Our Story

Howdy! Welcome to 139Made...

We are a home grown, creative Christian apparel company in Houston, Texas.
Our creations are based on Christian faith which we express in messages on our t-shirts and products in this store. Our desire is to share the Good News of God and to support the fight against human trafficking.

HOW IT STARTED

We are Inka and Sunil Mathew. When we found out in 2012 that Houston was one of the biggest hubs of human trafficking it shocked us. Later we found out that this modern day slavery also runs rampant all over the globe. There's actually more slavery today compared to any other time in human history! Isn't that absurd? Estimated about 30 million people today are enslaved for prostitution and forced labor.

God later placed a burden in Inka's heart to join the fight against human trafficking by using her design abilities. These victims had their lives robbed by their traffickers and experienced the most horrific assault – body and soul. If we were to talk to one of these women, I really wouldn't know what to say, and our words would probably fall so short. This verse, Psalm 139:14, was strongly impressed on Inka's heart. These victims are God's beloved, fearfully and wonderfully made by Him,  and they are not to be enslaved in any ways.

Psalm 139:14 inspired Inka to create the first shirt design for 139MADE. She was also inspired by the intricate art of Chinese silk embroidery, which takes thousands of hours and hundreds of different colored silk threads to sew an embroidered painting by hand. It's awe-inspiring, both in its process and result. She drew the "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" typographic piece and decided to create a clothing brand. After much prayers and brain-storming Sunil, 139MADE was born. We want God's message and promise to be shared by everyone who wears our tees to everyone they come across. That they're all 139-made— fearfully and wonderfully made by our loving God.

You can read more about Psalm 139 on Our Heart page.

We are small but proudly stand behind the quality of what we created. All the shirts in our clothing line are designed and printed by us. Each tee has touched our hands. When you purchase from 139MADE, you're supporting not just us but the fight against human trafficking.

We are now supporting Compassion First, an anti-trafficking non-profit that works in the under-served country of Indonesia, which is also Inka's home country.

Blessings!