Company with a Conscience: The IOU Project

Wearing my retro work dress
to work!

In a world of mass-produced textiles and garments, it was a breath of fresh air to learn about The IOU Project back in April of this year. I received an e-mail message from one of the masterminds behind it all: Kavita. Here's what she said that caught my attention, "... together with my company, we set ourselves up with what we thought was an almost impossible challenge:  to design and produce a line of totally unique clothing that would be cool and casual, but no matter how many people bought an item no two would ever be the same...." 

I'd been holding out on telling you about them because I wanted to order a garment for myself to inspect the quality and fit. The verdict? You should visit their website to find out for yourself what "i owe you" is all about, but I'll tell you an abbreviated version. Instead of clothing manufactured by nameless factory workers, every IOU garment has its own story from artisans who weave the fabric in India to artisans in Europe who create the final product. 

Each piece is unique. A little message attached to my dress reads, "Scary slub? Naughty knot, uneven threads? If you find any of these on your garment you're in luck! Machines can't make them. Only handloom weavers can when they pause to kiss their wife, break for tea, or welcome their kids home from school." Is that cute, or what?

I've also become one of their trunk show hosts, which I'm super excited about. That just means I hand-select a collection of garments I love from their website and tell all my friends about it. Stay tuned for my launch this week, as my first trunk show collection is loaded with menswear. Get your man looking good in these one-of-a-kind threads!