At first glance, such a T-shirt seems like a fairly simple process. In the morning we get up, after standing in front of the wardrobe for a while we pull out the right Squeaky piece, slip it over our head and arms, and off we go into the streets. But what happens before this “piece of fabric” reaches this stage?
What is the production process of a Squeaky T-shirt before it finds its owner?
Together with Majo, co-owner of Squeaky, I visited the sewing workshop in Hlohovec, where the whole process “happens.” And so, Squeaky T-shirts have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to their origin. Their production is completely humane and even stays here at home, in Slovakia. The cotton fabric, woven by neighbors in the Czech Republic, is imported to the workshop in Hlohovec.
There, the fabric comes under the protective wings of eleven seamstresses, each of whom has her own role in the workshop. First, the required amount is measured from large fabric bales and cut according to the final T-shirt pattern. The pre-cut patterns go to the sewing tables, where the seamstresses sew the fabric into the shape of a T-shirt. Each T-shirt is then adorned with logo patches and size tags, as well as a label with instructions on the origin of the T-shirt, its material, and washing instructions. Finally, a leatherette patch with a squeaker is sewn onto the front of the finished T-shirt, turning it into a Squeaky T-shirt. From the workshop, the finished T-shirts are sent to stores or to a courier, who delivers the T-shirt almost directly into your wardrobe.
Eleven women in a small workshop in the Trnava region can, through diligent handcrafted work, sew up to 1,000 T-shirts per week. Thanks to their industriousness, the entire family can wear Squeaky!
How did the collaboration between Squeaky T-shirts and the Hlohovec workshop come about?
At the time when demand for Squeaky T-shirts was increasing, Majo and Silvia were looking for a sewing workshop that could handle the entire production. They found it in Hlohovec, and this led to a beautiful collaboration that has lasted since 2014. We also discussed it with the owners of the sewing workshop, mother Janka and her daughters Lenka and Katka.
The workshop was established in 2004 when the clothing company OZETA, which employed many seamstresses in the district, closed. At that time, mother and her two daughters also worked there. They decided to take their fate into their own hands and founded a family business. “At first, it was just the three of us in the workshop, trying everything – a wedding salon and men’s clothing,” recalls mother Janka. She says that they used to work until late at night and never stopped.
“Since we started collaborating with Squeaky T-shirts, we have moved to a different level,” says Lenka about the family business, the sewing workshop in the center of Hlohovec. With the arrival of Squeaky, the workload increased, and so the number of seamstresses gradually grew. “Today there are eleven of us, and it’s still not enough!” laughs Janka.
Three women of the same family have devoted their entire lives to sewing. All three are trained seamstresses and cannot imagine doing anything else. Other seamstresses are also selected based mainly on personal feeling and previous experience at OZETA. “Many women lost their jobs at that time, and many of them were our friends. We know them and we know how they work. It’s better than having someone from the office who doesn’t even want to do it,” explains Janka. When I asked what they do in their free time, Katka, holding the next generation, daughter Emka, replied: “We don’t have free time; we devote ourselves fully. This is work that we enjoy.”
The women in the workshop are used to children; almost all of them are mothers themselves, and the children have thus become part of the company culture. “They have their own play corner and spend time in the workshop. They are under supervision, and at the same time, the women – mothers – can go to work,” explains mother Janka.
Currently, the main task for the eleven women in the sewing workshop is almost entirely sewing Squeaky T-shirts. They are grateful for this and say that if they didn’t like the T-shirts, they probably wouldn’t devote so much to it. They put everything into the collaboration. “If there were no Squeaky, there would be no us either,” they add.
So what happens before that piece of fabric reaches you?
Behind each T-shirt is a piece of honest work. Behind every stitch, every patch, is the story of women who, thanks to the T-shirts, got a job. The work is properly paid, production remains local, and you can become the wearer of the T-shirts without guilt.
And the fact that by wearing local creations and supporting designers we leave a smaller ecological footprint than supporting fast fashion – well, that’s a story for another time…
Text: Veronika Pilátová