Marcus Crook, co-founder of HoMie, on creating upcycled brand REBORN and building partnerships | Episode 3 | Seam Change Podcast

This is the interview is the recording of episode 3 of the podcast, Seam Change, featuring Marcus Crook. You can also listen to the full episode wherever you find your podcasts.

Episode Notes:

Marcus Crook is the co-founder HoMie, which stands for Homelessness of Melbourne Incorporated Enterprise, a not for profit which supports young people affected by homelessness or hardship. He’s also the creative director of their offshoot brand REBORN, which remakes damaged and unsold stock into new designs, which is what we’ll be focusing on in today’s episode. REBORN by HoMie was launched at Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2020, with their first collaboration with Champion following soon after. They use returns and damaged stock, which they cut, sewed and printed into new pieces. They source these materials from both the HoMie brand as well as other partners such as Nobody Denim, Upparel, Into Carry, and Champion. REBORN has also recently taken home some awards in acknowledgement of the work they do, including as a finalist for the Victorian Premier Design Award in 2020, and received a gold at the Australian Good Design Awards 2021.

This episode kicks off with how it all began, when REBORN organically grew out having a play with some leftover stock. We talk about how their existing networks and partners supported them through various collaborations, and the steps involved. Next, we talk more about the negotiation side, discussing their collab with Into Carry and what makes them love working with someone. Marcus also shares more about the partnership dynamics and breaks down how this can be split with both finances and responsibility. Finally, we talk Covid, challenges and grants, and how these have intersected with the brand, with Marcus wrapping up with his advice for others looking to work in this way.

PhD Research Information:

This podcast is part of Julia English’s PhD research at RMIT University. This research project has had ethics approval through RMIT University (2021-24506-15223).

Contact Information:

Email: julia.english@student.rmit.edu.au

Instagram: _julia.english_

Credits:

Music by Frank Henry.

This PhD research is funded by an Australian Research Training Program Scholarship.

Transcripts:

See attached PDF and Text files for transcripts.