I believe fashion is a visual story and the clothing industry was failing to tell my story.

Her + Her was born out of solving an industry-wide problem in a very personal way, driven by instinct and self confidence. I’m childhood friends with founder Felicitas Rosas. We grew up in suburban Northern California, both from immigrant Mexican families. We’ve now reconnected years later under a common goal to explore our roots as a method of creativity and expression. Our love of style and expression finds us here talking about her brand Her+Her under a highly tense but hopeful environment of change.  

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Her + Her started out in the classroom as a marketing experiment. The task was to create a business that solves a real world problem. What problems are we solving for?

1. REPRESENTATION. Who is designing my clothes? And how does that designer view me as a person? Do I see myself reflected in the promotion of those products? Fashion is already exclusive by nature, but style is not exclusive. It’s if anything, fluid, cyclical and hyped up by marginal communities: It’s in our DNA to express and reinvent ourselves through style. 
2. SHOPPING EXPERIENCE. Do you see yourself reflected in the available predetermined sizes? Do you see yourself in the patterns and fits in department stores or Instagram and Pinterset lookbooks? TODAY during COVID-19 can you even imagine leaving your home to shop in the same ways that you did before?
3. WASTE. The Clothing industry bears a huge part of human rights and environmental responsibility in terms of its physical footprint at storefronts, water usage, decomposition of products, just rights and wages for the people that produce our textiles and stitch together the final product that covers our bodies. 

ON REPRESENTATION. Personally, I’m loyal to brands that have a unique story to tell along with an honest (not perfect) conversation about how their products are made. With my hand across my heart and a pinky promise, I can say that I’ve only bought two brand new pieces of clothing in the last year and a half. Everything else has been vintage resale. Both new pieces are from Mexican designer Carla Fernandez, a handmade linen jumpsuit and 10 facemasks to live out the pandemic in style while supporting a network of artisan families. I mention these purchases because narrative matters in a world where our purchase power props up powerful industries that maintain a legacy of destructive narratives and destructive production practices. Felicitas Rosas, the founder of Her+Her writes that she is between worlds. A feeling that we can all relate to when coming to terms with our identities and how to express our unique selves to the world through style. Especially, when that world decided long ago, it was not made for you. We as consumers build strong connections with brands and content where we see ourselves reflected. That connection is at the heart of Her + Her. A queer-clothing company that understands that all bodies are different. 

ON SHOPPING EXPERIENCE. Her + Her is a movement of change. In our initial conversations about the brand months ago, did we talk about a store front. Never did we envision a wasteful, runway show. We also never envisioned COVID-19 or global pandemics as a hurdle to entering the market. What was envisioned by the Her + Her team was an inclusive, positive shopping experience, that just so happens, you could fulfill from home. Felicitas and team also envisioned a fun photoshoot with our community of models as a way to build connections and to see how our community felt wearing our clothes. What was envisioned was a completely user friendly system that allows you to create a personal profile of personal measurements used to generate a personal pattern. These patterns are stored for use at your next purchase. As Her + Her sources and purchases new textiles and designs, clients can purchase those designs made to fit your personal profile. 

ON WASTE. Last year, Art Comes First creators, Sam Lambert and Shaka Maidoh came to México City for the inaugural artist residency at Carla Fernandez. They candidly talked about how much waste there is in just one collection. Going against the entire fashion industry is a full time job and must be broken down into small changes that have a big impact. That was circa 2018-19. 2020 has brought on seismic changes that no one predicted, but that every major and small clothing industry business is seeking to work out. What Her + Her has realized is that the category of “size” is an important example of waste. At the same time, size can have a damaging psychological effect on our own body image and confidence, as I found out in speaking with Lau, a beautiful member of our Latinx community. Lau opened up about her experiences with the traumas of size (if I don’t fit into this size, what signal does that send to me as a person?). Lau's poignant reflection serves as a poignant reminder that our choices as consumers and creators not only shape the industry but also deeply affect individuals on a personal level. Let us commit to dismantling the barriers of size and fostering a culture of inclusivity and sustainability, where every individual feels valued and empowered, and waste becomes a relic of the past.