From the editor
The history of Jews and the garment industry is as braided together as a loaf of challah. That history has been explored in books and walking tours galore, but Heeb reinvented it with a photoshoot of sweatshop-themed fashion. And Heeb is still on the forefront of Jewish fashion––just check out the merch store, where you can buy a T-shirt to remind people that “Jesus saves, Moses invests,” or to show off your status as an Honorary Heeb.
Mik Moore — President, Heeb Media
Photos by Michael Creagh
From 2006
Jewish Fashion on the Sweatshop Floor
Whether running a factory, running a sewing machine, or running a mouth off, there is nary a Jew who doesn’t have someone in his or her family tree who spent time on the sweatshop floor. Jews have toiled in sweatshops, organized against sweatshops and, now that most of those factories are shuttered, moved into housing converted from the sweatshops their ancestors ran from. We can’t claim this story hasn’t already been told, but we feel confident it’s never been told as it is in these pages.
This excerpt is from an article originally published in HEEB #10, Spring 2006.
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The Rabbit Hole
- The Enduring Trajectory of Jewish FashionLong Now, 2023 >
- Jewish Immigrants in the Garment IndustryMy Jewish Learning >
- History of Sweatshops: 1880-1940National Museum of American History, 2024 >
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