Querencia Studio: A Fashion-Forward Brand with an Environmental Mission
Rarely when excavating for a fashion-forward steal does the environmental impact of the article of clothing pass through a shopper’s mind. As someone flaunts their latest pair of designer jeans, it is unlikely that they are also lingering on the gallons of water and heaps of pesticides used in the manufacturing of their new cotton pants. Most people are not contemplating the many eco-implications of online shopping either, as the delivery man arrives at one’s doorstep with a brand-new package. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, fashion savvy nature-lovers, but according to Eileen Fisher, an industry leader in sustainable fashion, “the clothing industry is the second largest polluter in the world... second only to oil.”
Beyond fashion’s carbon footprint, the lack of sustainable fashion advocacy among designers is also incredibly disheartening. With the exception of Eileen Fisher, Stella McCartney, and a few others, this trillion dollar global business has not been making much headway in the shift towards more eco-friendly fashion in this green day and age. So, how can one both don their Givenchy-Bambi sweaters while simultaneously saving Bambi? Ask Querencia Studio’s Devin Gilmartin.
From recycled plastic bottles to organic cotton, Querencia Studio has journeyed into the unconquered territory of sustainable fashion. Since millennials have largely been the faces of the current environmentally-friendly initiatives, it is no surprise that 20-year-old Devin, and Querencia’s CEO Tegan Maxey, are the innovative minds behind this new eco-friendly brand.
In 2014, while attending The Island School, a program focused on sustainable living, Devin Gilmartin grew through challenges both to himself as a person as well as to his perception of life and the environment. His outlook changed drastically over his transformative semester in this marine environment in the Bahamas. Not only were Devin's scuba diving trips with his science class and math lessons on solar panel placement and rainwater usage instrumental to his personal growth and education, but The Island School students also had the opportunity for “Querencia Time,” and thus, Querencia Studio was born.
Isolated from the rest of the community for 48 hours, Island School students use “Querencia Time” for self-reflection, and Devin’s experiences prompted him to reflect on society’s materialistic decisions and their impact on a day-to-day basis. After returning from The Island School, Devin returned to the fashion world and became increasingly aware of its consequences on the environment. After being introduced to co-founder Tegan in 2016, the two bonded over shared environmental concerns, and after a few meetings, arrived at the ingenious idea of Querencia Studio. While the word “querencia” has various meanings, the name’s origin for Devin and Tegan was the concept of a safe place where one regains their strength. Through the growth of Querencia Studio as a clothing company, both founders have personally contributed to propelling the fashion industry towards also becoming a querencia as well— a safe space where everyone has the potential to be prosperous.
Querencia Studio is a kind of look-good-feel-good brand; you not only ditch the toxic fast-fashion industry, but can look incredibly stylish while doing so. On Querencia Studio’s website, you can find trendy oversized sweatshirts and tees that are all made from up-cycled materials.
As you scroll, you can find personalized jackets, and if you buy one, a portion of the profits from your purchase are then donated to Goodwill.
Let’s not forget Cara Delevingne sporting some Querencia garb!
What to know more about Querencia? Lucky for you, I snagged an interview with co-founder Devin Gilmartin to hear the inside scoop about this fab new brand.
Can you elaborate on how you incorporate sustainability into Querencia’s brand?
When we begin a project, our initial brainstorm considers potential process and impact throughout the production and consumption of our product. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are addressing the critical issues facing the world, and clothing can and should have both a direct and indirect role in the further development of these goals. By mapping out the issues we want to address before beginning a collection, we are ensuring everything we can to make the largest impact possible. Transparency is key and acknowledging the responsibility fashion has in the world moves us closer to a more interesting and beautiful industry that empowers everyone at the expense of no one.
How have you integrated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDPs) into your different collections?
One example is when we presented our SURFACE LEVEL collection at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's COY13 in Bonn, Germany. We wanted to look at fashion through the lens of climate change and the industry's impact on the rising sea levels around the world. We felt it was important to bring our message to the United Nations because it’s rare to see fashion being discussed in the places it should. An industry as consequential and influential as fashion should be recognized on the global stage of problem solving. Using the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for our projects allows us to do so every time we release a product.
What was the first Querencia collection?
Our first collection was Q x Recover Brands. This line was intended to appeal to the respective communities we engaged at our launch - that being our friends, family, and current social networks - with the hope that the simplicity and story we were introducing would inspire our audience to want to know more. This collection was an entry point for our long term goal of putting sustainable fashion in a new context. The garments, produced by our partner Recover Brands in a biomass powered factory in Guatemala, are comfortable, durable, and, to much surprise, made from a blend of recycled water bottles and organic cotton. Our result was a balance of an innovative and developed process we understood well, and is aimed at those customer who may not yet know that their fast fashion t-shirt could be replaced by such a product that is competitive in price. The potential preconception that a t-shirt could only be made from cotton, which some may have had, is therefore replaced with the post-conception, done by story telling and informed by the conversation between company and audience.
