about
Naomi Nowak is an artist moonlighting as jewellery designer.
She lives in Sweden but has an Eastern European background. Her tactile work — jewellery and clothing alike — is a synchronisation of family culture that until recently had to take recycling and re-inventing seriously for survival.
Naomi’s paintings are often detailed, echoing turn-of-last-century fairy tale illustration, drawing from esoteric and surreal art movements. She doesn’t believe in inspiration so much as opening up, allowing fragments of the unknowable to manifest through watercolour, pencil, ink and gouache. Meditation and prayer practices are integral to this, to let go, dissolve, create flow from surrender.
The jewellery collection is an extension, always in conversation with paintings and the deities that play there. We use recycled silver and natural materials only. Gemstones, crystals, pearls and beads are vintage and pre-loved, or sometimes from small, ethical collectors that do not harm the earth. Crystal and gem mining strips the earth and for fellow believers that stones carry energy it's important not to support these practices.
Naomi makes her jewels by carving tiny sculptures in wax or clay to the exact size and design of the intended piece. No computers or digital tools are involved. These prototypes are set in molds which are then injected with wax and used to cast. This is called the ‘lost wax’ method, a traditional way of making jewellery. Some waxes are cast without creating a mold which makes them unique and impossible to replicate. These are labelled one of a kind and make precious gifts.
(If you’ve followed Naomi’s work for a while and wonder what’s up with her clothing collection, please read on).
Naomi Nowak clothing is ethical, handmade and unique. Each design is limited edition, sometimes one of a kind, envisioned and created by me personally, using recycled textile only. I also offer a selection of quality vintage and second hand, all in the interest of halting fast fashion consumerism.
The world of ethical fashion, slow fashion or sustainable fashion is a varied spectrum. Some companies (especially smaller ones) are doing fantastic work and some are, unfortunately, greenwashers. What sets my work apart is that I use 100% recycled textile. If you know of any other company that does this on a larger scale (not recycled fibre, not deadstock, but recycled textile) please email me their information immediately, because I have yet to find one!
The textiles I use are sourced from local second hand and charity shops and textile sorting plants in Sweden and Europe. I choose these fabrics for their softness and suitability to a wide range of products that are comfortable, flattering and feel good on your body.
Using reclaimed textiles is not only an ecological benefit but a good choice for your health as well. Newly manufactured textile is heavily processed with toxic chemicals and it takes many washes to get them out. Ever seen a new garment with a ‘wash before use’ sticker? It’s because the chemicals are so bad they can irritate your skin, and there is as yet little research about the long term effects of this exposure but there are studies to suggest chemicals from textile manufacture can cause hormone imbalances in humans and animals.
All textiles are clean on purchase, but I also launder completed garments using completely natural and compostable Sapindus nuts (also known as soap berries) to further remove the last of the chemical detergents.
Not only is this the only fashion house I know of that’s 100% recycled, but the production outfit is very small (just me and a colleague). There is no industrial-scale supply chain and no oppressive demand on dwindling resources; it's sourced and created by us and shipped straight to you.
Because of this I can maintain high ethical standards that bigger companies disregard as ‘inefficient’ for their scale and output. My methods are slower, the financial outlay is higher. I think these are small costs to pay for the infinitely larger rewards of not contributing to rampant consumer culture that is currently destroying our climate and polluting our air and seas. Getting new clothes is fun and life-affirming; this shouldn't have to come with the uneasy feeling of supporting unethical manufacture and contributing to pollution, climate change and infringements on human rights.
I offer alterations, repairs and exchanges because garment should be made to last - something designed to have a long life is an additional way of providing an ethical product and working in the spirit of grandmothers.
What about organic cotton, recycled fibre and recycled textile you ask? Organic cotton is grown using kinder methods and less chemicals than its industrial counterpart so it is a marginally better choice. But it's still a strain on the earth and takes up land that could be used to grow food or preserve our vital oxygen breathing forests. Why make new textile when there is an abundance of it already in existence and ultimately headed for landfill?
Recycling textile fibre is an attempt to answer that; a method which involves shredding and re-using old garments weaving the fibres into fabric. The industry term for the fabrics used in this manner is ‘post-consumer textiles’- second-hand clothing processed by thrift stores and donation charities and then sold by the tonne to recycling plants. But in a world of fast fashion where millions of tonnes of clothes are thrown out every year, there’s just too much for this system to manage, and not all textiles are suited for the process. in addition, textile created this way only has a small (up to but usually less than 40%) percentage of recycled textile, mixed with new fibres to retain durability. It also takes a lot of energy and is far from a perfected method.
