The Series: A Conversation Behind the Denim
Unless you’re a part of a nudist colony (kudos to you if you are) then clothing is important to you. Even if you hate fashion or shopping, wearing clothes creates an identity for a person. One thing holds true for almost every person no matter gender, age or size: the clothes that we wear are a representation of ourselves. In almost every person’s closet, there’s a pair of the ‘ole reliable denim jeans (there’s nothing quite like the comfort and versatility of your favorite pair). But, regardless of the item, our clothes hold memories. Maybe you’ve worn the same brand of jeans for years and buy them in duplicates. Maybe there are rips and tears from too many nights out, or stains you can’t quite remember getting. Maybe they’re just rolled up in a corner of your room forgotten from one too many outfit changes. Whatever it is, they hold a story to remember. These feelings of comfort and memories are what 25-year-old Ella Wiznia (@aintnofollowbackgrl) owner, designer, curator, and master DIYer knows she’s creating when designing for ‘The Series’.
The Brand
The creative mind behind the one-woman run fashion statement brand,“The Series” strives to be a new voice in the fashion community to question the outdated fashion “norms” of mass production, similar looking models, and an overall lack of diversity. In the past five years, the New York City-based brand has been featured in numerous publications like Out, Nylon, Teen Vogue and Refinery 29. Starting in 2015, the simple desire to create a personal denim jacket with vintage patches turned into a full business of producing clothing that tells a story in every piece of fabric, stitch, pattern, denim - and the occasional blood and sweat. In an era of online shopping and social media, ‘The Series’ stays in the game with their website (theseriesny.com) and Instagram account (@theseriesny) keeping its lighthearted and colorful clothing as the main attraction. In addition to the colorful and collaged Instagram feed, many will notice the diversity of the “role models” that the brand uses to wear the clothing. “It should feel less like you in the pants or you in the jacket, but more of you and the pants, you and the jacket,” expressed Ella. Each piece in ‘The Series’ is meant to be seasonless, for every body, and genderless. With over 8k followers (and climbing) on Instagram and an inventory that sells out quickly, ‘The Series’ is here to shake up the fashion community in a colorful way. What started as a series of custom denim has now expanded to puffer jackets, chore shirts, tanks, frocks, accessories and more. To get a better understanding of the brand itself, we sat down to chat with Ella, the person behind the brand.
Meet Ella
Photo of Ella Wiznia by Lucy London McDonald
The story of ‘The Series’ is more than just that of another sustainable fashion brand, it is also the story of its creator, Ella Wiznia. When first meeting Ella you’ll notice that she’s always wearing something unique and bright, often paired with layered jewelry and an infectious smile that will warm you on any cold day. ‘The Series‘ is indeed a reflection of its owner: a brand that focuses on sustainability, originality, and inclusivity. At the start of the brand, Ella focused mainly on denim, creating unique jeans full of embroidery and patches found through hours of thrift shopping. For Ella working with denim, “just made sense, I have always loved the feel of denim on my skin. There’s something nice about a good pair of denim jeans.” It seems that denim obsession runs in her family. “My mom owned like 40 pairs of Levi’s. It was a part of her uniform and she was afraid they’d stop making them.”
Growing up around denim it’s not hard to see where the love for the material came from, so when choosing what to start her brand off with a focus on the material was obvious. It was more than just a familiar bond, but also a deeply personal one.
A true jack-of-all-trades, Ella and a few wonderful and talented people in NY, hand sew everything! Learning embroidery and how to use a sewing machine was a creative and positive outlet for her through difficult times. Having recovered from an eating disorder, the feeling of different fabrics on Ella’s skin was very sensitive to her, but the durability and comfort of denim was a safe haven. “It [denim] was just a shape and it didn’t mold to your body exactly and you could just be in the jeans. I feel this way especially with vintage denim because the structure and sizes are all different.” At the beginning of her journey with denim and sewing and before ‘The Series‘ even came to be, Ella was creating as a positive outlet when she was in treatment. It turned into a desire to work on pants, then jean jackets, then custom pieces that got her all the way to markets like the Hester Street fair. “I really wanted vintage patches on a jacket. I was really into sewing and then people started asking if I could make them something. I was making all this stuff so I figured I might as well do something with it.” And thus ‘The Series‘ was born. But Ella wanted it to be more than just any fashion brand, she wanted it to be a piece of herself.
Individuality
The craftsmanship that is put into each design shows; from the hand-sewn patchwork and handmade embroidery, to the desire to include diverse people to showcase the beauty of the clothing created. ‘The Series‘ basks in its own uniqueness of being the true definition of individual and pushing the status quo of the mainstream fashion community.
For most fashion brands there are different collections of pieces that go together in a new season that often go in and out of style, but this thinking is innovated with the unique pieces curated by Ella. “I wanted to get rid of the ideas of spring collection and winter collection,” Ella explained when discussing the focus of her brand. ‘The Series‘ evolves the often strict and restrictive notion of a collection and shows that in its namesake, instead of creating clothing and pieces that are reproduced the brand focuses on pieces that are one of a kind. Ella confirms, “It may not be for everyone: it may speak to you, it may not.” Museums and paintings served as inspiration for Ella when creating the brand: “I drew inspiration from a series of prints and paintings. They all operate on the same idea with the method, medium, and materials but are different in results.” In all of the pieces of ‘The Series‘, the ideas are about the expression of art and originality and to feel like you’re dressing in “wearable art”.
