Wuilson

Edgar

Last night I had the honor of speaking at Pecha Kucha, best described as a party with slide-show presentations. In trying to tell the story of my outfit, one of the stories I told was about who made it. Here, the first in a series to further the goal of transparency, are the guys at the factory who have done a lot of the work to make the Bodkin pieces on the racks right now.

Wuilson Quezada runs the factory on 39th Street and is one of the friendliest people I know. He came to New York from Ecuador 15 years ago, and three years after that started his own factory. He does pattern layout and cutting and computer pattern work (it all used to be by hand, but no more). Did you know that computers now determine where pattern pieces should be cut on the fabric so as to minimize fabric waste? Wuilson lives in New Jersey with his wife, a patternmaker, and 4-year-old son.

Edgar Lopez does sewing and pressing. He is also Ecuadorean and has been here for seven years. He lives in Upper Manhattan and says his favorite part about his job is his coworkers, who sing all day.

It’s nice to be on a first-name basis with the men who made your shirt. They were really excited about being photographed, by the way!

Due to being, like, really really really busy–and a Luddite, and the owner of a thrown-out back–I have disappeared for a while. Now that things are calming down I will be updating the blog regularly, starting very soon! In the meantime, anyone curious to know more about what I do is invited to Le Poisson Rouge on Monday, March 23rd for the 6th Pecha Kucha NY, where I’ll be giving a slide presentation along with some other very talented and interesting people with whom I am kind of humbled to be grouped, such as Dickson Despommier of the Vertical Farm (whom I interviewed for the Washington Post a while back) and Jay Parkinson of Hello Health (an idea that makes me feel a little bit more optimistic about health care reform).

I have plenty to share about everything from recycled polyester to the decline of the Garment District to why clothes cost what they do. Stay tuned….

Oh, and check out the spring collection, now available at Steven Alan, I Heart, Bird, No. 6, Jumelle, and coming right up at all the others on the list.