‘I had this weird feeling like somebody is gonna steal this:’ Q & A with sustainable clothing designer MINIPNG
From her home in Connecticut, 22-year-old pre-law student Eiress Hammond runs her sustainable clothing brand MINIPNG that revamps and revitalizes thrifted pieces into one-of-one articles.
Before starting her clothing brand, Eiress sold her clothes on Depop after cleaning her closet out as a freshman in college. Most of the clothes she sold were pieces she no longer needed, but unfortunately, some beloved pieces were lost in that process, including her Rihanna Puma creepers, which she now “wholeheartedly” regrets selling.
The catalyst for pursuing her clothing brand came after she came up with her “In the City” tank design at 3 a.m. The tank, inspired by the aura of New York City, features hand painted scribbled faces, and reigns as one of her most popular pieces. The style has become so popular online that even stores on Aliexpress have stolen the design and started selling it.
As Eiress seeks redress for copyright infringement of her designs, she continues to drop new designs every Saturday.
Q: When did you start thrifting?
E: In the Tumblr era, definitely. I was always looking for high-waisted jeans. And, it's so funny because I've always had this dream of having my own business, even as a kid, so in middle school, I was making these Tumblr high-waisted shorts that I was selling on Etsy. I would get this Marvel fabric from JoAnn Fabrics, and I would cut out the side. I'm sure you've seen that stuff, and I would fabric glue it on there. I had no direction. I was like 12 [years-old]. I was fabric gluing it on there, and then I would make the matching bows. Actually, some kids at school bought a couple from me and stuff. I was selling all that stuff for like $5. I had no concept of money.
Q: What is it like to be a pre-law student and run a business by yourself?
E: It's so hard. I honestly don't know. This question is so hard. I don't know how I balance it. It's really just like, I'm just going all the time. I do drops every Saturday, so that helps me because before I decided to do that, I was just posting stuff on my website periodically and whenever I really could. I think creating a set schedule for myself really helped in the end because then I have a whole week to prepare. I set up all my classes in the morning, so then I have the afternoon to do stuff like source and get everything together. I guess that would be how I balance it out is that I separate the two things. I really try not to ever have them mix with each other. When I have assignments due, I'll do them in the morning, so I have time later on, and that's really how I balance it out. But sometimes, it's not easy. It's really not.
Q: Thank you for sharing that, and to your credit, you make it look easy. For someone who is not familiar with your designs, how would you describe your style?
E: Something that definitely promotes individuality. I haven't come up with a name yet, but I'm working on that. I would say my style is all over the place. It's so hard to just give it one name, but my brand and my style all together are just really promoting individuality. All my pieces are different. I love that when people wear my stuff, everything is one of one, so whatever they pick out kind of tells me what they're into, and I love that my brand can emphasize that because there's nothing else like what they picked out. It makes me feel happy because I'll have people come to me and be like, "Oh, I feel like I can express myself," or, "This shirt helps me when I'm depressed." I really have people say that to me. I feel like it creates a community, and I love that.
Q: You’re known for your signature design of abstract outlines of faces on your clothes, and I’ve noticed you tend to like freckles and unibrows. Why are you so drawn to those features and drawing faces?
E: I have always been into drawing faces. And it's funny because when I was younger, I actually didn't know how to draw bodies or hands or anything of that nature. So, I was always just practicing what I knew how to do, which were faces, like just the general things –lips, eyes, nose – and, I just concentrated on that for so long that that's what I knew how to do over time. When you do art for such a long time, like the same design over and over again, you start messing around with different ways to do it, or you just develop your own art style with it, and that's kind of what really happened. Even if you look at my old “In the City” design compared to my new one, just over time my art style changed. I actually write in cursive and stuff, so I started really incorporating how I write with my artwork, and that's why it's so scribbly.
Q: It’s no secret that designs and ideas are often stolen from Black designers at all levels – just last March, Guess pulled their bag design after getting called out by the public for copying Telfar – and now you have posted about your designs being stolen too. How often has this happened to you and how do you navigate that when it happens?
E: The first time that this happened to me, it was probably like last year. When I made the design, like I said, I really had no intention of selling it or anything. It’s funny because I have a copyright protection of the design. I originally did that because I saw – a year before I even did this – that Kylie Jenner sold this Black designer’s clothing, and all this stuff. I always thought to myself, “If I was to ever start a brand, I don’t want that to happen to me.”
When everything happened, I just kind of felt really numb. I really didn’t think it was going to do numbers or anything like that. I had a feeling, and when I was doing the design, I had this weird feeling like somebody is gonna steal this, which is also why I copyright protected my work. When it actually happened, it was literally so insane. I was so torn because I knew how AliExpress works. I knew if one of the boutiques was selling, then all of them were, or if they weren’t already, it was only a matter of time because that’s how it works.
I did like a little announcement, but I didn't even do one on my @minipng Instagram. I was just kind of in shock. I just recently posted about it, probably in like, January or February and the reel ended up going viral.
But honestly, I did end up getting a lawyer, so that was the good part about it, I guess. I think it was just a coping mechanism for me to not freak out. I was just super numb about the situation. I was really just drained. And, the thing that really infuriated me was seeing people who bought it. That is kind of what set it off for me because I was like, “Okay, it's really happening. People are really buying the product.” Seeing people in my design, but it's not really my design, made me angry. So, as of right now, I have a lawyer who's working on me to get my design taken down off Aliexpress. It's a long process and it’ll probably take a couple years, but at least I'm making moves to do that.
Q: What can people do to help you in this situation?
E: Really just spreading awareness about it. That's the biggest thing. People always ask me this, and awareness is the biggest key to all this because some people genuinely don't know that this stuff happens. They go on AliExpress to buy cheap things or because they don't want to spend $300 on the original, but it's $300 for a reason. You know what I mean? People really put all their hard work and their money into this, and they put their lives into these businesses. I mean, I understand not wanting to pay $300, but not every small business is charging $300 for their designs. I'm not.
Q: As thrifting has increased in popularity in recent years, some people are calling those who make a business out of it unethical because of its potential to hurt lower-income communities who rely on thrifting. What are your thoughts on that?
E: This for me is a tough conversation. I think there’s a lot of misinformation that obviously goes around, and I think people have good intentions, but I think people need to understand how many clothes there really are. I’ve done my own research, and through Depop, we have our chats and things, and there’s so many people who work at these thrift stores, and they’re like, “Hey, at the end of the week there’s these huge piles of clothes that get thrown out, stuff that’s been sitting there for weeks.” And, it actually ends up going to “the bins”. That’s where my boyfriend gets his supply. And, after the bins, it goes to the trash. There’s so much waste. It’s unbelievable. I think there’s this obvious era of “We need to be more conscious of other people around us,” but I think with that conversation, we need to know what we’re talking about. It’s important that we do as much research as possible.
Written by Chantal Vaca
