Pantaluna

By Helena Bader

I decided to do my practicum the second week of break instead of the week assigned so it is already finished. I worked at a business called Pantaluna which makes up-cycled clothing out of recycled t-shirts. The business consists of three people: the two founders and one employee. It is located in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

One of the new dress prototypes on a mannequin
with the signature Pantaluna wig.

There is a lot of work which goes into making each individual piece of clothing. The materials are t-shirts that are either donated or from thrift-shops, thread, and elastic. The process of making the clothing starts with ironing the shirts, cutting them out from a home made pattern, and laying these pieces out in a unique and artistic way. After that the pieces are assembled, sewn and tagged.

 Some interesting scraps of material.

 T-shirts waiting to be cut up.

The bottom hems of tons of t-shirts.
These are used to braid with for the headbands.

The scary serger sewing machine! (I did not do any sewing of clothes)

Pantaluna sells their products in the workshop as well as online and in a few other stores. The clothes are advertised in local newspapers and the brand name is trademarked. Intriguingly, the items also “advertise” themselves because they are so unique. People really notice when they see others wearing them and this can spark their interest. The clothes are wrapped in old pattern paper (also reused) and tied with a t-shirt material flower.

Finished skirts hanging up and waiting to be bought.

As far as the founders of Pantaluna can tell, no one has ever come up with an idea quite like their idea. This sets their clothes apart from other types. There is also the fact that each piece is handmade which makes them even more special. They have received some recognition in the form of articles in magazines and local newspapers.

Illia, who runs the business, was originally a painter. She went to art school and is interested in social commentary and dataism. Dataism is a form of art where a lot of the composition happens by chance and Illia managed to bring this aspect into her clothing design because the pieces of cloth for a piece are chosen merely by color, but then the random assembly of text and images create its own story. Also, by using t-shirts that were bought and worn by Americans, the clothes are representative of peoples taste and interests in this country. This is how social commentary is coordinated into her works.

       

Illia is resourceful and doesn’t like waste. She first created this type of clothing for herself out of cashmere sweaters just as a cozy thing to wear around the house. Then people began to ask her where she had bought them, and when they learned that she had made them, they asked if she could create some for them. That’s how she came to start Pantaluna about three years ago. The company has been doubling its profits annually!

Quad-braids (braids with four strands) that I made for headbands.

Finished headbands that have been sewn and tagged.

These are organized tags with skew numbers on them. Skew numbers are used to categorize products and typically consists the size and name of the piece.
Pantaluna also includes whether it is made of mainly black or colored fabric.
Example of a skew number: pl/m/bl. That means “pants-long/medium/black. Figuring out which tag to put on which article of clothing turned out to be quite confusing!

Pantaluna's products are most definitely "green" products. They keep old
t-shirts out of landfills and transform them into more clothes so that new cloth and thread and energy don’t have to be used. Pantaluna takes unwanted materials and creates new, cool clothing.

I have learned a lot during this practicum. Illia and I went over the business end of it: financing and marketing among other things. I also practiced elements of the manufacturing process. Now I really understand how much time and effort it takes to make a quality product by hand and how even things which look simple involved an unbelievable amount of behind-the-scenes prep work to create.

Here I am organizing petals for a skirt.

 

This is the skirt I designed which is fondly known as "the Easter skirt."