About
Who We Are
Class Trouble is a collaboration between two pages: The Comrade Closet and Subversive Thread. The Comrade Closet is moderated by Andrea and Subversive Thread is co-moderated by Millie and Andrea. Our work is deeply informed by our learnings and conversations with autonomist comrades and community.
Andrea is a disabled anarchist Filipinx and Millie is non-binary Latinx — we’re both millenials and proud of all the ways in which our generation has single-handedly killed so many capitalist industries! (Actually we wish the hyperbolic headlines were more true).
How did Class Trouble start?
The Comrade Closet was created in January 2019 because Andrea had been long-term unemployed or underemployed and was finding it more and more difficult to find a sustainable job due to her chronic illness and disability. She figured she’d try creating clothing designs that expressed her politics very clearly (anarchist and anti-capitalist) and see where things went. Over time she began sharing more and more of her writing on Instagram, and as she was able to find remote and freelance work her focus shifted from clothing designs towards writing and graphic design. In February 2019, Andrea co-founded Subversive Thread with Millie to focus on leftist education and autonomist pedagogy - reflecting Millie's heart work and experience as an anarchist educator.
Over the years, we’ve also been able to fundraise for, contribute to, and signal boost a lot of requests for financial support in our community and network, so we’re glad to be able to use the pages to materially support BI&POC with meeting urgent needs.
Where and how are your products made?
We use a print and ship manufacturer called Printful because it is the most feasible and accessible for our members with chronic illness, mobility limitations, and financial restrictions. You can read more about Printful here.
Class Trouble’s orders are shipped from Printful’s fulfillment centers in Los Angeles and North Carolina. The majority of our designs are printed on Bella + Canvas shirts. However, we also use Anvil and Gildan shirts where colors and sizes are not available from our supplier in Bella + Canvas (colors: pink and maroon, sizes: 3XL and up).
Thoughts on Sustainability?
We believe that sustainability is important, and we also recognize that conversations on sustainability need to include access, labor, and capital. It’s not easy to balance so many different forms of access and need — financial, physical, racial, environmental — for ourselves, for people who want to support us, for the workers who create the merchandise that our designs are printed on, and for the global ecosystem. We often find that these discussions focus in on one or two points of contention but rarely encompass everything from end to end production to the access needs of individuals or groups trying to claw out a livable life for themselves under capitalism.
As a small collective, it is impossible for us to resolve all the contradictions of capitalism ourselves. Nonetheless, we are striving to find ways to mitigate our impact by partnering with local printers and sourcing reusable and dead stock were possible.
Part of our process is to consider these additional questions:
- Who are the workers - and who are the owners?
- What forms of access did or do the owners have?
- How are profits distributed? Are they equitable?
- What are the cost of goods sold? Who can afford them?
- When we say something is sustainable, sustainable for who?
I don’t see my size on your website, what can I do?
Some sizes may not be available due to limitations in our manufacturer’s inventory. If an item is not available in your size, please message us and we will try to customize a product using a different brand or item!
Interested in collaborating with us?
Send us a message at hello@classtrouble.club and let us know what you have in mind!