the environment and supporting social justice. I was very close to and aligned with them, as were my friends at every age. We appreciated and admired them greatly as finest examples of quiet leadership and compassion.
I was 10 years old when President John F. Kennedy, Rev Dr Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy were assassinated.. I wrote a 38-page report on MLK and wrote to his wife Coretta. She wrote me back. I wore a bracelet honoring prisoner of war Raymond Visotsky.
I was the only one of my siblings who adopted my parents’ active commitment to the environment and social justice.
I was bored in school much of the time, turned off by teachers who didn’t appreciate my inquiries. After a fatal and life changing car accident at age 14, I was more interested in spending time with good teachers than fellow students.
I’ve always loved children and Nature.
Pricing:
- My business has always been committed to providing true value and transparency, with education regarding what is reflected in a price paramount.
- All prices represent the many decisions and efforts that go into growing, processing, creating, harvesting and presenting highest quality product from partner who are committed to practices that prevent pollution, conserve resources, and promote social justice.
- Our collection includes locally plant dyed, organic cotton and organic wool socks for infants, toddlers, men & women prices from $10.50 to $32 as well as men’s organic cotton boxer briefs for men ($24) and multiple styles of intimates for women $18-$48
- We are honored to offer many one’s of a kind hand-loomed wearable works of art from local as well as masters a far.
- The highest prices pieces in our collection includes authentic museum pieces
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.clothingmatters.net
- Instagram: @clothingmatters
- Facebook: @clothingmatters
