Climate-driven heat in India’s textile factories stifles workers but coolers and ventilation help

SURAT, India (AP) — For dozens of workers at a textile manufacturer on the edge of Surat, the blazing temperatures and high humidity on a recent afternoon were amplified by steam, radiating heat and chemical smells that emerged from the heavy machines that dominate nearly every inch of the low-ceilinged factory floor.

The machines, called stenters, roared like engines, boilers hissed and drum washers released clouds of steam. The sound was relentless, the air heavy.

Soni Pande, a 27-year-old worker and single mother, said fans and coolers that spray mist help, but are overpowered on the hottest days.

“The heat does make us weak. We sweat a lot. Some people feel dizzy, unwell,” said Pande, who came from Bihar state in eastern India. “There are fans and coolers, but it's still so hot inside.”

Sea Bears’ hype guy Kosyuga is the man behind the light-up shades

He jumps through the crowd with light-up sunglasses, displaying the message “Go Sea Bears Go” while his suit reacts to the fans’ cheers and the team’s advances.

Anton Kosyuga — the man behind the shades — has been prancing around Winnipeg’s sports centres since 2022.

“Everything was a complete accident. [I] never expected to be in the sports industry in general,” Kosyuga said.

Growing up, Kosyuga was never an athlete himself, but always on the sidelines cheering on his friends, front and centre.

Quilters to unite at national event

Holly Clarke gets a kick out of putting a modern touch on a traditional craft.

Clarke said she spends an average of three weeks putting together colourful geometric patterns to create a quilt with a more modern design.

“I find working with my hands brings me fulfilment,” she said. “It’s such a joyful hobby and it brings joy to so many people.”

She is thrilled a national quilting convention, which will showcase local work alongside pieces from across the country, is coming to Winnipeg for the first time in 22 years.

Downtown vintage shop offers up sweet fashions piping hot, fresh from the dryer

In a sartorial era defined by the destructive environmental impacts of cheaply made, microplastic-laden garments, two Winnipeg clothing entrepreneurs are taking fast-fashion competition to the cleaners one cycle at a time.

Every week, Cholo Barachina and Carj Delera pack several trash bags full of hand-picked, second-hand garments to wash, dry and fold before rebagging and tagging each piece to retail at Clothing Bakery, their Exchange District storefront at 70 Arthur St.

For the two Filipino businessmen, most Monday mornings — the shop’s one-day weekend — are spent at Blondies in the Maples: crisp clothing doesn’t happen without frequent visits to their old neighbourhood laundromat.

“It’s insane how interesting a Tide pod is to us,” jokes Barachina, whose family ran an industrial laundry in Cabuyao Laguna before moving to Winnipeg. “We just switched over to the XL and all we do is smell the clothes once they’re out of the laundry. That’s no lie.”

Winnipeg retiree gives new life to repurposed fabrics with volunteer sewing network

An old Bell MTS utility building in St. Boniface has been turned into the unofficial headquarters for a massive volunteer sewing network.

Sewers, knitters and crocheters faithfully turn up to transform textiles into practical items that serve varied and important purposes.

The person holding the keys to the building — and the whole operation — is Jo-Anne Pelzer.

The 71-year-old retired from the phone company in 2010 and has been volunteering ever since, using her sewing skills to create everything from mini ballgowns for teddy bears to dog beds for recovering pups in spay and neuter clinics.

Mondetta unveils expansion amid ScaleUP week

Scratch the kitchenette — Mondetta’s new RV is stocked with suits and gas for cross-country sales.

The Winnipeg-based clothier has spent $500,000 renovating an RV to take its menswear brand, Modern Ambition, to cities throughout Canada.

It’s also slated new stores for Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.

“We are very proud that a Canadian brand is … expanding and getting that recognition,” said Georgi Gvakharia, Mondetta Clothing’s senior vice-president and global head of retail.

Some brands say their jeans are eco-friendly. Here’s how to find a pair that’s actually sustainable

NEW YORK (AP) — Your favorite pair of jeans may have traveled around the world through cotton farms, dye houses, wash facilities and factories before ending up in your closet. The denim may have never been worn but it is stonewashed, sanded, chemically faded or laser-treated to look like it.

