The new Grand Rapids Internet Television project interviewed Marta Swain of the store Clothing Matters in Eastown. In the interview, Swain describes how clothing can a way of participating in “conscious commerce” and explains how Clothing Matters was started in 1996 as a way of encouraging people to think about the destructive manner in which clothing is made, both in terms of the environmentally destructive nature of cotton and the labor practices of the garment industry. In response to these realities, Swain started Clothing Matters and sells a variety of hemp, soy, and silk products.
The interview was recorded for Grand Rapids Internet Television, an internet-based media project that began in 2005. While much of the content has focused on entertainment-related aspects of life in Grand Rapids with interviews of local bands and programs celebrating the opening of new bars, the project has focused recently on local businesses including Vertigo Music and the Local First initiative.
