Hand-painted clothing

since 2015

Hi, I’m Hele Elgas, the artist behind every brushstroke of Hele Art Wear.
You could say my life has been one long experiment — and I’m still in the middle of it. I love learning new things and trying out ideas that maybe shouldn’t work… but somehow do.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a tiny country called Estonia, once part of the Soviet Union — a place where being different wasn’t exactly encouraged. Everyone had to look the same, dress the same, even think the same. No wonder I grew up craving color, freedom, and a little rebellion.

As a kid, I went to art school   —  but back then, there was only one “correct” way to draw. I got bored fast. People around me said you can’t make a living with art (a classic, right?), so I went on to study economics and worked in an office like a responsible adult. Until one day, I realized I’d traded creativity for spreadsheets and ended up in a gray fog of depression.

So I did something drastic — I went back to university, this time to study craft technologies and design. And I did it while raising two kids, which just proves that following your creative path is always possible — even with little humans running around. No one should be afraid to learn something new,    no matter what stage of life they’re in.

That period taught me that creativity isn’t just about talent — it’s about stubbornness, survival, and finding  color even when life feels completely beige and grey.

At that second university, I rediscovered painting. And honestly, I haven’t stopped since. I started painting everything — furniture, fabric, whatever stood still long enough. When I wanted a new denim jacket, I just painted one myself. That’s how my art literally stepped off the paper.

We talked a lot about upcycling and sustainability at school, and that idea stuck with me. Why create new waste when we can transform what already exists? Over the past decade, I’ve painted on countless pre-loved garments — but sometimes I go further. I cut them apart, reassemble them into new shapes, stitch unexpected seams, and only then paint them. Because true creativity, like true sustainability, is about transformation.

Hele Art Wear stands proudly on the slow fashion side of the fence. Fast fashion may be quick, but it’s also mindless — and we’ve all had enough of that. I design for those who refuse to blend in, who value individuality over trends and want their clothes to say something. My clothes are expressive, sometimes bold, sometimes funny, but always unique. I like to think of them as tattoos for fabric — every one with its own story.

Most of the clothing I use is vintage or secondhand, because beauty doesn’t have to come new — sometimes it just needs a little imagination and a second story. These days, my models are my mom and my daughter, and yes, they wear my experiments proudly.

Hele Art Wear is about individuality in a mass-produced world.
 It’s about giving old clothes new life — and giving you something new to love. 💙