Founders of the fashion label Jonas held a sewing event in July.
MacEwan alum Yron Gerona returned to campus on July 29 to host a community event alongside MacEwan Sustainability. The event, Sew Your Garden With Jonas, gave attendants the opportunity to use recycled fabrics to make vegetable-shaped plushies.
MacEwan Sustainability has been hosting garden sessions throughout the spring and summer with this year having a focus on social events. Its goal is to mix sustainability initiatives with creating a sense of community. Iannie Gerona, MacEwan Sustainability’s program coordinator, says Sew Your Garden aims to give attendants an introduction to how easy it is to repurpose and “do repairs and sew stuff by hand at home.”
Jonas is an Edmonton-based sustainable fashion label founded by Yron Gerona and Noah Milo. Yron recalls how in highschool, he and Milo rented a small office space to start their label after being inspired by other fashion designers online and noticing the absence of young designers. The pair applied for a film grant and created a short film that displayed their designs. The project sparked the idea that their brand could become “bigger than just two friends making clothes for fun.”
The idea for this particular event started when Yron and Milo reconnected in Calgary and were offered positions as teaching artists with the Werklund Centre. During their time there, they showed communities how they make their projects with few supplies and taught that not all projects need to be perfect. They were assigned to a class of seventh-to-ninth graders and then figured, “why not do it with adults?” They have since been developing workshops to “bring the community together.”
Jaime Aradanas, who has attended many sustainability events before, says this one drew her in because she enjoys “spending time with other sustainability people.” Nikki Ropchan, the administrative assistant for the department of psychology, attended the event to “freshen up [her] sewing skills” and connect with others looking to learn more about sustainability.
“I just hope people will find more time in their lives to be creative.”
— Yron Geronna, CoFounder of Jonas
Iannie hoped the event will instill the confidence in attendees to repair their things themselves.
MacEwan Sustainability will be hosting the Edmonton Sustainable Fashion Show in the MacEwan maker space on Sept. 10 where students can bring in any clothing they want repaired, reimagined, or repurposed and learn how to do so.
