All posts in: Marissa Webb

29 Jan 2011

J. Crew: About a Shoe

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vqY_TW2iCg]

“Do you know where the clothes you are wearing came from?” Last week, my professor had asked our class that question and without even skipping a beat I answered, “China.” Technically, it came from J. Crew’s University Village location though.

I must have looked pretty foolish because he then proceeded to ask me if I knew where the factory was located, how many people had worked on the shirt, and what the conditions were of the workers. I shut up. I didn’t know any of those answers. How many of us actually do? None of us stop to think about how our clothes were created because we take these pieces for granted once we have them in our hands or on our bodies. They are just everyday staples to us.

I guess this is why I can appreciate J. Crew’s new mini-documentary series that informs their wearers where and how their clothing and accessories came to be. In “About a Shoe,” creative director and president Jenna Lyons along with VP of women’s design Marissa Webb venture to Italy to witness their sketch transform into a physical shoe. The video does a great job at showing the immense amount of work that goes into producing just one piece of their collection as well as how many hands are involved in the project. For anyone interested in learning about fashion design without an ounce of knowledge in the subject, this might be a great place to start.

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