iRi x Eva Joan Studio
At iRi, we have a strict no incineration policy — nothing gets destroyed, nothing gets landfilled. Damaged styles that can't be sold get a second life: through upcycling projects, artist collaborations, or content work that later finds a home in our showroom.
For Earth Month, we went looking for a collaborator who doesn't just talk about sustainability — but lives it through their craft. That's how we found Eva Joan Studio, a small repair and alteration studio tucked into Jane Street in the West Village. Founded by Emma Villeneuve and Bjorn Eva Park, Eva Joan takes worn or damaged clothes and transforms them into something more personal — through custom patches, visible mending, embroidery, and creative reworking. Their philosophy felt immediately familiar: that things are worth fixing, and that fixing something well is its own kind of art.
We handed them a damaged WES Black Red Low Top — one that couldn't be sold — and gave them full creative freedom. What came back surprised us in the best way!
Using oversized black sequins, hand-sewn directly onto the neoprene upper, they turned our most casual sneaker into something unexpectedly elevated. Sophisticated and still a little playful 😉. Quietly loud, in the best way — which is pretty much the most iRi thing we could say about it.
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