Alexandra Rodriguez

Photo Courtesy of Threads: Woven Together by Alexandra Rodriguez

When it comes to giving back to the community there is nothing better than combining fashion with a purpose. Fashion designers in Worcester are not using their work not only to promote fashion, but to create awareness in the community or to help others philanthropically. With all the fun and excitement going on in the city there is nothing better than adding a little style. These community-oriented designers represent the best of Worcester’s fashion scene because they design clothes with meaning.

Be Kind, Stay Kind
Katelyn Martin

Katelyn Martin, a teacher and the founder of Be Kind, Stay Kind strives to create stylist options with a purpose. Martin has been a teacher for three years. She specializes in a mindfulness based health program for Kindergarten through eighth grade students in Worcester and believes that, “Kindness is the catalyst for solving the world’s biggest challenges.”

Be Kind, Stay Kind was created to spread kindness through stylish options. A portion of the proceeds are dispensed in random acts of kindness throughout the community. According to Martin, she always drives with snacks in her car to give to the homeless, buys pajamas for children living in shelters and bakes cupcakes for Abby’s House. Martin believes that being kind and staying kind in the most challenging situations is the greatest thing a human can do and be. According to Martin, “There is a weakness in the person who is quick to loose temper and resort to aggression and violence in their spirit, words, and actions.” She believes that the gentle person with a kind soul attracts the trust of others because of their strength. Their character is consistent, reliable and steady.

Martin was inspired to create Be Kind, Stay Kind when she started a program for teen girls about female empowerment. She then created a mindfulness based fund program where she incorporated essential oils and natural holistic ways to reduce stress. She started making diffuser bracelets for herself, friends, family and colleagues. Shortly after, Martin started to sell the bracelets as demand for them rose. Eventually, the company evolved into a clothing collection of t-shirts and sweatshirts that range from $25-$35. According to Martin, the company will soon be coming out with a men’s line that will also involve t-shirts and sweatshirts.

The clothing line has a logo of a lion because of its association with personal strength. According to Martin, personal strength can be interpreted as a positive representation of your self-confidence or personal power. “The lion is an empowered animal, it takes empowerment to stay kind when people are challenging you.” As such, lions point to qualities of strength, courage, and assertiveness.

When asked if she thinks Worcester lacks kindness Martin stated, “Everybody is moving so fast, we have a fast-paced life that we don’t even recognize, we don’t interact with people, we don’t spread the kindness because we are in our own world. But society keeps moving because there is a lot of kindness and as a teacher, I reinforce that constantly to my students.”

According to Martin, the support from the Worcester community has been amazing. She said, “ I just think it’s very exciting to use proceeds to make a difference, so the bigger I get the more impact I can have.”

For more information, visit www.bekindstaykind.com.

Love Your Labels: Threads Woven Together
Joshua Croke

The first year of a LGBTQ and youth program that gives hope and guidance to the youth in Worcester has begun in full force. The youth identity development program, Threads: Woven Together had a great start and huge publicity with the participation of Sam Donovan from the popular tv show, Project Runway. Joshua Croke, the co-founder and president of the program, created Threads: Woven Together for youth ages thirteen through eighteen to aid in their journey of self-discovery.

Croke lives and works in Worcester, is a graduate of WPI, and has a consulting company named Action by Design. According to Croke, “It’s all about community building and how do we build inclusive and equitable and sustainable spaces that really inspire residents and the people who are part of communities to feel like they belong in those spaces, and to feel celebrated and to feel like they have the opportunities to be successful in whatever they are passionate about.” Growing up queer, Croke found the need to address the stigmas associated with labels.

The Threads: Woven Together Program was created with the purpose for students to use fashion design as a lens to discuss personal expression, gender and sexuality. According to Croke, “We saw fashion as a visual representation of how people present and how people talk about who they are.” Being queer, it is often difficult to find clothes that represent who you are and students involved in this program will be able to create clothes that fit their way of being.

John Doiron, an aspiring drag queen and student of the Threads program, talked about his experiences while being in the program. “We were given creative freedom to express who we are and we got to share with the other queer people who we think we are, what we are presenting to the world and what we have to offer.”

According to Doiron, the queer community is the most welcoming and understanding. “It’s great to be able to express who you are and it’s great to see where the world is going and there is still hope. Things have gotten better but there is still a lot of progress to go. There is still a lot of homophobia; I was lucky school-wise to have a lot of friends who supported me. But when it came to family, it was very quiet.”

As a teacher of the program, Erin Connor explains how the program will offer some sort of self-exploration activities and then couple it with their construction and design instructions that they are getting from tv star, Sam Donovan. “Today we did some vision boarding, to help them sort and figure out how they want to represent themselves to the world. And then they will take those vision boards to create the design of the items they want to make,” she said.

The Threads: Woven Together program will finish with a youth fashion showcase where the students will be able to show the garments that they created through the course of the program. The fashion show will be open to the public and will take place on Saturday, November 16.