Those processes can require significant amounts of water, energy and chemicals — part of the reason denim has become a growing target for sustainability efforts across the fashion industry, which is among the world’s biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions.

Brands are responding to wider awareness by marketing their jeans as “sustainable,” touting regenerative cotton, recycled fibers and low-water manufacturing techniques. But figuring out if that's true is far more complicated. For one, sustainability is difficult to define — and there isn't a universal set of standards.

Last week, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein acquired Everlane, a brand known for transparency and sustainability efforts, highlighting broader tensions over scale and affordability. Improvements in sustainable processes typically cost more, making it difficult for companies with fast production cycles and low prices to adopt them widely. Consumers are left to navigate a complicated web of tradeoffs involving farming practices, chemical processes, labor ethics and a wide range of prices.

Linking Hope creates nonprofit connections to build a better future

Standing atop a plastic chair in a bustling warehouse on the edge of downtown Winnipeg, Breena Courchaine projects her voice to coordinate dozens of volunteers and thank them for the day’s work.

The morning has been a frenzy of piling clothes atop tables, moving donations around the room and finding permanent homes for things at Linking Hope’s new, permanent home.

By 12:30 p.m. Saturday, more than 100 volunteers had moved Linking Hope’s inventory into its new home at 323 Edwin St., across the road from its former space at 190 Disraeli Fwy., and the team was well ahead of schedule — a testament to the organization's support, staff say.

“We literally could not do this without our volunteers,” Courchaine said. “Every idea that has made this place better is mostly coming from the volunteers.”

Quartet of vintage ventures makes the old new on Main Street

There’s something new/old going on in the heart of downtown Winnipeg.Since the beginning of April, 468 Main St. has been home to four businesses specializing in retro clothing, furniture and housewares.

A new Swatch model is introduced, and a case study in overexcited ‘drop culture’ plays out

LONDON (AP) — In Paris, police deployed tear gas. In Milan, Italy, a fistfight erupted. In London, Singapore and New York, all-night queues snaked from the doors of Swatch stores — the latest examples of status-symbol “drop culture” to flash across the globe when status symbols and resale value collide.

The company at the center of it all, Swatch, no stranger to over-the-top retail outbreaks, said it was time to chill. The Swiss watchmaker said Monday that there's no shortage of its Royal Pop pocket watch, a collaboration with Audemars Piguet's luxury timepieces.

All for a "bioceramic" timekeeper that retails for around $400 — but perhaps more to the point, resells for thousands of dollars. By Monday, the candy-colored flex objects proliferated on eBay, with one boasting: “IN HAND!!! Swatch x AP Royal Pop,” for 3,055.58 British pounds ($4,092.31) “or Best Offer.”

It was the latest eruption in a generation-long trail of consumerist frenzy — both online and in the physical world — that has touched companies from Nike to Walmart to Apple as human beings race, sometimes frantically, to keep pace with buying trends and the potential for resale.

Met gala guests deliver works of art on the human form

New York (AP) — Whether dressed in a jewel-encrusted skeletal form, sculpted breast plates or anatomy-evoking trompe l’oeil, Met Gala guests physically evoked the theme “fashion is art” Monday evening as they masterfully pulled from a kaleidoscope of references to embody living works of art.

“Everyone who attended the Met Gala this year really leaned into fashion is art, using your body as a canvas, and that really came across in some of the best-dressed looks of the night,” said Kevin Huynh, fashion director of InStyle.

Fashionable A-listers gave into the theme and had fun with it. First-time Met Gala attendees included actors Chase Infiniti and Hudson Williams, as well as Olympian Alysa Liu, all of whom commanded the carpet in dramatic ensembles. Infiniti, for example, donned an enchanting Thom Browne sequined gown using trompe l’oeil to depict the female form.

Meanwhile, Met Gala mega stars and repeat attendees rose to the occasion: Vogue red-carpet correspondent Emma Chamberlain playfully dressed in a dramatic long-sleeved gown that appeared dipped in a rainbow of color from indigo to the brightest yellow-gold. And after 10 years of skipping the Gala, Beyoncé arrived to reclaim her throne, wearing a glittering crown and radiant Olivier Rousteing silver gown designed in the shape of a skeleton.

