HOMESICK, AGAIN

That's right folks, Janelle Abbott of JRAT Zero Waste is back again with HOMESICK, AGAIN, the newest iteration in her HOMESICK series. Delving into the dually comforting and uncomfortable nature of deja vu, HOMESICK, AGAIN shreds, reassembles, and expands upon concepts developed within the first iteration, which can be seen here and here.

Join JRAT on Sunday, February 9th 2025 from 2-4PM at Bushwick's Kaleidoscope Studio for a live presentation of the new collection during New York Fashion Week.

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DOORS AT 2PM
CATWALK AT 230PM
Note: All garments from the collection will be available for purchase AT WHOLESALE PRICE (AKA half off retail) immediately after the presentation, exclusively to those in attendance of the event.

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MUSIC BY Keyes Wiley (DJ Dark Wiley)
HAIR BY kam korderz
STYLING BY BUTTON COLLABORATION BY Jessica Marie Mercy
VIDEOGRAPHY BY Nina Bowers
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Blue, Lu, and Victoria

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ABOUT THE COLLECTION

Always dedicated to iterative investigations into innovative methods, techniques, themes, and color-ways, JRAT’s FW25 collection, HOMESICK, AGAIN, is an expanded exploration of the concepts explored within the first iteration of the series which was presented in September 2024 to warm reception.

The spirit of HOMESICK, AGAIN is playful yet somber; it can hold space for both hope and reality. Like a child's perspective in the face of an untenable situation, the collection offers new ideas even if they're impractical and fit only for an imagined world.

A variety of laborious zero waste textile manipulations have been utilized within the collection once again, including: sewn scraps, zero waste pattern drafting, and hand painted textiles. Sparkling ceramic buttons line the fronts of dresses and skirts, created in collaboration with Seattle based ceramists Jessica Marie Mercy.

Found and reclaimed garments common to some wardrobes, like button ups, khakis and slacks, sweaters, hoodies, medical scrubs, and more--have been reworked through JRAT's unique adaption of chenille by stacking, sewing, slashing, and smashing together homogenous and disparate pieces alike, with the resulting OOAK garments evoking a laundry basket tipped over onto a child's dress up box. The collection contains pieces which are familiar yet foreign representation of traditional apparel as well as new considerations in silhouette and aesthetics that verges into the world of the absurd; HOMESICK, AGAIN is weighty and exhausting, like a fever dream when asleep on a vinyl couch.

With consideration to the political developments of November 2024, the collection ultimately embodies an alternate experience of deja vu; a deja vu one might hope to experience in a dream. The feeling of: I've been here before, I'm here again, and it's all different, yet exactly the same. HOMESICK, AGAIN offers comfort and safety in the face of uncertainty and fear.

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ABOUT JANELLE ABBOTT/JRAT

Janelle Abbott (JRAT) was born into the fashion industry—her parents owned a clothing manufacturing company in Seattle for over 20 years. This early exposure to the BTS of garment production gave Janelle a sense of reverence for the labor involved in creating clothing. After receiving a BFA from Parsons School of Design, she decided to carve her own path—one committed to garment reclamation, sustainability, hand craft, and the zero waste design methodology. Densely pleated, boldly clashing, and unexpectedly rhythmic, Janelle’s work is scrappy, unapologetic testament to the time and energy it takes for real humans to create every consumer product we engage with. She sees her place in the industry as a fire fighter against the ramped over-production of fast fashion.

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JRAT MISSION STATEMENT

In the face of the relentless flames of fast fashion, JRAT plays the role of fire fighter. Where fast fashion seeks to burn down the value of clothing by implementing artificially low prices, possible only through the use of low-quality materials and exploited labor, JRAT elevates the importance of the material world through imbuing what might otherwise be considered “garbage” with time, energy, and creative intervention to create one of a kind pieces that teeter on the edge of fashion and fine arts. JRAT salvages cast of materials—t-shirts, button ups, micro-trend garments—what are these material but for a reflection of the human labor that brought them forward? JRAT creates work that solves the problems which haunt our modern world, such as waste colonialism. The Global North dumps tons of textile waste onto the shores of the Global South. Through techniques like 3T, JRAT seeks to reduce this environmental and economic burden, and by implementing methodologies that are zero waste, JRAT ensures that no additional damage is created amidst the solution. Being that we are living in a world where 80 to 150 billion garments are produced annually, JRAT believes everyone should own and wear more clothes made from second-hand clothes. Extricating oneself from the deluge of fast fashion is one way to care for the health and safety of our planet, affirm the value and worth of garment workers across the globe, as well as shift one’s priorities towards investing in solutions focused brands instead—and JRAT is just one of those solutions focused, sustainable, zero waste, and ethically potent brands.

Host or Publisher Janelle Abbott (JRAT)