Where did your shirt come from? Don’t check the tag – just guess.
You’re probably wrong.
Clothes often take a complicated journey around the world. The wool or polyester was manufactured in one country and probably shipped off to another to be put together into something wearable. And then those garments were sent to mailing centers around the world that delivered the ordered clothes to either stores or your front door (yay technology).
The SEAMS is a podcast project by NPR alumni who want to report on the myriad of stories related to fashion. Their aim is to strip away the façade of fashion and create a story that’s “not elitist” by reporting on stories such as the 1940s Zoot Suit riots in Los Angeles, the “fashion anarchy” of Iké Ude, Irish tweeds and many more.
The group behind the SEAMS is dazzling. Members include NPR host and author Jacki Lyden, former milliner Christina Bevvlacqua, “Radio Dreams” editor Deborah George, NPR’s Weekend Edition writer Elaine Heinzman and many more.
These radio veterans will take fashion as a lens through which to interpret symbolism, history, culture, and anthropology. It’s special in that the industry they’re deconstructing is already immense. Fashion is a multi-billion dollar global force with an immense amount of people involved in simply the construction to not say anything about billions of people who are influenced by it with what they wear.
The prizes are predictably fabulous from the $50 hand-sewn wine bags to the collection of 12 vintage hats to the Margaret O’Leary Irish cardigans. And since this project is all about fashion, I’m sure even their logo tote bag and T-shirt will be well-fitted and perfect.
Fashion affects everyone. Its development is reflective of society, artistic trends, economics, and everything a culture is. It’s a unquantifiable reflection of trends and so must be explored. This is an opportunity to have professional explorers, in the podcast sense at least, delve into this oft ill-reported world. Although they’re asking for a lot, $49500 to be exact, I trust that they know what they’re doing. So if you’re a fashionista, devoted jeans-wearer or just an average Joe, consider helping The Seams report on their dream project.