For more information go to loveyourlabels.me.

Packman Ghost

“You look good. you feel good and when you feel good, you do good things,” stated a Worcester designer who goes by the stage name of Packman. Not only is he one of the creators of the clothing brand Packman Ghost, but Packman is also a known rapper from the Worcester area. Packman established the high-quality streetwear collection in Spring of 2018.

Growing up in greater Massachusetts, Packman found the need to help people and change the stigma of the way certain situations in the city are viewed. Whether it is crime in the inner city or the impact of marijuana right now in Massachusetts, Packman seeks to spotlight interesting topics. According to Packman, “Our mission really is to give back and bring attention to some of the things that aren’t generally looked at.”

When creating the name for the clothing brand, Packman and his team felt strongly about the name Packman but felt Packman by itself didn’t stand strong. With hours of brainstorming they felt Packman Ghost played well in their minds. Followed by the name, they created the motto, “No Hidden Agendas”. According to Packman this mantra means, “We are transparent like a ghost.”

Currently, the company holds simple giveaways through their Instagram and website for people who feel like the clothing line represents them. In the near future, Packman would like to create a clean up team to help some neighborhoods in the Worcester area and surrounding cities.

“Worcester is clearly on the rise right now but you can drive through some neighborhoods and see trash on the floor and things that can be cleaned up. It is something that can get done in a matter of a few hours, if we get five to ten guys.”

When creating the brand, Packman and his team wanted something nostalgic but also tailored to the culture he comes from, which is “from the street” and with a Hip Hop background. “We bring high quality materials into streetwear without it being the same old brands that we always wear. We wanted to give it a fresh new look. Something that is going to last,” Packman said.

The high-quality and affordable brand is tailored to young and middle aged men offering t-shirts, shorts, athletic apparel and caps ranging from $25 to $100. They also offer some unisex options for women. “I have had a lot of women ask me, when you coming out with women’s clothing? It’s something in the works…we also have some older customers because the clothing is eye-catching and it is appealing and it’s very high-quality,” Packman said.

When asked about what he would like to see for the future of his organization Packman stated, “I would like to see our clothes in a few more local stores. In five years, I would like to see us sponsoring large showcases, events, tours and kind of just giving back.”

More information about the clothing line can be found at Clothes Addicts in Worcester and on their website www.packmanghost.myshopify.com.

The 4ce
Gregory Dubuisson and Emmanuel Carboo

Two self-taught designers with a passion for fashion, music and painting created a platform where artists can meet, teach and grow. The clothing designers, Gregory Dubuisson and Emmanuel Carboo combined their two clothing brands to empower the youth of Worcester to embrace and enhance on their talents. The 4ce is the combination of both clothing brands WAVVZ New Page and Urban Pigeons. This brand originated on January 1, 2018, when Dubuisson and Carboo met at a hookah lounge in Worcester.

“We stood out among our friends because we were doing something different and we knew what time it was when we were together. We put every difference aside on January 1, 2018 when we met at the hookah lounge and we merged everything together,” Carboo said.

Over the course of the year, Dubuisson and Carboo have done over twenty plus shows in Worcester and outside of the city. This gave them a chance to meet other artists and to come together. Their goal was to collaborate and build a brand that blended music, fashion, and painting.

The duo is very passionate and involved in educating the youth of Worcester. Dubuisson and Carboo use fashion and their creative talent to talk to the youth about violence and other social issues. At a summer program launched by Solidarity Studios, Dubuisson and Carboo taught people with disabilities and immigrant kids and families about fashion, painting, and drawing.

At a fashion show taking place at Worcester Pop Up, Dubuisson and Carboo supported a model who suffered a car accident. Despite her injuries, she walked the runway wearing clothing pieces created by them. “We went to visit her at her house and we took measurements. We saw past her disabilities. We saw that there is still a way that she can walk on the runway and we wanted to give her that chance… you can tell in her eyes that she was like, ‘oh my gosh!’ like she couldn’t believe she could do that,” Dubuisson said.

At the commencement of his fashion designing career, Dubuisson made it clear he wanted to inspire the youth by helping aspiring designers reach their goals. “What really inspired me was that I wanted to inspire the youth. Like all the process that it took me when I was starting, all the trial and errors…like all the things that I didn’t know if I was able to do it, you are able to reach that goal too!” he said.

Growing up in Ghana with his mother using fashion to financially support his family, Carboo felt like he was also able to do the same when coming to the United States. The duo creates customized clothing pieces, shoes, and jewelry as well as large human size canvases that tell a story.

Currently, Dubuisson and Carboo are planning to a open a store of their own where different designers can showcase their work. They also want to use the store as a classroom to teach students about fashion.
For more information The 4ce is available at Exclusives Music Meets Fashion in Worcester or by email at daforce508@gmail.com.