You do more – our November talk from Sophie Rochester, founder of Yodomo
This month, we formed an interactive table-full as we listened to Sophie Rochester, founder of the Yodomo textile reuse hub in Hackney Wick.
After starting out in book publishing, Sophie had looked at fashion and felt that we were losing our way – that in buying fast fashion we didn’t know how things were made any more. She wanted to get more people closer to making.
Yodomo started as a platform for wellbeing through crafting, where makers could share their creative skills in online courses. During lockdown Sophie ran a course for local artists and makers, teaching the skills to take their work online.
Bigger companies were asking for maker workshops with staff, then to use their own waste materials in their workshops. Seeing the enormity of the waste issue. Sophie was inspired by Materials for the Arts in New York, and wanted to do something similar here.
Two potential locations said no. But Hackney Council said yes. A meeting at Hackney City Farm turned up a tiny shop that was just right. They just had to wait for the ducklings in there to hatch before they moved in... Once in, the sign outside read, “Free to take, show us what you’re going to make”.
There was a variety of materials and Sophie realised that textiles were particularly difficult. It was still legal to put waste out for general collection or incineration. Other complexities included intellectual property.
After two years at Hackney City Farm, Yodomo moved to bigger premises in Hackney Wick that were drier and better for textiles.
Along with fashion, interior design is another industry that has large quantities of waste. Companies such as Kvadrat produce a lot of samples for designers’ mood boards – Sophie brought some that had been made in into zip pouches.
Strike-offs also come in, textile companies’ versions of printers’ proofs. A designer has pieced garments together from them.
They occasionally run out of things – Instagram posts about Bojagi patchwork curtains created a run on sheers.
Very small scraps go to Fibrelab to be made into other materials. Fibres they can’t use go to construction for insulation. Blended materials can’t be recycled. So Sophie has a machine that reads fibre content.
Yarns come in from a knitting group that only uses polyester and passes on the natural fibres.
Cards of thread samples come in from Vivienne Westwood.
Yodomo wondered if they should be making products but decided to leave that to the makers, menders and fashion students who come in. And there’s social value in the creative conversations that happen in the shop.
Yodomo did a project with Poplar Harca to help reduce energy use through making curtains and draught excluders. But certification is difficult so sustainable makers can lose out to less sustainable options.
Sophie sources mostly from companies, except where individuals have particularly good collections. Some companies find Yodomo by word of mouth; others such as Liberty and Vivienne Westwood, direct.
Sophie was asked how she persuaded companies to be more sustainable and use old processes of reusing or recycling waste. Sophie is trying to persuade companies to use more sustainable materials and alternatives to stickers on samples. Some companies are trying to establish sample libraries for designers and architects.
There was a question about subscription models, which Yodomo had at the start but it has switched to a different model at the textile reuse hub.
Circular economy activity tends to be grassroots and local, such as The Loop in Hackney Wick, and another creative group in Margate.
So what else is out there for inspiration? Sophie mentioned Olio – though we discussed how big reuse setups can create scarcity for small projects. Theatre sets can be a problem to break down so the NFT has created Theatre Green Book, like a huge prop library. Celia Pym is a creative mender to look up. There’s the Library of Things. Facebook has a group called Set Swap Cycle. The Scrap Project is still going. There’s Scrap in Leeds. And The Old Network, for CICs.
Yodomo is currently working on a Tower Hamlets project creating a waste map.
And Sophie is looking at new business models in her PhD.
Wonderful garments were brought in by members to show: Brenda’s ‘bog coat’, made to a pattern created from a Danish archaeological find and visible mending and embroidery by Natasha's husband.
And finally, the name… Is Yodomo a Japanese craft process? No. It’s “You do more”. It’s a nightmare, Sophie tells us, finding a company name that isn’t already taken.
An enthusiastic East End WI thank you for a wonderful evening of interest and inspiration. You can find Yodomo here.
Our monthly coffee and catch-up – Riverside East in the Olympic Park
Friday 29th November, 5 Thornton Street, E20 2AD, meet between 10.30 and 11.00
This month, we plan to try the newly refurbished Riverside East, in the Olympic Park by the ArcelorMittal Orbit, opposite the Aquatic Centre.
Buses: 108/339 to the bus stop at the Aquatic Centre; the 388 and a walk across the park; or tube / rail / DLR to Stratford, take the Westfield exit, walk towards the Stadium and take a left to the Orbit.