The idea of being unique and having a personal touch to whatever someone does or wears is the heart of the designs. Jackets with different patches in the color palette of a rainbow, pants with a starry night theme and the expanding use of fabrics found from the ’70s are just a few examples of the wild unique world of ‘The Series’. The main purpose is to create things that are one of a kind and “give new life to what already exists.” Ella shared this thought when she began wearing and creating more unique pieces. “I hated knowing that someone could potentially wear something that I could wear.”
“All of the clothes that I buy are secondhand,” Ella exclaimed when discussing her own personal style in addition to the reasoning for ‘The Series‘ to follow in her steps. The creation of something new from old materials and clothes created the individuality and sustainable style of ‘The Series‘.
Sustainability
Fast Fashion is pretty much a dirty word now in the fashion industry with brands like Zara, H&M, Forever 21 and Fashion Nova shifting to the forefront of this revolution by changing to more environmentally and ethical manufacturing practices. According to Business Insider, “The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions, it is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply, and pollutes the oceans with microplastics.” With all this negative effect on the environment sustainable and thrifted fashion is becoming the new normal.
Through the use of vintage materials like deadstock denim and finds from scavenging through vintage shops, ‘The Series‘ shows the importance of secondhand use and the desire to reuse products. Ella could have used new denim jeans and fabrics to create one of a kind pieces for her brand, but using recovered materials and not creating additional waste is a necessity for her. What started as a treasure hunt through thrift shops and secondhand stores turned into a more in-depth and deliberative desire to find denim and once unwanted materials to use for new projects.
Much of the denim that becomes a part of ‘The Series’, is vintage and from the ‘70s and ‘80s, including old Levi’s that give off a mom jean look with a surprisingly soft feel. The durability of the old reclaimed denim was an upside to using these jeans, they came in varieties of styles and could withstand even the deepest lunges.
In addition to the reclaimed denim, Ella also finds her vintage fabric, patches, buttons, and other accoutrements at second-hand shops. “I’ll buy quilts, shirts, pants, pretty much anything that inspires me to create. I try to make connections with people who are sourcing these things and imagine their past and future, it’s all a part of its history.”
Ella discusses that everyone needs to make a commitment to sustainability in order for it to work. “It’s more than aesthetic, and it’s hard, but it matters. For Ella it’s not all about environmental sustainability, but also about the inclusivity and body confidence that ‘The Series‘ hopes to bring.
Inclusivity
“Clothing shouldn’t be something where we feel ashamed of ourselves with or hide in,” Ella emphasized. For ‘The Series‘, the brand features women, men and non-binary individuals that can be looked at as role models and represent the diversity of the brand. “There are zero reasons for one type of person to be portrayed and not the other.” All pieces are for every body; there is no particular way to wear any of the pieces nor is there a specific body type in mind. All of ‘The Series’ clothing is made to be genderless, ageless, and for all bodies and beings. If it’s tight, then it’s tight, if it’s loose then it’s loose. Without too much attention on the size, Ella advocates for having the person wear the clothes in any way that feels comfortable. Being plus-sized myself, I was weary of this until I had the chance to try on some of the clothes personally. With vintage denim, some of the pants were snug and some didn’t fit at all, but her collection had pieces in varying sizes that allowed for different fits on different body types. Forgoing the ludicrous sizes found in women's fashion and opting for the more sensible garment measurements, I found a pair that fit snuggly for my usual size 24 self and was surprised at how comfortable they were. They are my most commented on piece of clothing and knowing someone as special as Ella designed them truly adds to the story of the piece of clothing. What’s not only appreciated but also evident from ‘The Series’ Instagram is the use of different people to showcase the clothes created. This keeps with the brand's ideals of showing that any body can wear the clothes and be what Ella describes as a “role model”. It’s very simple for Ella, “There’s no reason not to include people of all sizes, to show that any and everybody is a ‘model’.”
The Future
The future of fashion is constantly changing, and with brands like ‘The Series‘, there’s hope that the changes are headed in a more sustainable, unique and inclusive direction. “All in all, celebrating clothing, bodies and how we represent ourselves is cool and powerful.” With a masterpiece in every stitch, late nights of embroidery, long hauls to Brooklyn for Pop-up shops, and countless hours packing up orders, Ella is ready for the next challenges with ‘The Series’. The past five years has seen many changes and growth for ‘The Series”, including expanding to having a full-time employee, Grace Wells (@jellosalads) who is the Head of Production for the brand. With more excitement for the Ella and the ever-growing unique collections the brand just dropped a collection with Urban Outfitters Urban Renewal line of one-of-a-kind repurposed and sustainably-sourced vintage pieces. “It is a capsule collection through Urban Renewal. All one of a kind, made of preexisting material.” Ella continued to describe how the collaboration with Urban Renewal would include tanks, denim shorts, skirts, pants, puffers and more.
Never one to shy away from global takeover ‘The Series’ also sent a large collection to the vintage department store ATIKA in London, with this and more to come be sure to be on the lookout for more amazing collaborations and drops from the minds behind the denim….and the crochet tops…..and whatever else ‘The Series’ has in mind. The future of fashion is always changing and with styles going in and out of trend the love and care behind this brand is evident to be about keeping pieces that last and that can grow with whoever wears them. What started with a love of blue jeans that reminded this passionate founder of her mother, quickly turned into a coveted brand that renews the old into something new through the mindful commitment in each stitch.
Photographed by Marko Peros
Models: Jimi Lucid, Tajah, Ellis, Nathalie Basoski, Ali Aksahin, & Amy Campbell
Styled by Benjamin Achilles
MAU by Alexis Gaskin & Syd