THE STORY OF THE MAKER JOURNAL
The idea for this platform initially spurred out of a frustration for the lack of authenticity and transparency in fashion; what resulted was a collection of stories of some of the most mindful and meticulous creators in fashion at the moment. Here on The Maker journal, we promise you that what you see here are makers who are aware of their supply chains. The independent, small scale makers that we represent on our platform are given the opportunity to document their supply chains
for anyone to access in a groundbreaking way. This is a unique promise that we
are devoted to, and hope will make you want to join the community of open discussion on the processes of making.
The Maker Journal represents everything we discovered on the journey to find the contemporary artisanal designers of today; awareness, experimentation and open-mindedness. It is first and foremost a celebration of the makers, and an appreciation of the plethora of hand making techniques that they utilise in creating naturally imperfect and poetic designs. It is a call for everyone out there, who is overwhelmed and numbed by mass consumption, production and media that want to lead a slower life. It aims to create a community of conscious individuals, who care about the decisions they make with their purchases, cherish the things we buy and to support emerging creatives.
The designers featured on this website are ones that care about the environment, and are aware of the ability for fashion to make a difference. We have been convinced that artisanal techniques have a place in the future of the fashion industry. I hope the content and conversations on The Maker Journal make you feel the same way. If you prefer reading print, you can buy our first issue here: https://themakerbazaar.com/product/the-maker-journal-issue-1/.
We have our sights set on being global, and want to show that slow fashion has no boundaries; we therefore invite global writers to contribute onto the platform. The Maker Bazaar launched in 2018 as a marketplace with a comprehensive search system for finding slow fashion items. You can find it here: https://themakerbazaar.com.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Jennie Barck is a Fashion Journalism graduate from University for the Creative Arts. Originally from Finland, she went to an international high school in Singapore and in her second year of university in London, she did an exchange in Milan at Istituto Europeo Di Design, exposing her to a global outlook on fashion from the get go.
Her interest for ethical fashion has grown slowly through the years. On a fashion course with designer Lucy Pollock, who had worked at Christian Lacroix, Jennie became enveloped in the world of fashion which she later delved into on a Central Saint Martins course. Always having had an affinity for second hand clothing, her passion for ethical consciousness awakened on her volunteer trip to Cambodia where she discovered enterprises giving jobs to women with PTSD, seeing local crafts and grew through her internship at ethical clothing brand London Ethnic. Being in the middle of the whirlwind fashion scene in London through her internships at PR firm Black Frame and experiences as a journalist for The Upcoming made her realise the negative impacts of the current fashion system first hand. Jennie started researching ethical fashion brands, but at that time there wasn’t much to be found. That didn’t make her give up though, and she pursued her interest further by interviewing ethical designers and exploring sustainability in fashion for university projects, discussing the topic with fashion design students and tutors and keeping up to date with ethical fashion news.
It was in her final year of university that she created the concept for The Maker Journal and published the limited edition print publication. The positive response that she received at that stage pushed her to explore the topic further, and expand it into an all encompassing platform for all. She kept talking to designers, wrote articles for Mochni and Savant magazine and fine tuned the philosophy for The Maker Journal website.
