We live in a throwaway society, yes, but you can do something about that. Clothing in particular is discarded far too quickly, even though you could still do very interesting things with it. But often there is simply a lack of ideas. That’s what the sisters CRISPI and KAT from Limassol thought and started their creative upcycling venture: The SOUR SISTERS PROJECT!
In the beginning, the two experimented with their own old clothes, trimmed or dyed them. Of course, not everything was always perfect right away, but with a little practice great garments were created. All are of course super unique. Step by step more people around them have noticed what great clothes are always getting created by the SOUR SISTERS, they started to bring them their old stuff and were amazed about what the two creatives did with it.
Meanwhile the two not only went to numerous markets and networked with other groups, but they also began to organize their own markets in the art space STOA TEMPELI. We talked to CRISPI in an interview about their project and how they make the interesting fashion. You can listen to the podcast or read the transcribed text.
We are sitting at the moment in the backyard of the new wonderful artist place STOA TEMPELI in Limassol on Cyprus. Here a really great art place is developing and next to me I am having the artist CRISPI in an interview. She and her sister create and upcycle clothing. Their project is called the SOUR SISTERS PROJCT and she will tell us more about it now.
Hello and yes, really nice that we are able to show a bit about our little community project in Limassol. The SOUR SISTERS PROJECT is a project that started with and my sister Kat a few years ago. We were just tired of our clothes, we were tired of going shopping, we were tired of the same standard fashion thing. We kind of wanted to make things a bit more unique, a bit more alternative. But we could not find the right shops and places to do it. We did not really have the knowledge of sewing, but we had something creative. We like to cut things and we like to paint things. So we decided to get just all our clothes and give them a new life. So we cut our t-shirts, we cut our trousers. We painted them, we sprayed them, we bleached them. We were trying and did just anything we could to make them into a new unique piece. And then eventually we had friends who came up to us and asked us “How the fuck you did that? Where can I get that?”. And they started to bring us pieces as well. And so we kind of thought, maybe we can expand on this a bit more. So it started as an upcycling project.
Friends would bring us old clothes or found clothes, and were just trying to add color patterns or to experiment through that. And then we started to get more things from people with old stocks and from shops. Or stuff that can’t be sold again in a normal shop. We got them for really cheap prices or even donated to us. So later we started to selling at markets. And then we discovered that we can also sell on Instagram during Covid. And that really saved a lot, because it gave us the time and place to experiment fully. Instagram and the Social Media gave us a platform, where we could show ourselves and expand on this and basically to be able to sell our stuff online. We just had a free shop. No rent, no anything, we could work from home or from our studios.
People could write you and tell you, this or that shirt on your channels look very nice, can I buy it.
Yes, exactly. One thing that me and my sister decided is that we hate waste. We don’t want to support this industry of producing more things than we can sell. So what we decided to do is to have some of our pieces that we make. To have them in our shops or market stores. But we also want to work a lot of custom clothes. So you can tell us, yes, I really like your clothes and I want to have a t-shirt in this size with those kind of patterns and purple and green color. Or something like that. And we would explain to you, yes, we can do that. We would make this super nice custom piece for you, but it is never the way you want to have it exactly to be. But that is part of the magic. And this also makes sure that we don’t have things that we can’t sell. We don’t have a huge stock that is sticking around. We don’t want to support this. We want to have as less waste as we can and to make sure that we are giving unique pieces to every person.
I checked some videos and reels on your Instagram and it is really interesting when show how you do your clothes and how you prepare different techniques. There was a video and first I didn’t know what you were doing there. But you put some clothes very tight together with some rubber bands. But then I realized, ok, you put them into the washing machine and then you add some colors. And when you get the rubber band off again you these structures. I am sure you have a lot of different ways how to work with the clothes.
Yes, of course. I mean the process, the development of it, it took us a lot of experimenting and as well failing, a lot dyeing many clothes until you find the right process. The right process for us. But we also found a lot of information online which are very helpful. Everything we learned you can also find on Youtube videos. And then yes, just by practicing and trying out. You know, if you find the correct dyes and the process that works for you, then anyone can do it. Our video that you mentioned is a recent one. Those are actually the first steps when you are dyeing the clothes. After we give the cloths a kind of bath to make sure that all the dirt and all the chemicals that are stuck on the clothes are getting washed away. We can dry them a little bit and then tie them up. Yes, so with elastic bands and then we can spread the paint on the section that we want. And then we are going to see how it looks when you open it. So that would determine the placement and the shape when you open it up.
