Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah James.
Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a textile artist, clothing designer, interior styling enthusiast and bartender from Decatur, Georgia. I grew up in a family full of creatives, from woodworkers to seamstresses to musicians to painters. Everyone was just always making stuff, and that’s what I always wanted to do too. I tried my hand at all of it, but the thing that always stuck was sewing and working with textiles. My grandmother taught me at a young age, and I just adored it. For a long time I would go to her house every Sunday afternoon and we would make a project together, and since then I have been enamored with making clothing. I later got a degree in textile design from The University of Georgia where I got to collect even more crafts—weaving, dyeing, screen printing, a million others. After graduating I started making clothes and dyeing them for myself just to have something to do and something to wear, and that hobby slowly snowballed into the little business it is today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been endless roadblocks and obstacles (and to be clear I am still very much mid-obstacle), but all of it really just comes down to time and money—two things I have very little of. I don’t have investors or partners or employees, so I do and pay for everything for the business myself. It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of time, and doing it all is a constant struggle for balance. Every day it’s how do I get these orders filled on time when I’m supposed to photograph a collection next week that isn’t finished, how can I pay for this material when I haven’t made enough sales, when am I going to do my laundry, how am I going to hold onto my values and integrity while also trying to make a living wage, who told me it was a good idea to get an art degree, is it going to take longer to do the actual shoot or to write the f***ing instagram caption, how many nights a week do I need to bartend to keep the lights on and how am I going to make up for the time that takes away from the business, oh right and what do I even want from all this? Most of the time I am fumbling over myself trying to keep it all together, and the to-do list never stops growing. I have to remind myself very frequently how much I would hate having a desk job (and how much I love what I do).
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I design, sew and dye clothing by hand in my small home studio. I do this slowly, in very small batches, using high-quality natural fibers. Everything is made with a commitment to sustainability, accessibility and inclusivity, and with the idea that fashion should never take itself too seriously. I know I’m technically in the fashion industry, but I don’t have big dreams of runways or billboards or covers of magazines—I like being small and I want to stay small. My hope is that I have some small impact on the community, that I make a few people here and there feel better in their skin, that I encourage a couple folks to break their fast-fashion habits and be more conscious of where their money is going. I want to honor the process of making a garment, to produce something worth keeping and adoring and passing down. I want to inspire confidence and playfulness in wearers of all body types. I take the job seriously, but at the end of the day I do this for fun, and I want people to have fun when they wear my clothes. Whenever I see that coming to life is when I feel most proud.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I imagine most artists seek genuine inspiration and thought-provoking content, but what I find myself wanting more than anything is a mindless distraction and that usually takes the form of reality television. I find that moments of inspiration most often come to me when my brain is completely distracted from the problem it’s trying to solve. Putting on trash tv means my mind can wander in and out of what I’m watching and I don’t have to worry about missing anything important, and then all of a sudden I have all these fabulous ideas inspired by the cast of Vanderpump Rules.
Contact Info:
- Email: hannah@hannahjamesstudio.com
- Website: hannahjamesstudio.com
- Instagram: @hannahjames_studio
Image Credits:
Leah Roth Photo Alisa Jarmon Photo Zoie Marie Photo
