“I’ve always been interested in society,” says Tina Wetshi, Colèchi co-founder. Colèchi is a London-based collective and research agency that works collaboratively with individuals and organisations that are leveraging positive change in the fashion industry. What’s interesting about Colèchi is its collaborative research approach; a model that values the power of collectivism in sharing sustainable fashion practice – and nurtures community.
Through workshopping, researching, campaigning and curating, Colèchi is striving to re-humanise clothing while shining light on four key areas of the fashion value chain: sourcing, making, media and afterlife.
“We want to know how we can bring everyday people closer with the craftsmanship involved in making fashion and how we can encourage people to engage with positive fashion ecosystems,” says Wetshi, continuing: “There’s power for this in the community.”
“We collaborate because we know we’re not experts. So, why try to be?” asks Wetshi. “There is this attitude in business and education – especially in fashion, that you have to know everything. I remember feeling intimidated meeting new people because I didn’t know everything. But it’s impossible to and in pretending you’re an expert on something, trying to fill in gaps on things you don’t know, misinformation happens,” Wetshi shares. I myself have faced a pride or pressure that makes it hard to just admit that I simply don’t know. But, in speaking on something I’m not an expert in, I’m speaking on behalf of someone who is.
“We’re trying to make room for those people, the experts; the people who are in the field, doing the work – be that literally in a field on a regenerative farm or in a research facility,” confers Wetshi. “Collaboration for us means making sure everyone is properly accredited for what they bring to the table; that there is visibility for everyone involved.”
It’s re-humanising the fashion industry because upon closer inspection, something that seems so personal is actually far from. As wearers, we might take pride in what we are saying about ourselves through the clothing that we wear but the reality is: we don’t know where that clothing comes from, we don’t know who made it because someone did, many people did – down a long supply chain that needs re-humanising. And, in not knowing that, where or who, what are we really saying about ourselves? Colèchi is giving face to everyone involved.
“It’s essential that we re-humanise materials and our connection with clothing,” says Wetshi. “If we think about our relationships with humans, with our friends. These relationships are irreplaceable. When something is human, living, we cherish it. So, let’s recognise the human involvement in our garments and the living organisms that they come from. They play a big part in our wider ecosystem. It’s easy to forget this because a garment is so manipulated and unrecognisable from its original form.”
Wetshi doesn’t beat around the bush: “We shouldn’t exist how we exist.” It’s this that forms the foundation of the Colèchi Manifesto, which serves as a checklist, of sorts. A ‘What have we achieved? What’s left to do?’ kind of thing. “Accessibility has undoubtedly improved in the fashion industry, check. But, it’s still hugely exclusive.” It’s seemingly designed that way and barriers to entry need breaking down. “The Manifesto allows us to outline and visualise our mission, working towards set goals,” she says.
“We want to see empowered communities become relevant again,” says Wetshi. “And, we want people to engage with fashion in a way that’s more than clothes, trends, identity but more holistically. More like cooking and food, I suppose, knowing where your produce comes from and understanding what constitutes it on every level down to the chemicals used in manufacturing and the soil its materials were extracted from.”
Henceforth, the first issue of Colèchi’s crowdfunded journal, ‘AGREENCULTURE’, which asks: Where does it come from? “It comes from the ground, it comes from the soil,” says Wetshi, continuing: “making regenerative farming the perfect starting point for our first issue in which we look at soil quality and regeneration and animal grazing, animals more generally.”
And, speaking of animals. Let’s play the word association game. Animals. Sheep. Wool (one of my favourite natural fibres). Knitting.
Each month at a venue in London (it’s previously been hosted at venus including the Barbican and Tate Modern), Colèchi invites anyone and everyone to its Knit Club, YKWU or You can Knit With Us. YKWU was cleverly fathomed to both build a community and to re-humanise garments. “It’s a community project where we come together and learn from each other,” says Wetshi. “I always hated sewing, I never had the patience but knitting is different.” You’re invited, even if you can’t knit.
Wetshi likens it to going shopping with friends but instead of buying something you probably don’t need, you’re making something, chatting, laughing and, all the while, engaging with the process. “It’s a slow thing, like reading. You’re learning to knit and to appreciate the material. It makes you realise how much work goes into making a piece of clothing which in turn will remind you of how precious a garment is.”
“Just understanding how to make one single thing and recognising the effort that goes into it, then, you think of the massive quantities that are produced on such a scale. I think knitting something really puts that into context. These labour intensive crafts deserve to be appreciated. That’s what the knit club is about,” says Wetshi. Shifting mindsets, collectively.
There’s a disconnect, as we’ve touched on. Between maker and wearer, between different stages of the supply chain, between buying a garment and disposing of a garment – and between people. For Wetshi, it’s all about people. Sourcing, making, media, afterlife – they seem to be worlds apart but they’re not. They intersect through people. “If we recognised the human labour involved in all of these phases in the garment’s life cycle then perhaps mindsets would shift, perhaps there wouldn’t be such a disconnect.”
What’s caused this disconnect and how can we heal it? I ask.
“Our relationship with media is one area that’s partly to blame… and people often ignore this,” says Wetshi, which leads us onto our next talking point. “It isn’t independent anymore and if it is independent, it has very little financial support,” she says, frustratedly adding: “Social media is disposable. Imagery is disposable. And it perpetuates this view of clothes being so, too.” Everything, everywhere, all at once. “Gone are the days of the film camera with just thirty shots.”
And, writing. “People forget how much work goes into it. People in newsrooms are expected to turn things over in minutes. Where is the time for consideration, fact checking.” Again, it’s this hyper- ideology: hyper-production, hyper-consumption. “Sometimes I fear that the media has lost its voice, especially fashion because it’s so niche and it needs money, ” says Wetshi.
Colèchi has spent a lot of time thinking about fashion media, its future and how it can be used to close the gap and heal the planet. “Our community is trying to imagine new prototypes, new lexicons and new languages that can be used in fashion media.” As a voluntary cog in the churning wheel of fashion media, I can’t help but wonder (sorry Carrie) what my future in the field might look like. Perhaps that’s futilely philosophical, existential even.
So as to avoid ending on a low, I ask Wetshi what she feels optimistic about since optimism is a pillar on which this column was founded. “I feel optimistic about working together, locally, in the community. And, the voice of the younger generation. I’m really optimistic about this generation. People obviously want a solution. They’re engaging with that. I have proof as if they weren’t, Colèchi wouldn’t work.”