Mertens Trading House
In my project, I address the invisible labor upon which the mass fashion industry is built. The Mertens house has, throughout its history, merged elitism with the inconspicuousness of the working class. Today, the building is tied to the mass market, where product accessibility obscures the conditions and processes of production. Previously, however, people worked in Mertens' workshops who could not afford the very things they crafted with their own hands. In the scarf, I address the exterior—wool, fur—as symbols of luxury, while in the apron, I reveal the inside. The numerous taut leathers and interwoven threads symbolize the accumulation of human energy, a great deal of labor. The material becomes a reminder of the production process. I am interested not only in what we call valuable but also in whose labor allows that value to exist.
