Zips!

I chose zips because they're the epitome of globalization. The complexity involved in something as simple as a zip is staggering: the ore extracted for the metal, smelted, moulded and transported, added to a garment and shipped around the world. It might have cost a couple of cent to produce but in the functioning of that Gucci wallet or Louis Vuitton purse, it's priceless. That two hundred dollar handbag isn't worth much if your possessions/loseables don't stay in it. You're being sold a lie: that a label is worth something, that a brand deserves respect.

Fuck. That.

When you buy those things, you're no more special than anyone else who has enough money to buy it. The truest form of who you are is found in the things you make. You're filled with all these thoughts and emotions and when you create something, that's the closest you'll ever get to having a physical representation of who you are. All those experiences you've had, the lessons learned and moments of realisation that've influenced exactly who you are, made real, tangible. No advertisement or label is ever going to tell you that.

The happiest people I know make things. My friends who are musicians, painters or photographers have a glimmer and a sparkle in their creativity. You're being advertised to all your life with this message that if you want to express yourself and be happy, you've to consume and that's a fallacy. If you want to show the world who you are, then make something.