A Bit About Us

Amy Matthews and I met in the fall of 2006.  We worked in a gallery framing “art” in the basement.  At the time I also taught Art History at Colorado State University and had another job teaching art to small children.  Amy was working full time as the shop’s manager and as a single parent to her little girl.  Needless to say, the daily drudgery of working long hours surrounded by polystyrene was no way to envision a future we both wanted.

The first time I met Amy for my interview I remember she had on the cutest outfit: nothing expensive or showy, but I could definitely tell that this was a woman with style, and if she had the chance to go all out it would look awesome.  Later I found out she had made her living prior to her shop job sewing clothing.

I remember that first winter I made handbags for my friends at Christmas: knitted exteriors with brocade interiors.  Soon after I bought an industrial sewing machine and just kept making.  Looking back, I can see I was having a bit of an identity crisis.  Working three jobs that were all dead ends, barely making those dead ends meet had me all strung out and depressed.  My husband gave me great words of advice: “instead of thinking about what you want to be, think about what you want to make.”  Well, the list was long so I began each day to make things.

Soon thereafter Amy asked me if I would help her: she had just gotten an order for 84 pairs of pants (Rock Pocket Bells), due to be shipped to a boutique on the east coast right away!  That spring Amy and I sewed together in every spare moment we shared.  The experience taught us what was possible and soon after finishing the order we both quit our jobs and founded Mnemosyne (“ne-mo-seen”).

Central to our dream is the principle of sustainablity.  We use a variety of materials in our designs: bamboo, organic cotton, hemp, tencel, silk, and repurposed materials and notions.  Our designs are inspired by tradition but always have an eye to the future.  That is essentially why we chose “Mnemosyne” as our name.

Mnemosyne is a Greek goddess (I love Ancient art history!) who was the Titan daughter of Earth and Sky.  Her name means memory, or a mind-full.  Our approach to making clothes is just that: “mindful” of the past and future.  That’s why our logo has two faces.  We began with the Parnasius Mnemosyne butterfly and with the help of a friend arrived at our unique flutterby.  We are two women who spend each day mindfully looking to the past for inspiration, and to the future for our path of greenery.