Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tianna Mae Andresen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Tianna Mae, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

This is hard, I feel like all the projects I do are meaningful in their own ways, especially when they are commissions for people or collections reflecting where I am in life.

The project I did with Hi Ho Kids, where we made a video of me teaching kids about sustainable fashion and had them upcycle their own pieces, was extra meaningful because it married a lot of my principles, interests, and was just super fun overall. The way I got introduced to the project was through a friend (Hana), that I met thru the college fashion club (MESH UW) I helped start, who had sent me the opportunity. With this project, I had to interview for it and when I got it, it opened doors for me in terms of experiencing my craft through an educational and video lens. As someone who is also a liberatory educator, being able to teach youth about sustainability of the earth and of labor/people as a practice through fashion was fulfilling. Fostering youth creativity was also really fun because the kids got to express themselves in unique ways. Some of the kids also wanted to be fashion designers and so being able to support their goals was meaningful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey everyone! Im Tianna Mae Andresen and I am a self taught slow fashion designer and digital artist, liberatory ethnic studies educator born and raised on Duwamish Land in Seattle, WA. I am always looking to empower next generation youth through social justice and community organizing principles. I got into the fashion industry because of the skills and sustainability practices taught to me by my family and community members. This really accelerated when I helped create the first fashion design club at my university (MESH UW) alongside Manya Jain, Dan Nguyen, Justin Velour, Amy Sun, and Archie Sugiyama, where I was then thrust into the community and world of Seattle Fashion. My business, Barkada Baby is a culmination of my passions and crafts, marrying sustainability, social justice, community, empowerment and fashion/art.

Barkada Baby is a dreamy digital art and slow fashion design brand rooted in Queer and Filipino American culture, and inspired by everything that brings us life and joy. Barkada Baby is community made and dedicated and we want to prove that sustainability, accessibility, community building, and social justice have a place in (and are at the core of) fashion.

We know that how we represent ourselves and what we choose to represent can change worlds, and we want to do that alongside the community. Through fashion and art commissions, event organizing, collection creation, and through selling of stickers, prints, one of one fashion items, and so much more at markets, I hope to empower those who have been made too feel powerless.

In Tagalog there is this slang word “barkada.” Formally, barkada translates to “gang of friends”, but I have come to learn that it means so much more.

Throughout high school my friends and I would use the phrase “Do it for the barkada” as a way to remind us of our friendship and support that we had for each other. Today, it is still a phrase that reminds me of our communities collective goal for our growth, healing, international solidarity, and liberation.

Slow Fashion refers to the movement against exploitative and capitalistic fashion practices. Barkada Baby uses sustainable and ethical practices such as using reduced/recyclable packaging and upcycled materials, reducing clothing waste, and curating products that represent our social justice principles.

I hope my art and works focused on education and community building reminds you of your own strength and how important you are to our collective life. Much love and gratitude to those who were before me, the people in my life today, and the future generation we are doing this for.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think seeing your market as actual people and sticking to your values (while also being open to feedback) is what really helped me grow a community with my business. I always ask for feedback and am vulnerable about my processes and I think a lot of people appreciate that.

For example, my business really started off with wanting to share art and connect and heal with each other during the time of the lockdown phase of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic. Starting with this intention really set the tone with building a community of people who value art and believe in the power of its messaging, and it also helped humanize each other during such a collectively hard time.

Connecting to individuals or other organizations or businesses has been crucial to my growth and reach and being vocal about my brands values, practices, and intentions has made it clear that I am really committed to supporting the community and creating unique fashion and art made to empower. Collaborations with others has also heightened credibility and built a stronger connection to those who share my brand values.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I have had to unlearn perfectionism tied to capitalism a lot, and it is something I am still trying to unlearn.

For fashion designers, creating a collection on a time crunch is too common. We juggle not only time, but expectations of ourselves and our work that can become super overwhelming and can even prevent us from showing our fullest potential.

For my latest collection, it is something that has a really personal meaning and had some new and complex designs that I had never tried before. I gave myself a timeline that I felt I could handle but quickly feelings of dread came over me as I watched time pass and progress seem nonexistent. A lot of my procrastination came from feelings of fear of the pieces not coming out perfect. It also came from fears of people not liking my pieces and uncertainty of whether people would support them or not. This caused me to burn out quickly and I ended up rushing and pushing my physical limits to complete the collection on time.

I was lucky to have a lot of people help me complete this in time, and support me emotionally. But I never want to do that again because it was counter to all the values that i preach of slow fashion and giving people including yourself grace.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barkadababy.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/barkadababy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/barkada-baby_im-an-upcycle-fashion-designer-5-to-9-activity-7108170549138227200-3SiQ/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwtKg89QngQ

Image Credits
Ashley Wang, Neil Yuzon, Janelle Jamores, CJ Marshall, Barkada Baby