Very interesting and also very important. Like you described that we are wasting so many resources and we are just keep on producing without think about for what or for who. A lot of stuff gets just thrown away and it is a general problem. We have to think more about how we can reuse things and how we can recycle. So 100 % of the clothes you make actually would have been thrown away?
Possibly and unfortunately yes. Actually we got really inspired by a few crews in Cyprus that try to raise awareness on this issue. Like there is a group from Nicosia called “Dostu Chance”, which translated would mean “Give it a chance”. One of the people from this crew travels around the world and collects things and then he gives them “another chance”. He also supports many local artists to rework on the clothes. So he gave us a lot of help and a lot of chances – which is what he does – to expose our products and our work to other places. I really can recommend to look them up. Another crew that came over was the “Fashion Revolution”, which is actually a global movement. They raise awareness on fast fashion and how bad it is for the environment. Just the fashion industry has a lot of waste and it also kind of, you know those sweatshops. Like these things that exist through this fast fashion and through the fashion industry. It is quite harmful for communities and for people and for the environment. So it is nice to be conscious at least when we go to a shop and buy things. Think about where it came from maybe.
The hoodies with prints are a collaboration with T-Shirt Junkies
How it was produced and who produced it.
Yes, exactly. Who manufactured it and how. Maybe also try your old t-shirt. Try to give it a second chance. Or if you don’t want to wear it anymore like a t-shirt, maybe you can make some other clothes out of it. Or with your trousers, if you don’t want them to be long anymore because they look weird on you, maybe you can make them into shorts. And this is kind of what we want to do. We want to give the things another chance to be reworn. So we are not straight away going into the fast fashion industry and we are not giving money away to industries that are maybe harmful in the long term.
So first you started with social media and began selling via Instagram. But then as well some markets came. First some markets where you took part, but then you already made your own events.
Yes, this was my favorite thing to do. A collective was born. That is how you connect with other artists. So we just started to make a little arts and crafts markets where people would come. We advertised it online and if you wanted to apply for it you could just send pictures of what you do. Most of the time everyone is welcome. There is no chance that someone would have something that doesn’t fit into the situation. So we started making there markets here in the STOA TEMPELI in Limassol. A “Stoa” is like a little closed up area. Like a little street inside with some buildings around. And this is what happened here. We were setting up, many other artists were setting up and everyone would bring their friends or people would come from the street.
But the most important things that happened for us here was that we met a lot of other artists from all over the island. And you just connect straight away. You would meet someone who makes candles, you meet someone who is doing graffiti, you meet someone sewing clothes or selling handmade jewelry, socks, underwear, just everything you can think of. Then another causing happened and everyone started talking about collaborations. This is my favorite, because then you just say: “Ok, you make socks, I dye socks, why don’t we do a collaboration together and then we make some crazy dyed handmade socks“. You just make something really original when two artists are working together. Then that just brings you a step ahead and that exposes it even to more people. Because you are exposing it to your crowd and the other artists to their crowd. You get just really nice things being created.
I think as well this is a good link to the whole place where we are sitting at the moment, the “STOA TEMPELI”. If listeners or readers come to Limassol in the future they should definitely check out this place here, because it is developing more and more, but there is already a little coffee place, a pizza place, a bar, pop up stores and other clothing shops. But you are still actually in the beginning and there is a lot more going to come. But it is already a little hot spot for art and creativity. There will be a lot more events and it is a place where artists can meet and you can see cool products from artist.
Yes, I definitely recommend to check the place out if people are visiting the city. Here you have a little bit of everything what you can find here and it is all in one place, that is also the beauty of it. So you can come in the evening and get a pizza and hang out at the bar. The bar has usually DJs and different types of music. They bring DJs from all over Cyprus, so you can also check online what event is happening. When it is not super hot, like in autumn or spring time, you also get little events that happen, other than the markets. You might get performances that happen here, also cinemas and open mics or hip hop events. You just find everything. Also people from all over can connect with us or with the bar or the place and they can bring in an idea. If for example you want to make something with platform, like a little Vagabundler event and people can see some photos or get some information presented, the people here would be really happy about such projects. The people here would rarely say no to an idea about something. And this is the nice thing about it, everybody would support each other.
Can you tell us a little bit about the history of this place and the neighborhood? You told me that years ago it was actually the former red light district and meanwhile it is a completely run down area.
