Entry Level

At the very start, Entry Level was little more than a feeling. The simmering resentment in your mind brought on by your boss asking at the last possible second if you can stay and work late on an evening you weren’t expecting to. The sinking realization that the value of your work makes your employer ten times the amount that you will actually end up seeing reflected in your paycheck. The eye-roll-induced indifference to a cable news panel of super-wealthy talking heads running a segment about hOw nObOdY wAnTs To WoRk AnYmOrE, labeling entire generations as “lazy” and “entitled” simply for expressing the sentiment that maybe our economic systems are a little bit unfair.

I wanted to explore the root causes of those feelings. What are the shared experiences of workers today and how does that reflect the health of our society as a whole? Why is it so hard for me to find a job in a field that interests me? Why am I not being paid in a way that reflects my worth to my employer? Why is everything I need in life so expensive and why am I so often told that it’s my fault for not being able to afford them?

That’s what Entry Level is all about—exploring through clothing and design the themes and experiences of those who spawned in at the bottom rung and are just trying to eke out an existence and an honest living in a world that all-too rarely cares to acknowledge the significance of their contributions.