I was walking through Pasar Kodok, better known to Westerners as the Frog Market in Bali, the other day, one of the biggest second-hand markets I’ve ever seen. Macklemore came out on stage with a full length fur coat and sang his hit, Thrift Shop and it seems secondhand shopping became 'cool' again. Finally a pop-star singing about Re-using rather than continuing the consumerism of the fashion culture worldwide. Digging through barrels of old clothes may not be for every shopper, certainly not the ones allergic to dust or prone to heat stroke, but for the thrill-seekers there may be a slight adrenaline rush when you find that precious gem.
Ah, the rush of up-cycling! Screams my inner bohemian.
As I’m routing through bins of old motorcycle jackets, denim jeans, and flower printed dresses, I found my self slightly swooning over these well-loved pieces. Especially the leather, I held in my hands a leather jacket from 1954 and it still had the sexy leather smell and the shine of many memories well-lived. While my drive to design and create is often in conflict with my ethical conscience “Do we really need more STUFF on this planet?” – I had a righteous moment at this market. Leather IS forever! I’m holding in my hands this 61-year-old jacket that is still as good, or better in my opinion, as the day it was created. . . I see a young woman holding my pieces in her hands in some eccentric secondhand market in the future, wondering what fantastic memories took place within those seams.
This is the reason I've created Carpe Noctem with the highest quality lambskin leather, even though many business consultants have tried to convince me to use cheaper leather.
I don’t want you to buy into the insatiable culture of consumerism that screams, “More, More, More!” Instead,
I want you to have these pants, this jacket, or these gloves, forever. They will probably outlive you, and end up in a place like Bali at the Frog Market, the same way a message in a bottle washes up on the shore it was meant to all along.
