This has been the year of tie-dye and when we think of tie-dye we usually think of bursts of bright colors. Nike designer and owner of Ampwata, Jasmine Plantin’s hand-dyed shirts have a deeper meaning—they’re inspired by the ocean.
Each shirt is one of a kind with the line’s logo, wata, stiched on it and adorned with the words of Haitian poet René Depestre on the inside-bottom seam, “By the strength of my wind you will emerge from yourself.” While some of these shirts may look similar, the designer never repeats a colorway as she views each batch of tees as a new chapter in a story.
The shirts are released weekly in batches of three to six with the next release scheduled for December 7. Each release comes with a new set of stories related to the ocean. The theme of the ocean relates back to Plantin’s childhood as her mom was from New Orleans and her dad is from Jacmel, a beach town in Haiti. “I kept seeing this element of water that was very present. So that was always the core [of Ampwata], and I think I’ll always come back to that in some way,” she told Vogue.
While the brand is still small, she hopes to show consumers a more eco-friendly way of shopping as the base garments she uses are 100% recycled and her upcoming collection repurposes vintage souvenir tees from tropical countries.
What do you think of Ampwata’s designs?
