i heart Snoozer Loser

Sonia Tay, the woman behind the label and artist collective Snoozer Loser doesn’t have a designer profile. “That is so not me for a number of reasons,” she says “I like the idea that each season I can morph my philosophy based on what’s going on in the world and my life.” She is definitely not a designer that fits any sort of mold. When Sonia graduated from Parsons she started an artist collective under the moniker Snoozer Loser with her two besties. “We would find abandoned spaces in Manhattan and throw guerilla art installations.” One was a Pop-up Shop called Forever is a Daydream with one-off pieces that Sonia hand sewed, which marked the birth of her design label of the same name. Every couple of years they still get together and plan an installation. One of their favorites was their work for ‘Pantalaine,’ a multiple persons project featured in McSweeney’s Issue 17. Snoozer Loser designed a dual punk jacket and a pair of best friend gloves with crossed pinky fingers ”It was a commentary on modern codependent culture.”

Sonia’s philosophy behind the Snoozer Loser clothing label is to make ethical clothing affordable. “I pick a concept and execute it in an eco conscious way. Sometimes I can’t afford the gorgeous fair trade cottons but what I can do is use eco friendly dyes that I mix myself. Every summer I go to this artistic hippy commune in upstate New York and spend a good two to three weeks just mixing dyes for my collections.” Using indigo, cochineal, hibiscus, coreopsis, marigold and an assortment of other natural ingredients she gets gorgeous hues that can never be exactly reproduced. The dyes that she cooks up then become her color palette for the season. “I only make enough to dye a couple of pieces, really no two pieces will ever be exactly the same color.” Another aspect of Sonia’s personality that shows up in her clothes is her wanderlust. “Every couple months I take these global treasure hunts, I go knowing that I’m looking for something but not sure of what until it finds me. One of my favorite finds during my travels was an ancient flea market in a forgotten town in the English countryside. I ended up with a hand full of antique brass quarter holding contraptions that I put on little gold chains.” She clearly means it when she says, “My line is an organic extension of what I do in life. I try to take a very holistic approach to the business. Do it because you love it and because it comes naturally to you.”

Interview from The Uniform Project
www.snoozerloser.com