Can you tell us about another one of your collections?
Our second collection, and first go at handmade garments, is G.O.N.E. FOR GOOD. With the understanding that the issue of sustainable fashion is an epidemic, and not at all local to one section of the industry, expanding our team to include talent with expertise in sustainable garment construction and design was essential. With our lead designer Kate Walz, a Parsons School of Design student, designing the pieces from upcycled fabric sourced from the Goodwill NYNJ headquarters, we effectively merged the possibility of material being discovered as the first step to conceptualizing a collection. With this, it was certainly an experiment and challenge in the sense that there was no ability to scale the creations. Still, it meant each piece was unique. We were also able to address lack of scale in the couture side by utilizing up-cycled t-shirts, also donated by Goodwill NYNJ, that were naturally dyed using fruits and vegetables. The future of a collaboration such as this could go many ways but a more streamlined process of identifying fabrics and their potential uses could be one route. All together, the goal of this partnership was more focused on messaging and less on commercializing a large scale product offering. The unique respective audience that each party brought to the table meant there were new discoveries and ideas being shared with people who may not have heard them before. This is important to the future of sustainable fashion and no potential audience should be discredited as not worthy of educating about the perils of fashion as it is today. Ultimately, a sustainable fashion industry is one which evens the playing field and allows the consumer to participate with informed decisions. This cannot happen without storytelling.
What is your most recent collection?
Another one of our collections is DICHROMACY. A dichromat is someone whose red or green population is absent in the retina. Someone with protanopia dichromacy, also called “red weakness,” will see a distorted version of colors with red tones since the cone cells sensitive to red light are absent. This type of color blindness is found predominantly in males. Red is a color of extremes; red is fire, power, passion, violence, seduction, danger, blood, and historically revolution. The collection titled DICHROMACY takes inspiration from these words in the perception of this male dominant trait that is blind to the oppressed voice of reds. DICHROMACY points out the men deciding not to see the revolution. For Kate Walz, it took form with personal stories of sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement, though the collection also speaks on other topics of women’s voices being hushed and left out of the conversation. These garments are an interpretation of the looming reality of fear abusers have over their victims: a hand covering their mouths telling them to shut up, grabbing their throats, and touching them without permission. But more importantly, give the wearer the power to remove them. We included design details that were placed to give the wearer agency and power over their bodies, which allows them to speak when they feel compelled to, not just when given permission, and allowing them to conceal or reveal body parts that are typically sexualized. The collection was released on April 19th, 2018, which is the anniversary of Bill O’Reilly’s public recognition as a sexual predator and abuser. A date that started a revolution of individuals speaking out about their experiences with sexual harassment, putting numbers, stories, and faces to the magnitude of this issue that for the first time started being heard. 100% of the profits from this collection are being donated to Planned Parenthood.
Are you planning on selling the Querencia brand in brick-and-mortar stores?
Brick-and-mortar as we know it is over. There must be a new way to present clothing to those interested in investing their time and money on it, and it is important to include an experience that speaks to how the clothing was made and a story about its journey from idea to garment. Within that journey, there must be an acknowledgement of impact - both positive and negative - that the journey has on our environment and society. Therefore, brick and mortar must be reimagined as a space in which a transaction of ideas occurs. It’s with that in mind that we’ve established our Q Global Ambassadorship Program. Mobilizing individuals to be a point of contact and a storyteller for our brand means the typical mundane process of a monetary transaction becomes more than that. Conversations flow, ideas are exchanged, and the product is not just a physical item but rather an opinion and emphasis on our values. With that said, a space representing a story, when done properly, can be a unique and interesting way to engage an audience. We have a special project in the works in order to address our ambitions in this area.
This year, Querencia Studio will be one of the many featured designers at Northwestern’s UNITY Charity Fashion Show. For its 11th production, this student-run organization is partnering with SocialWorks, Chance the Rapper’s non-profit that gives back to the Chicago public school system, and will put on a catwalk to remember. Devin and his team have graciously personalized a new collection for the UNITY show that is aimed at addressing the United Nations’ SDGs. The fabric for the collection is sourced in New York City at FabScrap, which amasses unused fabric from local designers. Playing on the theme of unity, this collection has been designed to be unisex and unisize, which the Querencia Studio team believes will be an element of all future fashion. Querencia Studio’s special presence will truly add to the unique perspectives, talents, and collaborations apparent every year at the UNITY Charity Fashion Show.
Querencia Studio is at the forefront of bridging the gap between an environmentally conscientious consumer base and a fashion-focused audience. With good design, product, and presentation, Querencia Studio has initiated a change of mentality where one can be both fashionable and sustainable.
According to Devin, “fashion desperately needs a candid look in the mirror."
"We hope to be that mirror, and be a part of the value shifts necessary to transition to a more sustainable fashion industry.” Just as Devin reflected on self-improvement during his “Querencia Time,” he hopes that fashion, too, will reassess itself and its eco-unfriendly impact.