Since 2013, MATRIARCHY NOW t-shirts have been produced with environmental and labor concerns at the forefront. Created in small batches, production has evolved from spray-painted upcycled tees to shirts made from recycled cotton, produced and printed in the USA. Read more about the process of searching out an ethical and sustainable way to make the shirt.

Cotton is one of the thirstiest crops in existence. For instance, each acre cultivated demands 60 percent more than wheat, six times as much water as lettuce. Global cotton trade flows entail the wholesale extraction of water from the Global South towards the US, Europe and Japan. Cotton is also among the world’s most pesticide intensive crops

For every nine ounces of cotton—the amount in an average T-shirt—growers use an average of 17 teaspoons of chemical fertilizers and nearly a teaspoon of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and defoliants. Cotton accounts for 16 percent of global insecticide releases. USE SPARINGLY. Buy organic. Buy recycled.

Even when garments are sewn in the USA, they are generally made of fabric that was woven or knit, with thread that was spun, in an undisclosed location. Tracing the supply chain can be difficult. Although there are numerous excellent factories, and progress is being made, the fact remains that human rights abuses are rampant, including, for instance, in the cotton thread industry in Tamil Nadu, India. Basing the entire production chain in the US is, for the time being, one good way for us to ensure that laws that protect workers are being enforced. Our t-shirts are made by Everybody.World.

The first MATRIARCHY NOW t-shirts were spray painted with a stencil in a parking lot in Laramie, Wyoming, and each one came out with its own flaws and particularities. Later shirts were screen printed on upcycled shirts from thrift stores, and no two were alike. In order to maintain the spirit of particularity and accident, but to offer, at the same time, the type of access to the shirt that comes from working in batches, we are offering small editions, each with its own particularities. The fall 2019 we are offering only in black, with the original overspray lines on the right and top of the text.