Q&A: Altered Perception
☆ By Sophie Gragg ☆
BRINGING FRESH AND UNIQUE CLOTHING TO THE MARKET WITH SUSTAINABLE ROOTS - Altered Perception is paving the way for the future of fashion. Founded by Isabelle Lieblein with an intent to create fashionable pieces without contributing to fast fashion, Altered Perception creates clothes using second hand/upcycled material for a variety of fashion lovers. Genderless and carrying 2XS-5XL, Altered Perception makes it clear that sustainable fashion is for everyone. The one women business finds ways to support an array of causes including their carbon neutral shipping that helps fund forest conservation initiatives. Need we say more on how amazing this company is?
Lieblein continues to create space for those interested in sustainable fashion and Altered Perception continues to grow, helping individuals and the planet at the same time. Check out Altered Perception and read below to learn more about their humble beginnings, how she puts together pieces and more.
LUNA: How are you doing lately? How has quarantine been treating you?
LIEBLEIN: Quarantine has been a mixed bag! I have, however, been extremely fortunate to not have lost my job and also be able to do AP Clothing completely from home. Some other life changes have also allowed me to focus more on myself and what I’m passionate about! It has been a growing and learning experience, and I feel more confident in myself than ever. And despite being restricted due to COVID I feel so free.
LUNA: Have you seen a shift in your creative process the past few months?
LIEBLEIN: I have had way more time to work on my business and create product! I am a full time student for half the year and have a full time job the other half. Doing online school this past term allowed me to continue to release collections and work on growing my small business during a time I normally cannot. I typically have to put AP on a complete pause while I’m at school and only ship out orders.
LUNA: Can you share a bit about your background with fashion and clothing?
LIEBLEIN: So my background in fashion has humble beginnings. I basically didn’t have my own style until highschool. I just wore whatever LOL. My home town is preppy and Southern which is reflected in the people’s style and the stores, so I didn’t really find fashion all that interesting. That changed when I went to the thrift shop without parental supervision for the first time. All of the colorful “grandma” clothes and everything in-between changed what I saw the possibilities of fashion as. I then really got into alternative fashion/thrift influencers around 2015-2016. This further peaked my interest into weird, strange, and colorful clothing. Anything camp or not the norm slowly became my favorite cup of tea.
I really have no formal training in the fashion industry or in business. I have just a bit over a year in “Google Academy.” Basically watching and reading everything I can on upcycling clothes, making them, designing them, selling them, and being an entrepreneur.
LUNA: Altered Perception was founded to help people find clothes that don't contribute to fast fashion. What inspired you to make AP?
LIEBLEIN: I wasn’t one of those entrepreneurs with a clear plan and goal to start out with... At all. It began with me stumbling upon Instagram accounts that resold thrifted clothing. Majority of what I first saw was Life is Good t-shirts and Y2K skirts. Both of these are really not my style. I knew I had a great eye for thrifting and I thought I could do it better. With a plan of using the money to buy myself more clothes! The perfect little hobby to feed my then fast fashion addiction (yep, you read right). My IG account was originally @looksofbelle, a play on words off of my long time personal/influencer account @is_of_belle. I then gathered all of my own clothing that I didn’t wear and got to work. Within about two days I started to learn about the harms of fast fashion and immediately swore to never buy a piece of new clothing again. I am not afraid to admit that I used to be apart of the problem! What matters is that I learned new information and changed my behaviors based on it.
This then made me realize I had to get the word out about fast fashion! There had to be so many other people out there like me, blindly buying fast fashion simply because they don’t know it's bad. The fast fashion companies certainly aren’t going to be the ones telling you about it. It's been almost two years and I’ve only bought second hand or supported small businesses/artists since. I only started supporting small businesses recently, I make sure that they are eco-friendly, align with my values, and I try to support BIPOC and Women run businesses over anyone else first.
