The Official Dieworkwear Appreciation Thread

[mhip]

View attachment 1396135

Put some red hats on those fellers, and you have...

 

[Numbernine]

Put some red hats on those fellers, and you have...

It was a posted photo of some gentlemen waiting on line to get a haircut that summoned that drawing up through the ancient drug soaked ooze and broken bits of detritus that pass for my memory these days.

 

[dkboze]

To clarify, that bit was disclosed because the company is located in Italy, where there's a shelter in place order. Since they can't go out to shoot a lookbook, they had to improvise in their home. I'm not sure what should have been said instead? I wanted to disclose they're sheltering in place, not going out to shoot lookbooks with models and photographers. But I don't know how else to describe Omar except to say that he's a friend of the family and a worker on the property.

I don't know why people are assuming the worst of their relationship. Associating free labor with slavery, even if on a wealthy property, seems a bit much.

I know this isn't what people meant, but I also think it's a great thing that he's an immigrant. Wasn't saying that as some pity story. My parents are Vietnamese immigrants and I'm proud of their story.

for me this wasn't at all a criticism of you or your piece or immigrants! and i should have been more clear about that. it's an observation about Joyce. there's an aura of weirdness to this fancy (white) American expat brand using the trapped (black) house help to model clothes. it's not actual slavery (though it does have uncomfortable echoes of it), it's not awful, it's just kinda off and annoying

 

[jalebi]

@dieworkwear, what ever happened to part 3 of the best value focused brands series?

The Best Value-Focused Brands, Part Two

It’s never been more expensive to build a wardrobe. Head over to Mr. Porter today, and you can find everything...

putthison.com

 

[Baron]

It's a a little patronizing to assume that the employee is trapped or exploited. It also feels like Omar's race is playing into the feeling that he's he's a powerless victim. I mean, maybe he is, I don't know much about the situation, but that's not the first thing I'd assume. My wife is a photographer, and she shoots lookbooks for a handful of LA brands. The models are usually known to the brand owners, sometimes working models, sometimes friends or even employees of the brand. And usually they work for clothes. Some of the bigger models get paid, but usually small brands like this have small budgets and don't really pay anyone all that well and trade product as much as possible. I assume Omar was compensated, maybe just in clothes but that's pretty much the norm. And I'll assume he's happy with the transaction unless I learn otherwise.

 

[dkboze]

I have no idea about the truth of the situation, and I'm not saying they're actually mistreating him — I'm sure they compensated him in some way and my guess is the guy is happy enough. But it's a weird look. It'd be like a bougie brand in Texas shooting a Syrian or Salvadorean refugee who lives in their house as a groundskeeper and bragging about it. It's kinda tasteless.

 

[dieworkwear]

I have no idea about the truth of the situation, and I'm not saying they're actually mistreating him — I'm sure they compensated him in some way and my guess is the guy is happy enough. But it's a weird look. It'd be like a bougie brand in Texas shooting a Syrian or Salvadorean refugee who lives in their house as a groundskeeper and bragging about it. It's kinda tasteless.

Again, to clarify, this is information I received because I asked John about it. It's not like this is info they've posted on their website or product pages. I'm not sure why this is considered "bragging."

I thought the lookbook was inspiring, so I emailed John to ask about it. We went back and forth and I asked him questions about how the lookbook came together. Since they're sheltering in place, John explained they shot this at home. When asked who is the model, he explained it's a friend and someone who lives and works on the property. He also explained a bit about Omar's background. The point was that they're not going out to find models, they're working with people they live with.

 

[dkboze]

Again, to clarify, this is information I received because I asked John about it. It's not like this is info they've posted on their website or product pages. I'm not sure why this is considered "bragging."

I thought the lookbook was inspiring, so I emailed John to ask about it. We went back and forth and I asked him questions about how the lookbook came together. Since they're sheltering in place, John explained they shot this at home. When asked who is the model, he explained it's a friend and someone works on the property. He also explained a bit about Omar's background.

I'd thought I'd seen it in material directly from them, aside from your post. If that's really the case, then of course it's not bragging, and I'm a moron.

 

[WhyUEarly]

I'd thought I'd seen it in material directly from them, aside from your post. If that's really the case, then of course it's not bragging, and of course I'm a moron. Sorry to muck up the thread!

Joyce did talk about Umar in their newsletter, but I thought they addressed it very tastefully and without being patronizing. I pasted the text from their email:

"In the early days of March, our small production was hastily wrapped and with the same pace, we left our home and studio for the wife’s family house in the small Tuscan town of Turicchi. For the past four years, her mother’s home has hosted migrants fleeing their own. Umar was one of roughly a hundred that have come and gone. Leaving his home country of Mali, he arrived in Tuscany by way of Sicily, and is the last of the migrants, who have otherwise integrated throughout greater Italy. Umar works now on the surrounding land, pruning the olive trees, tending to vines, and general chores in exchange for room, board, and salary. With our production in tow, we set around the grounds, capturing Umar in our spring / summer collection. Telling his story as an extension our own "

 

[WhyUEarly]

The way I looked at it was that the Joyce team was sheltering in place in Tuscany with their new collection and they wanted to shoot their collection; conveniently Umar was the right height and wears the sample size, in line with their previous models. It's not like their product pages mentions Umar's background, just his height and chest measurement.

 

[imatlas]

Obviously that's their spin on it, but it sounds like they've been very helpful to refugees in general and Umar in particular. Assuming that he received fair compensation there's nothing to fault here and plenty to admire.

On the subject of their actual clothing, I ordered one of their lab coats and wound up returning it. Too oversized for my taste, my wife said it looked like I borrowed a jacket from a fat friend. The linen has a very coarse hand as well - I was considering adding a layer of shirting to the collar.

 

[LeBeef]

Ah, the explanation sounds “nice,” but in my opinion is not very tasteful. Without actually seeing what their relationship is like, the key word in my mind that you mention is that it was convenient.

 

[dkboze]

Joyce did talk about Umar in their newsletter, but I thought they addressed it very tastefully and without being patronizing. I pasted the text from their email:

"In the early days of March, our small production was hastily wrapped and with the same pace, we left our home and studio for the wife’s family house in the small Tuscan town of Turicchi. For the past four years, her mother’s home has hosted migrants fleeing their own. Umar was one of roughly a hundred that have come and gone. Leaving his home country of Mali, he arrived in Tuscany by way of Sicily, and is the last of the migrants, who have otherwise integrated throughout greater Italy. Umar works now on the surrounding land, pruning the olive trees, tending to vines, and general chores in exchange for room, board, and salary. With our production in tow, we set around the grounds, capturing Umar in our spring / summer collection. Telling his story as an extension our own "

Thanks, that's what I'd seen but must have deleted. It's the "Telling his story as an extension our own" stuff that annoyed me. The rest of it seems very generous and kind, but that's the mom's not the brand's doing.

 

[LeBeef]

^^exactly.

 

[Baron]

I went from being annoyed at the manufactured outrage for using the guy in the lookbook to being annoyed at the performative wokeness of the newsletter.