Erwiah adds: “By creating this platform that creates a demand for it, we’re then able to benefit the community by creating jobs because that’s an order, not just for sewing or cutting, it’s an order for every step on that chain.”
Currently selling on their website, the second Fashion Rising Collection (the first was sold at a pop-up shop with Urban Outfitters in L.A. and New York this past May) features pieces such as a green Aggie-print hand-Batik cotton military jacket ($300; below right) and lime green ODLR-print hand-Batik terry cloth kimono ($275; below left), as well as Bottletop pink recycled pull can leather tassle purse ($345), and vegan leather carry-alls and coin purses ($75 to $128). Designers featured on the e-commerce include Geren Ford, Menzer Hajiyeva, and Lulu, to name a few.
Like what you see? Well, given that Studio One Eighty Nine’s mission is all about working together, Erwiah and Dawson have recently teamed up with Quarterly, a subscription-based service of curated box-filled goods, to provide interested buyers pieces from the Fashion Rising Collection, as well as a few other surprises.