Brain Coral, Sea Horses, and Silkworms

Oldest Living Things: brain coral #0210-4501 (2,000 years old; speyside, tobago) photo by Rachel Sussman

Design inspiration comes in many shapes and forms, and The Oldest Living Things just might have something lasting to teach us about permanence, adaptation, and systems solutions.

I have been rather preoccupied with sea horses lately, and after reading several heart-wrenching passages on the bycatch decimation of sea horses in Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Eating Animals, I am wondering what the planet would be like without a species that is "the extreme of the extreme". Add to this that seahorse males are the ones to get pregnant and carry their offspring for six weeks, and one cannot help but to grow concerned that we have only begun to appreciate the complexity and potential that surrounds us.

My favorite sea horse cotton tee

Let us give thanks for the bounty that abounds but also not be afraid of being sensitized to what makes living and creating such a genuine mystery. Fashion is totally dead in the water without an audience that can challenge and mimic our finery. Consider the plight of the silkworm, for example: 'How Much Silk Does A Silk Worm Silk?'

Source4Style's Upcoming Focus Group Fete

Source4Style 7.21.10 Report from SRmanitou on Vimeo


Source4Style's much anticipated launch is drawing near, and NYC-based eco fashion influencers will be gathering on August 5th for a focus group and summer harvest fete in order to provide feedback on the beta version of this B2B enterprise. Created by model and environmental activist Summer Rayne Oakes, fair trade entrepreneur Benita Singh, and serial entrepreneur Adam Schwartz as a marketplace where designers might source sustainable textiles from more than 25 hand-picked suppliers, there is no doubt that the fashion (and interior design) community is already buzzing with excitement about the impact this long-overdue online resource will make.

"Our market research reveals that designers have difficulty accessing information on sustainable materials and spend more time researching than designing," says Oakes. Source4Style's aim is to facilitate a more cost effective and less time consuming way for designers to source and purchase quality raw materials. For suppliers of sustainable materials, Source4Style will represent a unique platform through which to offer their products to a range of buyers." - Eco Fashion World


So true. My time in Eastern Europe chatting with Yva Schatz's talented fashion design students as well as young Bulgarian fashion designers like Evgeni Petkov (who presented his eco-couture knit gown at EcoChic Geneva last January) definitely has opened my eyes to the challenges that designers everywhere face when trying to identify suppliers for sustainable textiles and new models for shared and affordable sourcing.

Titania Inglis Fall/Winter 2010

Designer Titania Inglis of Fade to Green wrote an interesting piece about sourcing challenges on the inside after attending TexWorld and listening to Oakes' update on S4S's goals and over 1,000 materials that are already uploaded. Read Titania's post 'Sustainable fabrics at your fingertips? How about on your screen?'.


Stay tuned for more coverage on the upcoming August 5th event and the launch of Source4Style this fall.


*video courtesy of Source4Style/SRO