The Ethical Fashion Frontier and The Genius of Place

Indian fashion label, Ela, as featured on Sass Brown's Eco Fashion Talk

Today marks the seven year anniversary of the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris, and to celebrate  the inroads made and phenonmenal efforts on the fashion horizon, I wrote the following piece for Eco Salon, 'Upping the Ante on the Ethical Fashion Frontier'. 

Isabelle Quéhé and Abigail Doan at EcoChic Geneva in 2010

"I met the founder of the Ethical Fashion Show, Isabelle Quéhé, at EcoChic Geneva in January of 2010, and if ever there was a woman who understood why and how global fashion needed to change, it was Isabelle. She spoke of a new dawn in the industry and the heart that needed to permeate all that we consider to be fashionable and sustainable. Now that the Ethical Fashion Show is seven years old, the inroads made are impressive in a world that is stubbornly waking up from the deep slumber of consumption and globalization – but we still have a long way to go. With organizations like the Ethical Fashion Show and their current partners, we just might get there, slowly but surely."


My heartfelt thanks to all of the contributors to this article as well as EcoSalon for offering me a platform to share these ideas.

Afia's New Capsule Collection to be Debuted at Guilded

Cannot wait to attend the official debut of the Afia collection at Guilded in NYC on May 5th. Created out of traditional West African textiles by pattern makers in Chicago and NYC in conjunction with the fair trade Dzidefo Women's Cooperative in the village of Kpando, Ghana, Afia's Summer 2011 capsule collection is the creative vision of designer Meghan Sebold.

All of these stunningly bold fabrics are sourced from small vendors in Ghana, and as part of 'urban indigenous' chic and sustainable production storytelling, create a bridge to 'history, proverbs, moral values, and social codes' with their traditional, though contemporary, motifs.

For more information on the upcoming May 5th event and a line up of other designers who will be participating visit Guilded's event page. And isn't model Fardosa Mohamed, gorgeous?

Images courtesy of Afia / credits are as follows: 

Design: Meghan Sebold

Photography: James de Leon
Model: Fardosa Mohamed
Editing: Evan Felts
Styling: Julianna Vezzetti
Assisting: Elizabeth Cloyd and Jackson Tonti
Jewelry: Liten Blomma by Jessica and J.M.V.

Fashioning Self and the Environment Gifts: 'Of Rags' Fair Trade Fashion

'Of Rags' fair trade fashion: recycled textile trousers 

(photo courtesy of Rachel Schwarz via Liz Ricketts)

I am pleased to share the very groovy news that Of Rags will be offering shopping coupons in the goodie totes that we will offer to the first 25 guests at 'Fashioning Self and the Environment', the art/fashion Earth Day open house at the Textile Arts Center.

"Of Rags is a fair trade fashion cooperative that combines elements of New York style and Ghanaian fashion into unique, artful clothing as a way to globalize the localized. Established in September 2009, Of Rags is the vision of J. Branson, an American social entrepreneur, photographer and musician, and RAAM, a Ghanaian designer and artist in Accra. The organizations employs seamstresses at fair trade wages and plans to work with new design partners, first in Ghana and then around the globe in a cooperative structure."

'Of Rags: Mixed Matched Dress' from textile leftovers

Guests at Friday evening's event wil alsol be able to chat with Of Rags team members, Liz Ricketts and J. Branson, at our community business table. Do not forget to rsvp to: rsvp@textileartscenter.com. See you there!