Christi Johnson

Mixed Color

What’s your story?

I had always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, but after studying fashion and spending nearly a decade working in the fashion industry; I began to grow weary of the need to be constantly producing. Both my creative spirit and my desire for sustainable systems felt crushed under the need to pump out many collections a year, with our sales goals unrealistically leaping from quarter to quarter.

In 2015, I began my own collection of garments with the goal of providing sustainable alternatives (naturally dyed, natural fibers, and often re-used or recycled materials) but found that the entire model was, as a human with needs like rest and sleep, unsustainable. Throughout the process of making and selling the garments, however, I ended up in many conversations about HOW I was making them - and this lead me to start leading workshops at some of the stores I was selling my work through.

The realization that I actually enjoyed teaching more than I enjoyed being a one-woman manufacturer came slowly, and over the course of the past 5 years I have begun to shift my business from selling handcrafted items, to teaching skills like embroidery and clothing design from a more holistic perspective. While I still love creating and offering handmade goods, my true passion is sharing these skills so that others may learn the crafts themselves.

What are your values?

Recycling and repurposing previously existing textiles, to me, is a way to bring value back to the textiles we have grown to take advantage of. Most of the textiles we encounter in our daily existence are produced so far away from us that we have lost touch with their processes. I value the return to slowing down in our interactions with life, textiles included. I value a more intuitive approach to design, and the inclusion of creative expression in all our acts.

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

Website: www.mixedcolor.net | Instagram: @mixed_color_ , @christijay and @stitchwish