Shoutout Miami Feature on VoyageMIA
published 11 November 2020 / VoyageMIA
We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Peters and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Emily, how does your business help the community?
The fashion industry is one of the dirtiest businesses in the world. The industrialized processes throughout every stage of production in the clothing and adornment industries pollute our ecosystems and endanger the lives of those least able to effect change or fight against the many exploitations that penetrate the fashion supply chain. For these reasons, I started my urban artisan workshop – Atelier E – as an example of the real possibilities available to us for a clean, healthy world and mutually beneficial existence. Through Atelier E, I use my creative expression as an active and living illustration of what it looks like to move away from the harmful practices of industrialized fashion that are a modern-day continuation of colonization, and towards a localized, sustainable, decolonized fashion industry. At my workshop, I am the artisan. I hand-make all of my jewelry and clothing designs. The metals I use to create my adornments are either reclaimed or mined using sustainable and conflict-free methods. The fabrics are upcycled, organic, and/or sustainably grown and produced. The dye process I use is a low-water, low-energy, modified Japanese method which requires no toxic chemicals or heavy metals.