Alabama Native Natalie Chanins journey from world traveler to sustainable fashion trailblazer

Alabama Native Natalie Chanin’s journey from world traveler to sustainable fashion trailblazer

Renowned fashion designer Natalie Chanin says that as a child growing up in Florence, Alabama, she always planned to make it out of town and see the world. 

Chanin’s girlhood dreams came true when she finished school and took to the road. She spent many years living between New York City and Europe, and picked up four additional languages along the way. 

No matter how far she roamed, the American South remained a part of Chanin on a deep level. 

“I took so much of the culture [of the South] with me,” Chanin told the Business Journal. “I’ve always loved to cook so I would make big dinners and lunches, in the tradition of our community.”

While Chanin thrived in her world travels, there was also just a twinge of sadness at being away from home. She spent many summers back home in Lauderdale County, enjoying the company of her grandparents, who lived close to the land.

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Fast forward to the winter of 2000 and Chanin found herself back in New York City, wrestling with questions both personal and professional. Invited to a fashion industry party one night and with nothing suitable to wear, Chanin took scissors to an old T-shirt and then stitched it together again with a needle and thread. The seams of the garment faced outward and seemed to mirror her inner state — which felt “inside out.” 

Chanin was blown away by the response to her creation. Guests at the party approached her to get a closer look at the top. 

Propelled by the positive reception, Chanin recreated the look several times before deciding that she wanted to make 200 T-shirts in a similar style. Knowing that this job was more than a one woman gig, Chanin pitched the idea around the city — but found no takers. 

Standing on the corner of 8th and 38th, Chanin experienced a moment of clarity when it dawned on her that the stitch she had used on the T-shirts was a quilting stitch, the kind beloved by the folks from her hometown. 

Chanin pointed her car south with the notion that she would enlist quilters from Florence to help her complete her project, named Project Alabama, and then be outward bound once again.

But as the lyrics go, “Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.” Chanin has been in Florence since that fateful December. 

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Florence, the county seat of Lauderdale County, has a rich history in cotton and textile production. During Chanin’s formative years, Lauderdale County was known as the “T-shirt capital of the world.”

In establishing her women’s apparel and lifestyle brand, Alabama Chanin, in her hometown of Florence, Chanin brought textile manufacturing back to Lauderdale County. This time, with an emphasis on sustainability and respect for the land, the artisans, and the consumers. 

Since 2005, Alabama Chanin’s pieces have been created in the US from “seed to shelf.” The cotton that is used by the company is organically grown in Texas, converted to fabric in North Carolina, and then transported to North Alabama to be cut and sewn. Patterns are hand-stenciled or hand-painted, and each garment is made to order. 

While conversations around sustainability have become more mainstream in recent years, some consumers feel as though they are priced out of accessing this movement. Chanin explained that there are multiple ways to incorporate sustainable pieces into your wardrobe. 

“You could pause for a season, save some money, and then make more robust purchases which are higher quality. Studies have proven that it is much less expensive to buy investment clothing. Over the long haul, you spend a lot less money and, of course, you wear better,” said Chanin.

Chanin is also a proponent of consumers turning towards thrifting and making their own clothing on their way to a more sustainable closet. 

Alabama Chanin gave rise to The School of Making as a way to democratize education on the creative skills that are at the heart of the company. The School of Making began with the production of five books on various stitches and design techniques in order to create a kind of “open source” model of sharing this knowledge. Select Alabama Chanin patterns are available so that shoppers can reproduce these looks at home.

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Creating a legacy that will last

Alabama Chanin has been woven into the community in Florence for over 23 years now, and Natalie Chanin wants to ensure that the company outlasts her tenure at the helm. 

On January 1, 2024, Chanin combined Alabama Chanin, The School of Making, and Project Threadways under the cover of the nonprofit Project Threadways. Chanin wants to be sure that the vision that she and her team have been working on for these years will endure. 

Part of this future vision includes the renovation of a 9,100 square foot space in the heart of historic downtown Florence. The renovation is expected to be complete in about a year’s time. Chanin is excited about what the increased visibility will mean for the community. 

“Our united vision is really for this work of sustainable design and craft preservation to carry on into the future as an agent of change,” said Chanin. “We obviously have a very deep history of cotton and textile manufacturing in the state of Alabama. We believe it’s important to look at the past, work in the present, and plan a better future.”

The Project Runways Symposium, which was held in April, was recorded. Recordings of that event are available for purchase by contacting think@projectthreadways.org.

Explore Alabama Chanin and The School of Making’s upcoming events at www.alabamachanin.com/events.