the story of Garden of She

Hi friends <3 my name is Gina, the woman behind this one woman show called Garden of She.

My love of all things funky and fashionable crept up on me quickly. I went from wearing t-shirts and jeans in middle school to wearing full glam and tulle dresses to 7 am English class in high school. I had such a passion for how I expressed myself through clothing all throughout my teens and early twenties. My dream was to move to California, attend Fashion Design school and make it big in the fashion space. Well…that didn’t happen.

I let life and other’s opinions get in the way of what I was truly passionate about. A few years after graduating high school I ended up as a college drop-out and just working my way up the retail management ladder at a local holistic pet food store.

2020 was a weird year for a lot of us. As much that was going wrong in the world at the time, there was this pocket of opportunity for us as a people to slow down and connect with our long forgotten passions again. That’s technically when Garden of She (or Garden of Gina at the time) began. It started with selling a few of my old clothes on third party apps - to exploring my passion for fashion again through sewing and upcycling my own patchwork designs.

From the beginning I knew I wanted whatever I was creating to be a sustainable forward endeavor. I’ve been a thrift store groupie since my pre teen days and I’ve always been conscious of keeping my waste, as an individual, to a minimum.

I’m proud to say that Garden of She sources all base garments and textiles from secondhand sources like thrift stores, antique shops, yard sales, FB marketplace, and donations from family + friends. I also do my best to source anything else I need for my business secondhand - like office supplies, storage containers, fabric trims, elastics, and threads. Even my sewing equipment is secondhand, like my Juki sewing machine, serger, and iron.

We, as a society, are living in such extreme excess right now - sourcing my things secondhand may be more time consuming but it’s what is necessary for a better tomorrow. I’m driven by this self appointed sustainable mission before all else.

By shopping small with Garden of She you are now a part of the ‘Slow Fashion’ movement; which advocates for cyclical use of materials, fair wages for all, mindful purchasing and quality over quantity. Slow fashion is the future and I couldn’t be more pleased to be a part of this movement.

xx Gina

✿