behind collection one: wonder

We were created to be free — people consumed with wonder.

Introducing our first collection: Wonder, Summer 2020.

The concept of Wonder Age didn't really come into fruition until May 2019. I was on the phone with a friend who'd just gotten a prophetic word about church planting in Europe. I felt like I was suppose to help get her there. While she was speaking, I remembered the idea I had the previous summer about starting a streetwear line that would help support missionaries and students in ministry training programs around the world. What was initially a "yes, but not right now" dream started to take form.

So I started brainstorming. I was reading more. Writing more. I was acutely listening to everything for inspiration. I engaged in more conversations. I was scrolling Pinterest constantly. I created more. Scribbled more. In journals. On sticky notes in the hair salon. On Starbucks napkins. I started selling my artwork on Redbubble and Etsy. I wanted to see what sucked and what was a win, but for the most part, I was just putting myself out there. Great or not. Ugly or not. Using fonts I liked. Color combos that made sense to me. Doing the best I could with what I had. Really just fighting to get my imagination on paper and into the hands of people. It's a very vulnerable thing to do.

I mean, to be honest, I hadn't designed a shirt in years. Like since high school. I'm 27 now. I'm LOLing remembering myself now be-boping through my school's cafeteria, showing people my designs for student section shirts. And arguing with girls who were not at all about me pushing a "Raider Gang or Die" t-shirt. I honestly think Wiz Khalifa would be proud - LOL. It's funny that what I'm doing now with Wonder Age is a huge step towards what I dreamt of doing when I was a kid. So much of the heart of this company is rooted in my childhood dreams.  

What inspired my first collection of Wonder Age was my passion for guarding and nurturing the dreams of creatives. A lot of what many of us dream about doing as kids is in seed form (even through adulthood), though we can see them at full bloom in our imaginations. The journey from maintaining childhood dreams to adulthood is so often based on our surroundings. Just like in nature, a seed cannot evolve without sunlight, water, or dependence on earth's elements to help it grow. A dream cannot survive in the soil of hopelessness and isolation, the heat of comparison, or under a toxic stream of negative talk and hyper-criticism. I've found that only in being a part of a community of faith, collaboration and encouragement that my dreams have come to life. The Wonder Collection exists as fruit of that.

2020 has been trash in a lot of ways, but something that I have sensed spiritually all year is the revelation God wants to bring to people across the world. And that revelation as looked like loss, the exposure of unjustifiable evil, shaken routines, the public uncovering of hidden sin in those that many of us respected. All the while, God doing unshakable things in us personally. He's shown us our strengths and our weaknesses. He's used these circumstances to bring about togetherness, purpose, justice and revival. I mean, name another time, other than 2016, where we were all laughing at the same memes together. Dancing to the same songs together. Crying at the same injustices. Sharing the same desire to just be with one another. 

If you've made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time to see what inspired this collection. And thank you for shopping Wonder Age! Maybe some of the designs will come back in the future. As for now, I'm excited about what's to come. Especially the winter collection in 2021. It's all about identity and has Y2K vibes for daysssss.

Talk soon. 

x, Erica