Despite the eco credentials of these methods the absolute bulk of garments produced to this standard are still sewn in sweatshops located in developing nations, where human beings (sometimes children) are grossly underpaid, housed in dangerous conditions and made sick by long working hours and exposure to fibre dust and chemicals. I’m happy to say I suffer no such problems and because I am my own supply chain without middlemen I can keep my prices more affordable than most suppliers who produce ethically and respect human rights.
The two options described above - organic cotton and recycled fibre - are both preferable to the way the vast majority of garments are manufactured today - that is industrially grown and dyed cotton, causing ecological devastation. There has also been progress in recent years with other types of fibre, such as lyocell, modal and hemp. There are companies that produce with these fibres in a 'closed loop' business model, which is admirable and more sustainable than fast fashion.
However, as I (lightly) edit this in 2024 we are heading for rapid loss of biodiversity and climate change and no longer have the luxury to slowly work out kinks within a non-functioning system. We need change now, and that means halting manufacture. So I've chosen the third option, using recycled textile exclusively. This is a simple equation - truly ethical product produced with truly ethical methods - my promise. The fast fashion and textile industries are huge and enormously harmful - the brief description above only scratches the surface. For recommended further reading about fast fashion and its impact on our planet, please see fashionrevolution.org, an excellent hub of information, initiatives and ways to get involved.
Acknowledgements
A warm thankyou to Karin Öst who helped run my clothing design business for years, ending in 2019.
Photography on the site by: Liselotte Eriksson, Maria De La Croix, Diana Jakobsson. (And me, but all the best shots are by them).
Additional thanks to: Liuba Socican, Tessa Anaya, Penny Elizabeth Neill, Kim Wildthorne, Jenny Farida Thåström, Charliana Stjernlöf, Martina Bergsjö, Johanna Öst, Evilyn Frantti.
Thankyou for reading and much love!
She lives in Sweden but has an Eastern European background. Her tactile work — jewellery and clothing alike — is a synchronisation of family culture that until recently had to take recycling and re-inventing seriously for survival.
Naomi’s paintings are often detailed, echoing turn-of-last-century fairy tale illustration, drawing from esoteric and surreal art movements. She doesn’t believe in inspiration so much as opening up, allowing fragments of the unknowable to manifest through watercolour, pencil, ink and gouache. Meditation and prayer practices are integral to this, to let go, dissolve, create flow from surrender.
The jewellery collection is an extension, always in conversation with paintings and the deities that play there. We use recycled silver and natural materials only. Gemstones, crystals, pearls and beads are vintage and pre-loved, or sometimes from small, ethical collectors that do not harm the earth. Crystal and gem mining strips the earth and for fellow believers that stones carry energy it's important not to support these practices.
Naomi makes her jewels by carving tiny sculptures in wax or clay to the exact size and design of the intended piece. No computers or digital tools are involved. These prototypes are set in molds which are then injected with wax and used to cast. This is called the ‘lost wax’ method, a traditional way of making jewellery. Some waxes are cast without creating a mold which makes them unique and impossible to replicate. These are labelled one of a kind and make precious gifts.
(If you’ve followed Naomi’s work for a while and wonder what’s up with her clothing collection, please read on).
✤✤✤
Hi! So, the clothing collection may return but as of now (2024) my focus is art and jewellery. When I started creating ethical garments in 2012 fast fashion had already been booming for a while. During the 2010s consciousness of pollution, climate change and consumerism was raised but this has unfortunately only resulted in greenwashing and very little actual change. In fact, things have only gotten worse despite almost everyone knowing better. I had to step back from my activism on this matter as I was powerless against the lies of the fashion industry, especially when any mention of this on social media resulted in immediate shadow bans and harmed my ability to make a living. Letting this go was gruelling but I had to come to terms with the fact that I’m an artist first. I got into making clothes because I realised that in order to make a living as a painter I probably had to sell some kind of ‘merch’. As much as I dislike it, that’s the zeitgeist, and that was how colleagues were able to pay rent. With a lifelong passion for the environment as well as human and animal rights there was no way I could support the garment industry. So I started collecting 2nd hand t-shirts, dying and printing them with my designs. The rest is history, ish ;) The following is what I had up on my site while the collection was still live:✤✤✤
Clothing, Textiles & Radical Sustainability (legacy)Naomi Nowak clothing is ethical, handmade and unique. Each design is limited edition, sometimes one of a kind, envisioned and created by me personally, using recycled textile only. I also offer a selection of quality vintage and second hand, all in the interest of halting fast fashion consumerism.
