SA had the pleasure of meeting with Vancouver designer Natalie Purschwitz of Hunt and Gather at her showroom on Saturday, Oct. 17^th (Day 47!) to discuss her project, MakeShift.  

Here is the edited interview.

The MakeShift project challenges Purschwitz to wear only items she herself has made, for an entire year. The MakeShift Blog catalogues her daily progress.

Day 48, MakeShift

Although the project has been compared with the 100-mile diet, it must be said that notions of sustainability and social responsibility are not the primary focus of the MakeShift project. Such interpretation likely developed through some of Purschwitz’s design decisions- for example, she has chosen to repurpose materials she already owns through upcycling wherever possible.

SA was drawn to the project for its examination into the making of things, with respect to “the role of clothing as a form of cultural production.” (MakeShift)

Understanding the way in which we view our clothing is a necessary step in any effort to transform design and production. Once we have a sense of how we relate to our clothing, and how we, as individuals, are reflected in that process, we may discover systems that respect culture, society and the environment in the process. We believe that MakeShift’s investigation into “the relationships between ‘making,’ ‘clothing’ and ‘living’” (MakeShift) lends itself well to this challenge.

In this interview with SA, Purschwitz sheds light on why she decided to take on the project and some of the design challenges she has faced 47 days into the project. She also explains how she shapes her own ideology as a designer through the language of clothing, touches upon the role of social responsibility in the context of education and reflects on what she would like to see people take away from the project.

For more on MakeShift, visit the Blog and check out the showroom at Parkingspot, located at 8 E. Cordova St., in Vancouver’s Gastown.

We’d like to thank Natalie for taking the time to speak with us about her project, and are truly looking forward to following its developments.

Mary F Hanlon

Mary has a PhD in Sociology from University of Edinburgh, researching responsible fashion and transnational labour rights activism in the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh.