Shana Tabor is owner and founder of Brooklyn-based label In God We Trust. She's funny, down-to-earth and talented - and maybe the first person I've ever wanted to legitimately describe as "rad."
After buying one of the brand's shirts (seen here in last week's outfit post) and talking a little bit to the sales staff about its 'Made in the USA' tag, I decided to set up a tour of the IGWT studio. Because if this blog is about anything, aside from pushing my gaymo agenda, it's about pushing my liberal hipster agenda where I shop locally and try to convince you to do the same or else all the whales will die. Shana was obliging enough to let me stop by her label's Greenpoint, Brooklyn storefront-cum-studio to find out how it all gets done, who's behind it and what's in a name.
Shana went to school for jewelry design and used to work as a wholesaler. In a sort of "reverse-scaling" move, she started In God We Trust small - really small. “I’d make like, three of one dress and when we sold one I’d replace it.” That's changed now, but the company still produces on a tiny scale relative to the production standards most of us are used to.
"In the garment district, in New York anyways, it's still kinda hard to find people that will work with small runs," says Shana. "To go overseas to do production you need huge quantities...so I knew that wasn't even a possibility." All of IGWT's materials are sourced in the city, and all of the metals used for castings are recycled. They work with different sources in New York to find textiles and have everything that's not produced in Greenpoint produced in the garment district.
Click through to continue reading PLUS there's a video!
As we sit down to talk she notices a shirt for which she finished the pattern just the day before. “I can’t wait until you leave so I can check it out!” The benefits of doing everything in-house are easy to understand. “Being able to play with a pattern…and then two hours later being able to turn around and the sample’s sitting there and you’re able to fit it with someone who’s actually sewing it."
The name, In God We Trust, is "a general thought on American commerce and what the focuses are of the average human being spending money...all the way up through the value and use of our currency. It was also during Bush's first term and I was sitting in my studio listening to NPR all day..." Shana admits with a laugh. (And then we high-fived each other and got gay married on a weed farm!)
My last questions are the most pressing: who is your dream celeb clientele? (Kristen Wiig, who actually shopped in one of their boutiques once, and James Franco) and what would you change if money was no object? (After a list of far too pragmatic possibilities Shana confesses, "We'd have strippers serving us tea all day.") If you're in NYC and haven't checked out In God We Trust yet, get thee to the nearest location! They're in Soho, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The Greenpoint location is a little bit off the beaten path, but is my favorite. Now watch the video, below! Do it or all the whales will die!
Studio Visit: In God We Trust from Sean Santiago on Vimeo.
(And can we talk about how the whole team's nails are done?)
