March 16, 2023
Meet The Designer: Shannon Passerro
Shannon Passerro, the supercool blonde featured in the photograph above, is the genius behind her namesake brand, Shannon Passerro. She has traveled the world and fell in love with Chiang Mai, Thailand where she began producing her amazing, gauzy, cotton pieces and hand knitted cotton sweaters. She works with a collective of women who are paid fair wages and have healthy environments in which they work. It is also a priority for Shannon and her manufacturers to leave a minimal environmental footprint by carefully selecting materials, up-cycling and working with lasting materials local to the artisan's/maker's regions.
I was able to watch Shannon's recent trip to Chiang Mai in her stories, where the background was lush and green and the people happy and beautiful. Since her stories disappeared, I asked if she would share some pictures with me so I could show you the makers and processes responsible for her natural, functional clothing.
These lovely people are prepping the fabrics for the dying process, this ensures that the dyes will bind with the fabric and adhere permanently, sorry I am not very technical. I have used ash soda but I am sure they are using something much cooler and environmentally friendlier.
There is a lot of hand dying that goes into her clothing, here are one of the artisans dying with indigo.
Fabric hanging to dry after the dying process.
If you want to learn more about dying with indigo, check out this older post that I wrote a few years ago. And if you are REALLY interested in learning more about indigo and the process, head to Instagram and follow @aboubakarfofana.