Stars on Ice skaters embrace high fashion with designer dresses

If anyone knows how to make a statement, it’s Canadian Olympian Deanna Stellato-Dudek.

Not only did the 42-year-old make history in February as the oldest female figure skater to compete at the Olympic Games in almost a century, Oscar de la Renta dressed her for the occasion — in Milan, Italy, one of the great fashion capitals of the world.

“I think a partnership between haute couture and figure skating is a match made in heaven,” says Stellato-Dudek, who won three Canadian titles and the 2024 world championship with pairs partner Maxime Deschamps.

Her collaboration with the New York fashion house marked the luxury brand’s first foray into figure skating costume design.

Sewing studio offers classes for crafty folks

Make it Sew is made to feel like a living room. Handmade quilts and crafts are displayed throughout the cosy Sherbrook Street sewing studio. A vintage couch sits next to a tall credenza filled with kitschy teapots and refreshments for “mandatory cookie breaks.”

The homey vibes are an intentional nod to the business’s early days, when owner Brittany Karbonik was teaching students how to sew in her Transcona abode.

“I wanted it to feel inviting, like a home,” she says.

Karbonik opened Make it Sew (156 Sherbrook St.) last fall as haven for fibre art enthusiasts of all skill levels and ages. The shop offers private and group classes in sewing, crocheting, knitting and weaving, as well as equipment rentals and special crafting events. The space also has a retail section stocked with items made by local craftspeople.

Most fashion mannequins are about a size 2. The Met Gala exhibit is making room for diverse bodies

NEW YORK (AP) — On a sultry summer day in Brooklyn last year, artist and couture designer Michaela Stark found herself in a studio surrounded by 175 cameras, for a photo shoot unlike any she’d done before.

Clad only in her signature corsetry that binds the flesh, Stark stood in the midst of a circle as the cameras captured all angles of her body, simultaneously — part of an intricate process known as photogrammetry. The goal: to scan her body and build a mannequin — three, actually — for display in one of the world’s top museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And at the Met Gala, no less.

“It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking,” recalls Stark of the “intimate and vulnerable” experience. But, she quips, “something about being naked on a 40-degree (Celsius) day in a corset that isn’t hiding anything kind of takes the awkwardness away from the situation, actually.”

The mannequins, and others based on real-life models like Stark, will be featured in “Costume Art,” the upcoming spring exhibit at the museum’s Costume Institute that's launched by the starry May 4 gala. It’s part of an effort to add an element of body positivity to a show that examines the dressed body in art over the centuries, says curator Andrew Bolton.

North End vocational school opens ‘cultural learning lab’ creative design studio

A North End warehouse has been converted into a multi-purpose design studio where students can sew ribbon skirts, print 3D models and launch businesses.

The Winnipeg School Division celebrated the grand opening of its Waabishkaa-Makwa Lab last week.

The first-of-its-kind “cultural learning lab” embeds Indigenous teachings into project-based learning activities.

For more than a decade, the 4,500-square-foot space inside R.B. Russell Vocational School had been collecting dust and housing broken equipment.

Tailors age out of the workforce even as demand for their skills grows

NEW YORK (AP) — Hunched over a sewing machine, Kil Bae is hemming a dress inside his Manhattan tailor shop when a new customer stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants taken in.

The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for his reversible bomber style that's plaid on one side and red on the other. He's willing to spend $280 to have it slimmed down. Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a few years ago, the tailor says, but are helping to keep the bobbins bobbing at his one-man shop, 85 Custom Tailor.

Bae carefully examines the cotton jacket before moving in to pin it, circling the customer like a sculptor with a chisel. He started training as a tailor at age 17, in his native South Korea. Now 63, he's part of a shrinking breed in the U.S., where professional sewers, dressmakers and tailors are aging out of the workforce as their services find fresh demand.

Shoppers who grew up on disposable fast fashion are enlisting tailors and seamstresses to give off-the-rack purchases a custom fit or personal flair, to revive secondhand finds or to extend the lives of their wardrobes, according to fashion industry experts. Weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy mean more Americans are seeking adjusted waistbands, tapered sleeves and other types of resizing, Bae said.