Yes, so the area where we are now is called “Plateia Iroon”. There is a monument in the middle and around it are old buildings. We are in the historical center of Limassol right now. There is a lot of old building that have just been left and there are a lot of building that are getting build, new things. There is also an university here now called “Debag”. It is a new university and they offer a lot of creative subjects as well, like fine arts and so on. And they support as well the creative projects around here. The whole area here used to be a red light district around 30 or 40 years ago. Every house had a little red lamp. Around in the 60s, the 70s and possible even in the 80s it was the red light district. So this was the place where people would come to find women dancing, prostitution, playing card games and gambling or stuff like this. So for that, this was the place to be. Then it kind of died out in this neighborhood and in the recent years, I would say maybe since 10 or 15 years this place is turning more and more into an alternative scene. It is like everything is coming back to life again.
You could even say it already is becoming more gentrified then it was. People are investing, fixing it and keeping it up. A lot more artists moved into the area and if you wander around you can find a lot of little art studios, shops selling are or little galleries. So the guys found this place here, Yani was one of the first people. He was really lucky to find the place like this. Before it was a dump. I didn’t see it myself, but he said it was in a really bad condition. They had to fix it up a lot and they also found a lot of weird stuff lying around. He told me it was like a time warp. The things were just left in a really weird way. So they fixed it up and started the art space “STOA TEMPELI”. It is a project that is constantly changing. It started off with the café, then there was the vegan food place, so Tempeli and then Green Berry, then there came the pizza place which is called Piazza Pizza. Later on the Violet Club came, which is a little shop selling collectible items. It is kind like a concept store, they also have sneakers and clothes. Then the bar which is called Dusty Monkey came, which I can definitely recommend to visit if you come to Limassol. You can have a look around, drink a nice cocktail and see what the situation is.
Don’t forget the streetart and graffiti fans, because you have some great artworks around here. The artists MAGOS and OLEK did cool pieces outside and in the pizza place. There are also really beautiful graffiti and characters in the alley and the hallway.
Definitely. We were really lucky to have people that can express themselves and their art and were willing to share it in this place. And they made it really beautiful. I think it gives the space a proper atmosphere and character. So it is the kind of place where you would find graffiti, but the graffiti, paintings and murals that you find on the wall are probably changing. There are also stickers everywhere. When you come you can also bring stickers and put them on the big sticker walls and add them to the collection.
And in the future will there maybe also be a shop for the Sour Sisters Project? Or do you want to stay shopless?
I think we want to stay without a shop to be honest. Then we are more flexible and we like this idea of being able to just pop up anywhere. It is possible anywhere we want and feel. I also think it can get a bit same if we are stuck at the same spot. I don’t think it is in our character and I like the idea of this being nomadic. There are a few shops where we kind of leave some things with them. One of them is called “Guadeloupe Concept Store”. You can find it near the castle area and they collect artworks from different artists. It is all about supporting local artists. If you go to that shop you can find artworks from creatives from all over Cyprus. We have some things there, we have also some thing in the Violet Club and also the pieces online. But I don’t think we will ever going to have a shop.
Did you went to markets to other cities as well or only here in Limassol?
We want to go all over Cyprus, so we have been to different cities. We have been to markets in Nicosia, Larnaka, Paphos and other places. To all the cities we can, we try to pop up somewhere. We find out about this markets through other markets. You network with people that you meet and if I do a market here, then I invite some artists from Nicosia, and then they invite me to a market which they know about in Nicosia or somewhere else and so on. But we haven’t been to other countries yet. I think this would be fun.
What would you like to tell other people who are throwing too many clothes away and who want to start doing their own clothing as well?
I think it would be nice for people to think before they throw something straight away. Maybe start with experiment a little bit. Cut the sleeves of your t-shirt before you throw it away or try to cut some other parts. There are plenty of videos online how you can upcycle your own clothes before you throw them away. Give them a little chance for yourself or give them to charities or refugees or to people who need them more. Definitely don’t throw them away and if they are still good, then find a way to give them a second life, a second chance. That’s what I would say and the advice I would give.
It was interesting talking about your projects and maybe in a few years when I would come back again we will see how this place looks like and the clothing project is also super interesting. Thanks for the interview.
Thank you as well! And anyone who is travelling through Cyprus and is around in the area and would like to connect, feel free to contact us. We are always happy to meet new people from all around the world.
INFOTHEK
Artists: SOUR SISTERS PROJECT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sour.sisters.project
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