SUSTAINABILITY
When you mention the words “sustainable fashion,” an image of loose fitting hemp garments in neutral colours probably comes to mind.
That’s nice, but it’s not WAH-WAH!
In the right hands, knitwear can be an extremely sustainable way to create clothing. WAH-WAH creates “fully fashioned” knitwear (which eliminates waste) from Australian superfine merino wool. Here at WAH-WAH we truly worship at the altar of wool. Not only is wool natural, biodegradable and renewable, it is also resistant to dirt, stains and odour. WOOL IS MAGIC! 🐑.
At WAH-WAH, we go the extra mile to ensure all of our packaging is as environmentally friendly as possible, using innovative materials such as hydropol garment bags (a water-soluble, biodegradable, non toxic and marine safe polymer), reusable recycled card postage satchels and compostable bags.
COLLABORATIONS
WAH-WAH is all about collaboration, and without the incredible artistic output of the bands and artists we work with, we would be just another clothing label. Royalties are paid to the artists for each jumper sold. What’s more, fair pay for fair work also extends to our highly skilled manufacturers, who are annually audited under BSCI certification (business social compliance initiative).
I say “we”, because I get to work with so many incredible people throughout the process of creating these knits—artists, bands and the many talented workers who help to sample and produce the garments. But WAH-WAH AUSTRALIA is actually a one-woman lead project by Kaylene Milner that is hard to define—part fashion design, part art curation, part activism through wearable art.
Causes
Milner has redefined what a brand can be by rejecting traditional seasonal models of selling collections, instead focusing on each garment as a piece of wearable art with a story or mission statement behind it.
Every garment sold gives back to the artists who collaborated in its design, and in some cases all profits are donated to a cause that Milner feels strongly about. In the last 4 years, she has donated over $210,000 from sales to The Climate Council, Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation, Regenerate Australia, National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition, Teenage Cancer Trust, Full Stop, Our Watch, SASSI, Save The Children, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross.
WAH-WAH’s sustainably produced garments are more than just items to keep warm in, they are conversation starters.
About
What the hell is a WAH-WAH!?
Situated on Dharawal land on the East coast of Australia, WAH-WAH is a one-woman fashion label and art project by designer and musician Kaylene Milner.
Inspired by a photograph of musician J Mascis wearing a Deep Wound band sweater hand knitted by his mother, Kaylene founded WAH-WAH as a way of combining her love of alternative music, underground comics, and contemporary art, with her enthusiasm for knitwear.
Over the years, WAH-WAH has grown to include collaborations with artists, musicians and activists from around the globe, knitting elements of pop culture together into a signature (woolly) blend that is bright, loud, and proudly tongue-in-cheek.
Part fashion label, part art curation, part activism — WAH-WAH is about more than just knitwear: it’s about creating sustainably produced wearable art that will be cherished for a lifetime!
