The Boy and The River

The short story and its collection

Two weeks ago, we launched this year’s Chores collection: The Boy and The River.

Even by slow fashion standards, it’s an extremely small collection. There are ten distinct objects, designed collaboratively with this year’s crew of Chores artists, and crafted from elemental materials that will one day return to the earth: paper, wool, silver, and clay.

Each of these pieces — the cardigan, the scarf, the jewelry, the ceramics — were designed from a very special short story written by Shaina Yang for this season of Chores. I realized just last week that the short story was actually so central to our process — that we kind of forgot to tell anyone else about it??

The Boy and The River — the short story

Back in March, when I was in Shanghai pondering new beginnings for Chores, I asked Shaina if she would like to write a short story to anchor the collection. In just days, she wrote a beautiful, strange, and melodic tale that we ended up publishing as its own book.

“The Boy and The River is a short story based off of a memory that I have heard recounted my whole life — one from my father’s early childhood living in the rural outskirts of 1960’s Shanghai. With it, the world of Chores 2025 was born: a dreamy, river-bound memory-of-a-memory of Shanghai — rooted in her fringes and her land and her families, rather than the hustle and bustle she’s perhaps better known for.” —Shaina Yang

From the story, the other Chores artists crafted the collection through the lens of their own practices and mediums: me through knitwear, Nicki through silver jewelry, and Anna through ceramic vases and teacups.

The Rain and The Clouds

The white teacups were called “The Clouds,” featuring Anna’s delicate porcelain vessels and my painted swirls. We gave them each a touch of white gold luster — the light glinting off of the ripples of the river.

The blue cups are “The Rain,” specifically of the droplets hitting the surface of the water at night. Anna hand-trimmed the base of each cup to give it a kind of texture that can only be sensed through the drinker’s fingertips.

“As I sat with our central story, I was struck by the contrast at play and the tumbling between opposites — above and below, light and dark, past and present. I knew I wanted to play with fluidity to echo the wave and wake of the water. The image of the lights twinkling across the shore turned into kisses of white gold luster — delicate touches of reflection.” —Anna Letson

From far away, these cups are rather unassuming. But that’s the thing about handmade ceramics — they invite you to discover more deeply and take no detail for granted as you slow down and let your senses bring you into the present moment.

The Willow, Swallow, Butterfly, and Bee

“I melted wax with a soldering iron and then dipped it in water to quickly solidify it. The wax cycled through states of liquidity and solidity similar to the story’s protagonist slipping above and under the surface of the river, or in and out of consciousness.” —Nicki Cherry

From Nicki’s tiny sculptures, we worked to design a functional, versatile jewelry system that would flex and flatter a range of bodies and styles.

We imagined each of these objects as a character that lived in the world of “The Boy and The River,” to which Shaina gave names: “The Willow” for the necklace with its languid boughs; “The Butterfly” and “The Bee” for the two single earrings that felt energetically both together and distinct.

And if that wasn’t enough — Shaina also composed poems to pair with each of the characters. “The Swallow” was my favorite.

The poems are published in the book alongside the short story, but also as postcards to send to your loved ones. Just because we love snail mail.

“The Paper Boat” Scarf

The paper boat in Shaina’s story is such an evocative character. I remember folding many paper boats as a child — delighting in how they first became hats on the way to becoming boats (iykyk). I loved how real they felt despite being made of paper, made true by the power of a child’s imagination and sense of adventure.

The scarf in the collection is an elongated trapezoid mimicking the paper boat’s shape, knitted in a two-toned reversible tubular jacquard (for my knitting nerds), bearing the last line of “The Boy and The River” in Shaina’s handwriting.

I’m a garment designer after all, so the scarf is designed to be flattering and functional. I tweaked the proportions so that it can be worn draped over the shoulder, tied around the neck, or wrapped over the head for whenever one’s ears get chilly.

But I was absolutely delighted to see other people styling the scarf in their own creative ways:

We made “The Paper Boat” in three colors, which seemed to suit three very distinct personalities. To me, the “Butterfly Blue” has a very calm, elevated feel. The “Mustard Green” is dynamic, energizing, and uncommon. The “Inkstone Black” is extremely versatile while also giving “literate” with its subtle reference to brush calligraphy.

I’m especially pleased with how well the yarn works in this knit construction — we used a 100% extra fine Italian merino wool with a low pilling score, and in this specific scarf construction, it is very light yet warm, soft yet hardwearing. Love a touch of low-maintenance luxury!

“The Current” — our first chore coat cardigan

This is probably where my inner knitting nerd can hide no longer.

In March, I had a somewhat crazy idea: “what if I made my embroidered chore coat into a knit?” It’s a deceptively simple task — to capture the essence of one very specific object in a completely different form. I worked with a lovely local knitting factory to bring this idea to life, convincing them one step at a time to try something strange and new.

The process of making this cardigan was an exceptional learning experience for me — my first time sourcing yarn directly from the manufacturer; first time choosing and collaborating with a knitting factory; first time designing a sweater; first time navigating the myriad issues that come up during the production process.

The resulting piece was somehow both: exactly what I set out to design, yet also beyond my wildest dreams?? It’s casual yet luxurious, playful yet elevated, delightfully yet functionally warm. Everything I’d hoped for, but perhaps wasn’t sure we could actually pull off.

“The Current is a unisex knit cardigan that reimagines the timeless chore coat form — wrapping her wearer in soft splatters of color intarsia-knit into the blank-canvas-black of a classic chore coat silhouette. Weighty yet smooth, The Current doesn’t cling; with a balanced nature that feels steady and constant, she drapes and flows about the body instead. Like the ever-flowing current of a hometown river, her presence is comforting and familiar, yet distinctly one-of-a-kind — inviting you to revisit her again and again, and to rediscover something that feels new every time.” —lovely description by Shaina Yang

It’s crazy what you can accomplish when you follow an idea, step by step, until it’s real. If folks are interested, perhaps I can do a deeper dive into the cardigan in my next entry.

Last week to pre-order

You can now shop the collection on our shiny new website: chores.world

While some pieces are ready to ship, the knitwear and jewelry will be available to pre-order until Sunday, October 12th.

This means that we will be putting in our production orders based on how many of each piece has been pre-ordered. For example, on Monday 10/15 — we’ll order our yarn. Once the yarn arrives (1-2 weeks), we’ll start knitting (1-3 weeks depending on the piece). If all goes according to plan, we’ll be able to start shipping orders by the end of October.

Your pre-orders help to tell our team exactly how many of each object we’ll need to produce, and in what colors/sizes. This helps us to approach production in a much more manageable, sustainable, and waste-free way. Step by step, we’ll be able to make our operation more sustainable for all!

I’d love to know what you think of everything — drop me a comment or an email, and stay tuned for more. Thank you as always for your attention and support!