Barnes. The Label all started more so as a vow to myself rather than it being for anyone else.

It first began when I was experiencing one of the most challenging periods of my life. Some might like to call it.. good ole rock bottom. I mean, my god, I felt so stuck expressing myself. The thought of this paragraph would have given me an anxiety attack. I truly yearned to be accepted, to be heard, to be understood. But, I felt like no other person could understand the extreme feelings I was going through.

But, then one day when I was out at a thrift store.. something shifted. All of sudden, it felt like the clothes that I was seeing were.. different. The colors, the patterns.. all seemed like they were revealing something to me. It was a path towards finding my inner expression and it felt like- in that moment- all was way more clear.

So, I went home that day and began creating with the secondhand clothes that seemed so purposeless to others, but I saw something with. With time, I ended up creating a full blown practice for myself to make space, create, and face what I needed to heal or wanted to express.. This turned into writing, creating characters and a whole lot of self-discovery.

I also realized that with this process something even more symbiotic was going on… as the secondhand pieces I found began providing me with another life-  I was also providing them with one.

And so - truly - it has made me wonder…

1. Can I provide a similar space for others along their own paths towards self-expression?

2. Can the same material that has guided me with my own self-expression, also provide the same for others in the form that they need?

This process is what Barnes. The Label has been made for.

So- please.

I’d like to think of it as discovering the physical thread between me and you <3

It is an absolute honor to be able to create with you.

-A. Barnes