Popularity of sweater with Manitoba roots goes galactic after visit to stars

It’s the ultimate interstellar fashion moment; a vintage-inspired Mary Maxim fox knit, worn by Ryan Gosling’s character in his latest blockbuster Project Hail Mary, has sent the crafting world spinning.

Functional menswear brand dEDIGER back in fashion

Tanner Brooks gets things done.

The 32-year-old lives in the country, drives a truck, works all day as an electrician and helps out on his family’s farm on evenings and weekends. Every so often, he drives into the city to grab a drink with his buddies or to take his girlfriend on a date.

Not bad for someone who doesn’t exist.

Brooks is the customer avatar for dEDIGER, a Winnipeg-based menswear brand that offers everyday durable, functional clothing. Shelley Ediger started the brand almost 15 years ago, put it on the backburner in 2018, and relaunched it in August with the help of Naomi Shindak.

For vintage sewing-machine aficionado, it’s all about seeing them stitch again

Dave Johnson, a semi-retired snowplow operator who also worked as a homebuilder, collects, repairs and uses vintage sewing machines.

Fledgling clothing, jewelry pop-up retailer Anziety opens in-person store on Academy Road

A splash of pink highlights the northeastern corner of Academy Road and Lanark Street in Winnipeg.

Anziety is opening its first brick-and-mortar store at 545 Academy Rd. this weekend. Natalie Riccardo started the clothing and jewelry retailer as an online business, and then began appearing at markets and pop-up events in a rosy booth. Now, the 22-year-old entrepreneur has a brightly painted flagship store to call her own.

It’s meant to be a place where beauty meets women’s wellness, Riccardo said. “I want this space to make you feel empowered, confident and just at home. (I want to tie) confidence and inner beauty together into a magical experience.”

Selling intimate apparel at a pop-up event can be tricky, Riccardo added. While she believes she’s mastered the art of making customers feel comfortable as they look for lingerie in public, she’s thankful they’ll now have access to onsite change rooms.

Stars hit Paris runways, but fall’s real trend was dressing for hard times – and real life

PARIS (AP) — The celebrities came first, as they always do at the Paris runways.

After Oprah Winfrey stole the show in the opening stretch of the nine-day week, Naomi Watts and Kai Schreiber were at Balenciaga. Rooney Mara, Diane Kruger, Alexa Chung, Elizabeth Olsen and Yseult turned up at Givenchy.

Sarah Paulson and Tracee Ellis Ross watched Celine. Chappell Roan was at Vivienne Westwood and then at McQueen, where Myha’la and Sophie Thatcher were also there. Chanel was still to come Monday, and Louis Vuitton capping the season Tuesday.

But this week was about more than the front row.

Retired nurse doesn’t mind doing laundry to help raise money for Children’s Hospital Foundation

Donna Askew has been doing other people’s laundry for more than 20 years, but she doesn’t mind. It’s all for a good cause.

It’s fair to say Askew has washed, dried, mended and hung up thousands of shirts, blouses, dresses, T-shirts and trousers during her tenure as volunteer laundress at the Nearly New Shop at 961 Portage Ave.

“You name it, I’ve washed it… underwear and socks and lots of bedding and tablecloths and runners… if you’ve washed it at home in your washer, I’ve washed it in mine,” she says, laughing.

The shop attracts more than 50 customers daily, many who have come to rely on it.

Exhibit connects traditional and contemporary Métis beadwork artists

Suspended from the ceiling in Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg is an octopus bag, created by Métis visual artist Claire Johnston.

Métis leaders unveil 1920s model dog sled repatriated from Vatican

OTTAWA - Métis leaders on Wednesday unveiled a model dog sled repatriated to their communities after more than a century in the Vatican collection.

The sled, made in the 1920s of leather, wood and glass beads, was one of 62 items repatriated to Indigenous Peoples from the Vatican last year after decades of calls for their return.

“We’re not simply opening a box. We’re welcoming something very special home. We’re beginning a new chapter, a chapter that’s grounded in relationship, kinship and connection,” Métis National Council president Victoria Pruden said during the ceremony.

“These are not artifacts in the Western sense. These are carriers of memory – that Kiyas Kiskiowin Oma – remembering who we are, our memories returning. They hold the imprint of the hands that made them, and the communities who once knew them.”