Sky High Farm Workwear: Fashion with a Cause

From a farm in NY, Sky High Farm Workwear aims to support food sovereignty.

Sky High Farm Workwear, founded by artist Dan Colen and Daphne Seybold, formerly of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market, is more than just a fashion label. It is a powerful initiative that supports the altruistic work of Sky High Farm in New York, a farm created to change the way food is distributed. This non-profit organisation is dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to essential resources, including high quality and appropriate food, while building long-term partnerships to ensure food security and food sovereignty. Food security exists only when a community has access to enough food (physically, socially, and economically) to meet its nutritional needs and cultural preferences, as well as to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. The unequal distribution of nutritious food causes serious gaps in food security in New York, the state where Sky High Farm was founded.

Since 2011, Sky High Farm has given more than 50,000 kg of vegetables and 30,000 pounds of animal protein to organisations that help people get access to food all over New York State.

Fighting food insecurity

Food insecurity is the result of an unjust food system. It is the result of agricultural policies that prioritise profit and politics over human needs. It contributes significantly to pollution and climate change. It abuses land to produce crops, such as corn and soybeans, that are not used to feed people, but to feed dairy cows or to be processed into ethanol or sweeteners. Furthermore, farmers who do not belong to large collectives have historically been disenfranchised, intentionally denied access to land and resources. These variables have combined to sustain a racist, unjust, and unsustainable system. Food insecurity is a symptom of a larger problem that must be examined in its entirety to be fully understood.

Sky High Farm Workwear’s Mission: Beyond Fashion

Sky High Farm Workwear began as a philanthropic branding model, a way to communicate farm messages through fashion. Their goal is to use the power of popular culture and commerce for good: to fight for food access and food sovereignty, which they do from their Sky High farm. This brand provides not only clothing, but also a strong commitment to the community and a distinctive corporate structure.

Social commitment

Sky High Farm Universe prioritises those in greatest need of assistance. Each year, 50% of brand profits are donated to Sky High Farm, directly supporting charitable initiatives. The remaining profits are distributed to employees and investors, demonstrating our dedication to the people who enable our mission over corporate profits.

Strategic Partnership with Dover Street Market

Sky High Farm Universe was created in collaboration with Dover Street Market’s Emerging Brands Incubator. Sky High Farm can focus on its mission because Dover Street Market handles the manufacturing, sales, and distribution of its collections, ensuring that our products reach the market in an efficient and sustainable manner.

Every purchase not only gives you unique style, but also propels you towards a more just and sustainable future for all. Sky High Farm Workwear aims to transform fashion into a force for social good. And, of course, his clothes are designed and manufactured in accordance with the same principles. Contemporary cuts, organic, recycled, or scrap fabrics, and motifs inspired by Colen’s illustrations and the graphic designs of other artists. Sky High Farm’s vibrant style has already collaborated with Converse, Comme des Garçons SHIRT and Balenciaga.

The new Sky High Farm Worwear collection, with its bold graphic designs and direct messages, is now available from FOOTDISTRICT.