CITIZEN-T PROJECT

Citizen-T began as a passion project, inspired by Artist and Founder, Stephanie Dillon’s personal life story, which she so kindly shared with us during our interview. We felt a deep sincerity exude from Stephanie Dillon as she disclosed the personal details of her life pre-Citizen-T. Stephanie Dillon’s personable character made for an even more intimate exchange. She recounted her unexpected breast cancer diagnosis five years ago, which sparked an outpouring of intense emotions that eventually fuelled her passionate pursuit of painting and fashion. Stephanie called this her “moment of clarity”, “[walking] out of [her] old life and [entering] a new life”. Her artistic pursuit brought upon immense healing. Stephanie chose to only paint on things that already existed, such as used clothing, used furniture and used canvases.

“Art is everywhere”, it is a physical and emotional commitment for Stephanie Dillon. Though we all have a mortal experience here on earth, mortality became an even heavier weight when Stephanie began to internalise that her time could potentially be limited. As a means of mitigating the resultant trauma and pain of her condition, art was her outlet; an outlet that suddenly became even more prevalent to her, where she would notice and appreciate art in its atypical forms. This open, newfound perspective essentially inspired the values of Citizen-T, “a company championed by artists, donned by ethical citizens, hell-bent on changing the world”. Stephanie would emphasise the cruciality of sustainable clothing and shopping. Her reignited passion for art allowed her to form a perspective that focused on the revamping of the old and disposed, creating art out of these items and making something beautiful again. This is Citizen-T’s founding concept.