The world of ethical fashion, slow fashion or sustainable fashion is a varied spectrum. Some companies (especially smaller ones) are doing fantastic work and some are, unfortunately, greenwashers. What sets my work apart is that I use 100% recycled textile. If you know of any other company that does this on a larger scale (not recycled fibre, not deadstock, but recycled textile) please email me their information immediately, because I have yet to find one!
The textiles I use are sourced from local second hand and charity shops and textile sorting plants in Sweden and Europe. I choose these fabrics for their softness and suitability to a wide range of products that are comfortable, flattering and feel good on your body.
Using reclaimed textiles is not only an ecological benefit but a good choice for your health as well. Newly manufactured textile is heavily processed with toxic chemicals and it takes many washes to get them out. Ever seen a new garment with a ‘wash before use’ sticker? It’s because the chemicals are so bad they can irritate your skin, and there is as yet little research about the long term effects of this exposure but there are studies to suggest chemicals from textile manufacture can cause hormone imbalances in humans and animals.
All textiles are clean on purchase, but I also launder completed garments using completely natural and compostable Sapindus nuts (also known as soap berries) to further remove the last of the chemical detergents.
Not only is this the only fashion house I know of that’s 100% recycled, but the production outfit is very small (just me and a colleague). There is no industrial-scale supply chain and no oppressive demand on dwindling resources; it's sourced and created by us and shipped straight to you.
Because of this I can maintain high ethical standards that bigger companies disregard as ‘inefficient’ for their scale and output. My methods are slower, the financial outlay is higher. I think these are small costs to pay for the infinitely larger rewards of not contributing to rampant consumer culture that is currently destroying our climate and polluting our air and seas. Getting new clothes is fun and life-affirming; this shouldn't have to come with the uneasy feeling of supporting unethical manufacture and contributing to pollution, climate change and infringements on human rights.
I offer alterations, repairs and exchanges because garment should be made to last - something designed to have a long life is an additional way of providing an ethical product and working in the spirit of grandmothers.
What about organic cotton, recycled fibre and recycled textile you ask? Organic cotton is grown using kinder methods and less chemicals than its industrial counterpart so it is a marginally better choice. But it's still a strain on the earth and takes up land that could be used to grow food or preserve our vital oxygen breathing forests. Why make new textile when there is an abundance of it already in existence and ultimately headed for landfill?
Recycling textile fibre is an attempt to answer that; a method which involves shredding and re-using old garments weaving the fibres into fabric. The industry term for the fabrics used in this manner is ‘post-consumer textiles’- second-hand clothing processed by thrift stores and donation charities and then sold by the tonne to recycling plants. But in a world of fast fashion where millions of tonnes of clothes are thrown out every year, there’s just too much for this system to manage, and not all textiles are suited for the process. in addition, textile created this way only has a small (up to but usually less than 40%) percentage of recycled textile, mixed with new fibres to retain durability. It also takes a lot of energy and is far from a perfected method.
Despite the eco credentials of these methods the absolute bulk of garments produced to this standard are still sewn in sweatshops located in developing nations, where human beings (sometimes children) are grossly underpaid, housed in dangerous conditions and made sick by long working hours and exposure to fibre dust and chemicals. I’m happy to say I suffer no such problems and because I am my own supply chain without middlemen I can keep my prices more affordable than most suppliers who produce ethically and respect human rights.
The two options described above - organic cotton and recycled fibre - are both preferable to the way the vast majority of garments are manufactured today - that is industrially grown and dyed cotton, causing ecological devastation. There has also been progress in recent years with other types of fibre, such as lyocell, modal and hemp. There are companies that produce with these fibres in a 'closed loop' business model, which is admirable and more sustainable than fast fashion.
However, as I (lightly) edit this in 2024 we are heading for rapid loss of biodiversity and climate change and no longer have the luxury to slowly work out kinks within a non-functioning system. We need change now, and that means halting manufacture. So I've chosen the third option, using recycled textile exclusively. This is a simple equation - truly ethical product produced with truly ethical methods - my promise. The fast fashion and textile industries are huge and enormously harmful - the brief description above only scratches the surface. For recommended further reading about fast fashion and its impact on our planet, please see fashionrevolution.org, an excellent hub of information, initiatives and ways to get involved.
Acknowledgements
A warm thankyou to Karin Öst who helped run my clothing design business for years, ending in 2019.
Photography on the site by: Liselotte Eriksson, Maria De La Croix, Diana Jakobsson. (And me, but all the best shots are by them).
Additional thanks to: Liuba Socican, Tessa Anaya, Penny Elizabeth Neill, Kim Wildthorne, Jenny Farida Thåström, Charliana Stjernlöf, Martina Bergsjö, Johanna Öst, Evilyn Frantti.
Thankyou for reading and much love!