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ABOUT
Swim Garden is an independent slow fashion project by Khi Van Allen.
The brand was developed through an interest in clothing as a form of social language, shaped by culture, community, and lived experience. Each piece draws from research into subcultures, histories, and everyday dress, exploring how garments carry meaning.
Swim Garden garments are handcrafted in his atelier in the 7th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. Manufacturing in-house allows a focus on one-of-a-kind pieces and limited editions.
The brand was developed through an interest in clothing as a form of social language, shaped by culture, community, and lived experience. Each piece draws from research into subcultures, histories, and everyday dress, exploring how garments carry meaning.
Swim Garden garments are handcrafted in his atelier in the 7th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. Manufacturing in-house allows a focus on one-of-a-kind pieces and limited editions.
Swim Garden is committed to sustainability through the use of organic and recycled materials, as well as natural dyeing techniques. Many pieces are hand-dyed using locally sourced materials such as mulberry leaves and found metal objects, allowing each garment to develop unique textures and tones.
Each fabric is either developed by hand through dye processes or carefully sourced by Khi from various locations, including his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and his current base in New Orleans, Louisiana. These materials are selected for both their character and their ability to be reworked into new forms.
Each fabric is either developed by hand through dye processes or carefully sourced by Khi from various locations, including his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and his current base in New Orleans, Louisiana. These materials are selected for both their character and their ability to be reworked into new forms.
For knitwear, yarn is sourced from Japan, locally in New Orleans through recycled materials, or from hand-dyed yarn suppliers such as Republica Unicornia in Atlanta, Georgia. This range of sourcing allows for variation in texture, color, and structure across each piece.