“I love your watch; it’s so unique,” I said to a Yobel customer.
“Thank you – I love it too," he said. "It’s actually handmade. I don’t know the guy personally, but I know his story. The watch brand is Hot & Tot. The maker’s last name is Hottentot; he took a twist on his name and turned it into a brand. For every watch purchased, a tree is planted.”
It’s fashion with a story.
Yobel here in Colorado Springs is a collector of this story and countless others.
Sustainable, Fair-Trade Fashion
Two local townies met and married here in Colorado Springs. They were both passionate about sustainable, fair-trade fashion and customers of Yobel in its infancy. When the owner of Yobel was planning on expanding her annual travel, she approached Emily and Clay Ross about the business.
“It’s not for sale,” she told them. “But, if it were, I would want you to be the buyers.”
Emily had always dreamed of being a fashion designer. She recalls sewing her own clothing during childhood, including her own prom dresses. Red carpet couture was her favorite. As she got older and started to look at college, she notes that the cost of attending a prestigious fashion school was out of the question. Not only that, the more involved she got in the fashion world, the more disillusioned she became.
“The [fashion] models live in a crazy scene, and then there is an understanding of where the clothes came from,” Emily said.
She recounts that the world she had loved for so long just didn’t match up with her personal values. Although she still loved fashion, she had a heart to change the scene of it.
So Emily took a job in human resources. And she continued to make ethical, sustainable, slow-fashion choices in her own closet. A few years down the road, she heard about a company called Toms. She researched the company and found that its values aligned with hers and she became a loyal customer. At one point, she was able to meet the founder and pass along a few designs of her own. Toms actually produced at least one of those designs and that happens to be the first shoe that Yobel carried.
Yobel Storefront
Emily and Clay became the owners of Yobel in September 2019.
Soon after, they opened their storefront on 11 E. Bijou St., where they source ethical, fair-trade, sustainable, slow fashion. They carry quality, one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted pieces using recycled and up-cycled materials that are eco-friendly. And they can’t wait to tell you the stories behind their pieces. Dutch wood watches, leather from Kenya or jewelry where the proceeds go to assisting victims of sex trafficking – everything in this store is sourced with the goal of assisting others toward success.
If you want to truly wear your values on your sleeve, Yobel has the conversational pieces to allow you to do so.
Website: shopyobel.com/
Facebook + Instagram: @shopyobel