Two weeks after deciding I wanted to resell clothes, I had completely changed the vision for what I wanted. I wanted to build a business that can help fight fast fashion and save the environment one piece of clothing at a time. AP Clothing’s mission had formed. I wanted to provide people with a fun alternative to fast fashion and a way to learn about its harms. I would have never purchased from stores like Shein in the past had I known their detrimental effects. But I was just ignorant to the information, and the fast fashion industry definitely wants to keep their exploitation or workers and pollution on the hush. I decided AP Clothing would only use second hand materials or scrap, and be 100% zero waste. To take textile waste out of landfills and put nothing back. At the time, all of the zero waste businesses I could find were either insanely expensive ($500 for a hoodie expensive), or advertised as zero-waste but were actually only 95-98% zero-waste. In my opinion, that's not zero-waste! And any self proclaimed sustainable fashion company was only selling bland clothing. I wanted to make clothing for the people that identify with the aesthetics of Forever 21, Dolls Kill, and The Ragged Priest, but want to be kind to Mother Nature too! In addition, I wanted to combat all wrong doings of the fashion industry. I combat this in a way that my business is able to do, setting an example - being gender neutral for everything, never photoshopping my models, and being completely transparent. I have since expanded my sizing to 2XS - 5XL, added adaptive clothing customs, made all of my shipping carbon neutral, and added lifetime warranties to all items. I plan on continuing to improve my business model wherever possible to strive to be as inclusive and as sustainable as possible! I am continually educating myself. I spend around 10 hours weekly reading or listening to social, business, fashion, and environmental topics. I then share that information with my followers and customers, apply it to my own life, and to AP Clothing. My life motto is “do everything you can.” I bring this into my business as well.
LUNA: What does the creative process tend to look like when someone sends you a piece to work with? Or does it vary each item?
LIEBLEIN: I think for this one I follow a somewhat standard approach even though the results vary greatly. When someone sends me an item to upcycle or wants a custom piece I usually ask them to give as much detail as possible - an exact image of what they want, and or a mood board. This can take days or weeks of talking/exchanging emails for me to get it just right with the customer. And it often involves me emailing photos of the sketched designs to them. If I have to find an item to upcycle for a custom or if a customer sends one in, I first check the it for any damage. Tears, stains, etc. If there are any I figure out how to use the design to either hide the stain or mend the tear. I then get to work hand stitching, sewing, cutting apart, and/or painting on the item. These are probably my favorite things to do because I hate making the same things over again. I like to mix it up!
LUNA: Do you have a favorite piece from recent months?
LIEBLEIN: My favorite piece was a company jacket I made for the founder of Greenerlife! I have tried to expand my clothing into more neutrals and punk aesthetics. And let me tell you, this jacket was soooo punk! It was sweet! Designing and making it really pushed me out of my comfort zone and I feel like it made me more comfortable and familiar with the style.
LUNA: What advice do you have for those trying to be more sustainable with their closet but don't know where to start?
LIEBLEIN: Start by using what you have! The most sustainable item is the one already in your closet! The biggest mistake I see is people wanting to shop sustainable so they donate all of their clothes to start over. NO, please don’t do this!! That is creating more waste and defeating the whole purpose. Use what you have or exchange with people you know!
Shopping sustainable means buying from sustainable places AND buying quality items that will last. Both parts of this are equally important. First you have to know where to buy (if you truly need to). Thrift stores, vintage sellers, upcyclers, and resellers are what I consider the best options. These stores are helping keep textile waste out of landfills and helping items find new homes. When you buy from these stores however, don’t buy items you know you will only wear a few times or ones destined to fall apart. Buy high quality instead. Instead of buying 25 tops you’ll only wear a few times for $100, consider buying two high quality tops for $50 each. This last part has been one of the biggest changes I have made after quitting fast fashion and it has helped tremendously with my consumption. And lastly, support businesses that align with your values. Every dollar is a vote for the type of world you want.
LUNA: How would you like to see AP expand?
LIEBLEIN: My main goal right now for AP Clothing is to have all collections I drop sell out. This is kind of a weird goal, but hear me out. This overall would allow me to be more creative with what I make and lessen how much I have to store. That would be amazing because between work and school I have to move back and forth, and carrying everything around for my business has become a big burden. More creative freedom and less stuff means I can provide all of you with a larger size range!!
LUNA: Obviously a lot is on hold for the time being, but do you have any upcoming plans or goals for the rest of the year you'd like to share?
LIEBLEIN: I don’t have any big plans just yet! My only goal is organic growth :)
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