Comrade Workwear is the brain child of founder James Harr. Originally from California, James left to New York City in 2013 to attend Parsons School of Design for fashion design. After his first semester, he was introduced to radical politics and heterodox economics and decided to shift away from fashion to instead work in service to transcending capitalism.

Comrade Workwear is then a sort of ironic return to his beginnings. However it is not a return that is unaware of the detrimental place that fashion holds socially, economically and ecologically. For James, Comrade is an expression of alternative futures;  a critical and purposeful return to fashion for the sake of three things: expression, connection and education.

It might seem like an oxymoron but it’s not. A lot of people think that markets, money and commodities are capitalist… They aren’t. Capitalism denotes a particular relationship between who produces goods and who receives the fruits of that labor. In a capitalist enterprise the workers make everything and the capitalist takes everything.

In a socialist enterprise, like a cooperative, the workers collectively own everything and decide what to produce, how to produce and what to do with the money made in the course of production. A cooperative is like a tiny island of socialism in a sea of capitalism.

As a self proclaimed socialist apparel company we work to uphold our ideals to the highest degree possible given our size and the institutional context we operate in. We try and source garments and use productive practices that are as sustainable, non exploitative and democratic as possible.

But let’s be clear:
‍THERE IS NO ETHICAL CONSUMPTION UNDER CAPITALISM.