About Us
About Endangered Cultures
We are all connected.
What We Do - We make funky distinctive shirts, laptop and tablet cases and bags for your own personal styles. Many of our fabrics are from developing countries, made using traditional techniques. Our products are handmade in the U.S. The passion and mission of Endangered Cultures, LLC is to provide economic empowerment and a better quality of life to American sewing crafters. The role of Endangered Cultures is to facilitate U.S. job creation in depressed areas, global connection for U.S. at risk populations and disadvantaged women artisans and crafters in U.S. and developing countries. We make products that have a story to tell --and let you express YOU.
Our founder has traveled for years to around the USA and developing countries and has always been struck by all of those passionate about sewing as an art --- many unemployed and underemployed trying to make a living doing something they love with the barest of resource and tools. They do so with great ingenuity under difficult condition. If you think about it “handmade” is endangered by modernism, technology and mass production. The closing of our textile mills and outsourcing production overseas endangers individual sewing crafters in America. What a country makes reflects its culture. What a country makes reflects its culture.
Endangered Cultures started with a mom using wonderful, striking, vibrant, fabrics she collected in her travels to give new life and personality to worn out jeans. Teens from her son's school actually began connecting with her to talk about the "really cool pants." Then it was shirts made of funky fun fabrics -- some fabrics made here and others from developing countries. But always patterns that allowed for whimsy, and a personal statement.
Then someone working in a retail shop asked her son about a shirt he was wearing-- she didn't think much of it... but t was like it resonated with other guys wanting their clothes to be an expression of themselves too. It reinforced that there was a market niche to be filled. Then she was making shirts for friends, neighbors, fathers, sons and women buying for themselves and as gifts -- Before she knew it, she couldn’t keep up. That is when she placed an ad on Craigslist for sewers and discovered another niche that needed to be filled — providing fulfilling work for unemployed skilled sewers in their craft. And after an unsuccessful search, trying to find a laptop case to fit her personal style; from Staples, to Office Max, Office Depot , Target and bookstores in between she went right back to fabrics she'd collected and new whimsical fabrics closer to home. -
Her Craigslist ad generated calls and emails from all around the country - some she wasn't even sure how they came to see her ad. She's connected with American sewers from all walks of life. These are people with great talent in a fading craft-- personal individual sewing. Driving miles to meet them and with long phone calls she connected with unemployed and underemployed skilled sewing crafters around our country that find joy in this work. They are all skilled sewers that view sewing as an art. Like any artist they want to work in their craft. They want to create.
Through Endangered Cultures sewers have the opportunity to raise awareness and appreciation of “handmade in America” to a new and broader audience. They get to do work they love in new ways creating dress shirts and sleeves for laptops and tablets. She connected with sewers excited by the idea that working together we can uplift us all through economic empowerment and job creation at home. Because we are all connected.
Anonymous artist says it best ..
We are all connected.
What We Do - We make funky distinctive shirts, laptop and tablet cases and bags for your own personal styles. Many of our fabrics are from developing countries, made using traditional techniques. Our products are handmade in the U.S. The passion and mission of Endangered Cultures, LLC is to provide economic empowerment and a better quality of life to American sewing crafters. The role of Endangered Cultures is to facilitate U.S. job creation in depressed areas, global connection for U.S. at risk populations and disadvantaged women artisans and crafters in U.S. and developing countries. We make products that have a story to tell --and let you express YOU.
Our founder has traveled for years to around the USA and developing countries and has always been struck by all of those passionate about sewing as an art --- many unemployed and underemployed trying to make a living doing something they love with the barest of resource and tools. They do so with great ingenuity under difficult condition. If you think about it “handmade” is endangered by modernism, technology and mass production. The closing of our textile mills and outsourcing production overseas endangers individual sewing crafters in America. What a country makes reflects its culture. What a country makes reflects its culture.
Endangered Cultures started with a mom using wonderful, striking, vibrant, fabrics she collected in her travels to give new life and personality to worn out jeans. Teens from her son's school actually began connecting with her to talk about the "really cool pants." Then it was shirts made of funky fun fabrics -- some fabrics made here and others from developing countries. But always patterns that allowed for whimsy, and a personal statement.
Then someone working in a retail shop asked her son about a shirt he was wearing-- she didn't think much of it... but t was like it resonated with other guys wanting their clothes to be an expression of themselves too. It reinforced that there was a market niche to be filled. Then she was making shirts for friends, neighbors, fathers, sons and women buying for themselves and as gifts -- Before she knew it, she couldn’t keep up. That is when she placed an ad on Craigslist for sewers and discovered another niche that needed to be filled — providing fulfilling work for unemployed skilled sewers in their craft. And after an unsuccessful search, trying to find a laptop case to fit her personal style; from Staples, to Office Max, Office Depot , Target and bookstores in between she went right back to fabrics she'd collected and new whimsical fabrics closer to home. -
Her Craigslist ad generated calls and emails from all around the country - some she wasn't even sure how they came to see her ad. She's connected with American sewers from all walks of life. These are people with great talent in a fading craft-- personal individual sewing. Driving miles to meet them and with long phone calls she connected with unemployed and underemployed skilled sewing crafters around our country that find joy in this work. They are all skilled sewers that view sewing as an art. Like any artist they want to work in their craft. They want to create.
Through Endangered Cultures sewers have the opportunity to raise awareness and appreciation of “handmade in America” to a new and broader audience. They get to do work they love in new ways creating dress shirts and sleeves for laptops and tablets. She connected with sewers excited by the idea that working together we can uplift us all through economic empowerment and job creation at home. Because we are all connected.
Anonymous artist says it best ..
