a q&a with kate benzian
By Katherine Barden
Kate Benzian x For Days
When USC Roski student Kate Benzian announced on Instagram that she had created a dress with For Days (a closed-loop, zero-waste clothing brand whose CEO, Kristy Caylor was interviewed by MASH’s own Elsa Clever in December of 2020), I knew I needed to reach out to her. What followed was a discussion about Kate’s personal design philosophy, her own clothing brand (@artistrythelabel), and her unique partnership with a company whose values match up with her own.
To provide some context to Kate’s partnership with For Days, I asked Elsa, our VP of Business Development, to write a blurb on what makes the sustainable clothing brand so unique:
“I love For Days because it is truly a pioneer in the realm of sustainable fashion. The circularity component of their business model not only sets them apart from other competitors who don’t take care of the afterlife of clothing, but they have integrated it into their mission so much that it creates customer loyalty that other companies don’t compare to. Their circular swap system innovatively encourages customers to purchase new items at a discounted price after recycling their old ones.”
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Kat: When did you start Artistry the Label? What is your philosophy behind the product you create?
Kate: I started Artistry around a year and a half ago, and originally I was just posting stuff on instagram that I had upcycled for my friends. Then it grew into selling pieces, but it was always just for fun and for people I knew. Once I had been building up the brand for a while, I worked over winter break to get the site up and Artistry the Label officially launched with set products in January.
As far as my philosophy, the idea is to be as sustainable as possible. I try to use a lot of, pre-loved fabrics and organic fabrics, and I love upcycling stuff from thrift stores. But that's ultimately the goal. I also try to be super size inclusive as well.
Kat: How would you describe your personal design style?
Kate: I'm really inspired by a lot Russian and Scandinavian design trends. I love pastel colors, and I think it's all really fun. My whole goal is to bring sustainability into a more youthful setting, and color is a big part of that. I also grew up in Southern California, so I definitely take inspiration from a lot of that Bohemian SoCal style as well. So it's kind of a mix of both.
Kat: Talk through your relationship with For Days. How did it start?
Kate: [For Days] reached out to me a couple months ago, explaining how they were doing this promotion where they have independent designers make new clothes out of old scraps. Seeing as that’s basically what I do anyway, I was super excited about it. For Days sent over a bunch of old t-shirts and stuff that got sent back to them*, and they basically gave me free rein and told me that I could make anything out of them. And so I decided to make a dress. They asked me to make some content around the piece as well so I’ve been working on that for a little bit. And what’s really cool is that they’re doing it as an auction, so all the pieces that the designers make are auctioned off for one tree planted, an organization that plants a tree for each dollar donated.
Kat: What inspired your project in collaboration with For Days?
Kate: My whole purpose is to bring sustainable practices into styles that are trendy. And obviously, for the most part, trendy clothing is more likely to not be super sustainable. But I do think that's kind of the first step in bringing a more sustainable mindset to a wider audience, because you're more likely to buy things that are sustainable if they're actually cute. So it's kind of a balance between trying to be super sustainable, and also making things trendy. The actual patchwork construction of the dress is something that has been a trend for a while, and it’s also really easy to do. The dress itself was born out of a desire to use as much scrap fabric as I could, and again I took influence from the Scandinavian aesthetic as well.
When USC Roski student Kate Benzian announced on Instagram that she had created a dress with For Days (a closed-loop, zero-waste clothing brand whose CEO, Kristy Caylor was interviewed by MASH’s own Elsa Clever in December of 2020), I knew I needed to reach out to her. What followed was a discussion about Kate’s personal design philosophy, her own clothing brand (@artistrythelabel), and her unique partnership with a company whose values match up with her own.
To provide some context to Kate’s partnership with For Days, I asked Elsa, our VP of Business Development, to write a blurb on what makes the sustainable clothing brand so unique:
“I love For Days because it is truly a pioneer in the realm of sustainable fashion. The circularity component of their business model not only sets them apart from other competitors who don’t take care of the afterlife of clothing, but they have integrated it into their mission so much that it creates customer loyalty that other companies don’t compare to. Their circular swap system innovatively encourages customers to purchase new items at a discounted price after recycling their old ones.”
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Kat: When did you start Artistry the Label? What is your philosophy behind the product you create?
Kate: I started Artistry around a year and a half ago, and originally I was just posting stuff on instagram that I had upcycled for my friends. Then it grew into selling pieces, but it was always just for fun and for people I knew. Once I had been building up the brand for a while, I worked over winter break to get the site up and Artistry the Label officially launched with set products in January.
As far as my philosophy, the idea is to be as sustainable as possible. I try to use a lot of, pre-loved fabrics and organic fabrics, and I love upcycling stuff from thrift stores. But that's ultimately the goal. I also try to be super size inclusive as well.
Kat: How would you describe your personal design style?
Kate: I'm really inspired by a lot Russian and Scandinavian design trends. I love pastel colors, and I think it's all really fun. My whole goal is to bring sustainability into a more youthful setting, and color is a big part of that. I also grew up in Southern California, so I definitely take inspiration from a lot of that Bohemian SoCal style as well. So it's kind of a mix of both.
Kat: Talk through your relationship with For Days. How did it start?
Kate: [For Days] reached out to me a couple months ago, explaining how they were doing this promotion where they have independent designers make new clothes out of old scraps. Seeing as that’s basically what I do anyway, I was super excited about it. For Days sent over a bunch of old t-shirts and stuff that got sent back to them*, and they basically gave me free rein and told me that I could make anything out of them. And so I decided to make a dress. They asked me to make some content around the piece as well so I’ve been working on that for a little bit. And what’s really cool is that they’re doing it as an auction, so all the pieces that the designers make are auctioned off for one tree planted, an organization that plants a tree for each dollar donated.
Kat: What inspired your project in collaboration with For Days?
Kate: My whole purpose is to bring sustainable practices into styles that are trendy. And obviously, for the most part, trendy clothing is more likely to not be super sustainable. But I do think that's kind of the first step in bringing a more sustainable mindset to a wider audience, because you're more likely to buy things that are sustainable if they're actually cute. So it's kind of a balance between trying to be super sustainable, and also making things trendy. The actual patchwork construction of the dress is something that has been a trend for a while, and it’s also really easy to do. The dress itself was born out of a desire to use as much scrap fabric as I could, and again I took influence from the Scandinavian aesthetic as well.