MAKENEW Vintage: Storytelling and Reader Give-Away Now Thru June 17 (Share Your Comments)

Makenew's Country Grafik Collection by Anna Gilkerson

If you do not already know about Makenew's edited vintage collection, take note, as it is one of the best online sources for chic and affordable designer label finds. The cool story behind Makenew and designer Anna Gilkerson's journey is an intriguing one, and certainly sets new standards for designers taking matters into their own hands to reduce textile and garment waste in the fashion industry. 

"Makenew offers a carefully selected assortment of designer, thrift, and genuine vintage clothing and accessories. Products include high end designer labels, union made, domestically made, handmade, vintage of twenty years plus, and true vintage, which is typically pre-mass production circa 1940s/50s/60s."

Some of my favorite picks from  Makenew's latest Grafik Collection:

Left to right: 80's style nautical corset dress; 70's floral grafik knit blouse; Vintage Aldo cocoa suede chain purse; Wood chunk woven belt; French sailor shorts; and Deux fm Cocoa Mystique eco string bikini (center)

As Anna Gilkerson, founder of Makenew describes, "We see the production of new clothing lessened by reintegrating the clothing already made back into the system. Instead of throwing mass amounts of used clothing into landfills, we can locally ship the garments out to used clothing centers. Items are looked over, repriced competitively while tired items are weeded out to be re-used or recycled."

"In-house tailors and sewers suit the needs of the customers. Custom-fittings and alterations can make an old garment look and feel new again. Style editing, altering, and all detailing is prepared for you. Every piece is carefully hand selected to be a part of a current and ongoing collection. As the seasons pass and trends come and go, new collections are integrated and old collections go on sale."

Makenew's Retro 90's white cross swimsuit

Between today and June 17th, Ecco*Eco readers who leave comments about one of their own favorite second-hand clothing or accessory items and why it has such resonance, will be eligible to win a free item of their choice from Makenew's shop. Your comment must be submitted by the end of the day, Friday, June 17th, in order to be considered.

Please share with like-minded vintage and second-hand style mavens. Creative comments and storytelling is encouraged. Winner to be announced on Monday, June 19, 2011.

'Re-made In America' Kicks Off NY Fashion Week

Congratulations to Daria Dorosh for the organizing of 

'Re-made in America' which takes place today as part of the official opening 

of New York Fashion Week (image courtesy of Daria Dorosh)

In the context of the Year of the Quilt and the exhibition Super Stars: Quilts from the American Folk Art Museum, Fashion Lab in Process honors the spirit of re-invention with Re-made in America.  This roundtable discussion will be held at the American Folk Art Museum's Branch Location at 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th St., on Thursday, February 10th, 4 -7 p.m.

As New York Fashion Week begins at Lincoln Center, different sectors of the design community will come together at AFAM to discuss how fashion is being changed by social consciousness, sustainability, and the fusion of fashion with technology.

What will be the next evolution for fashion? Is sustainability compatible with technology?  Meet the professionals who will discuss these important fashion trends and demonstrate them with examples of their work.

The discussion will take place from 4:30 - 6 p.m., followed by an opportunity to meet the speakers and see their work from 6 - 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Daria Dorosh, PhD, Director of Fashion Lab in Process, is an artist and adjunct faculty member at the Fashion Institute of Technology, NY, and SMARTlab, Digital Media Institute, University of East London, UK.. She will lead the discussion on sustainability and wearable technology.  

Other esteemed participants include Shima Seiki, Eileen Fisher, Sarah Scaturro, Gayil Nalls, PhD, Jose Marinez, Despina Papadopoulos, Meiling Chen, EKO-LAB (Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard and Melissa Kirgan), and Sabine Seymour, PhD.

  

For more information, contact Daria Dorosh at info@fashionlabinprocess.com

Art SCRAP Fashion by Danny Mansmith

I have been friends with Chicago-based textile and fiber artist, Danny Mansmith, for several years now. We originally found each other on Neoimages, where we were the first textile artists to create online art portfolios. Danny and I bonded instantly due to our mutual passion for recycling textile scraps and unanchored flotsam that circulates through the domestic sphere.

I recently found this great image from one of Danny's folk-art inspired solo show installations, and in true Mansmithing fashion, he recycled the exhibition's textiles yet again by transforming the ceiling strips into 'frayed primitive' necklaces now available on etsy.

Danny Mansmith's SCRAP textile necklaces

If you are on the hunt for unique textile art and wearables for holiday gift giving, consider supporting artists and designers who not only use materials resourcefully, but also craft in a manner that redefines fashion for all and domestic bliss. 

The 'Make Do Make New' Girls

Aurora necklace by Anita Quansah available at Shrimpton Couture

MAKENEW's smartly curated vintage / thrift clothing and accessory collection - new offerings available bi-monthly

MAKENEW's altered trench coat offers clean lines and chic layering

Gina Michele 'Bones' sweater recycled from a mens' slouchy XL cashmere pull-over

sixer from on Vimeo.

Jill Danyelle's 'Sixer' video where she create a stylishly versatile wardrobe out of Six Items or Less. The girl still has it and then some.

Fashion Footprints: Sustainable Approaches

The most refreshing sustainable fashion exhibition of 2010 just might be Fashion Footprints: Sustainable Approaches, which opens to the public this weekend at The Centre for Contemporary Art and The Natural World. Unlike other curations of this variety, Fashion Footprints takes place in Haldon Forest Park (Exeter, Devon, UK), beyond the gaze of trendy fashionistas and urban dwellers.

"This pioneering exhibition explores the idea of fashion and textiles acting as an interface between humankind and the environment. It combines accessible illustrated display panels and representative garments and aims to highlight the key problems and major environmental and social impacts that result from the fashion and textile industries. The project considers realistic solutions embedded in existing practice, and seeks to dispel the ambivalence that is so often associated with fashion and sustainability." 

Fashion Footprints: Sustainable Approaches is a collaboration between CCANW and graduates from the MA Fashion and the Environment Program at London College of Fashion. The goal of addressing 'ambivalence' and 'transparency' in (eco) fashion seems critical as we aim to (re)define our connection to fiber/textiles/clothing, the massive consumption of resources required for their production, and our relationship to the natural world.

Supported by a number of UK leaders in eco-fashion such as From Somewhere’s Orsola de Castro, curator of London Fashion Week’s Estethica show, Fashion Footprints unravels the highly complex world of fashion and its ecological and social impact - from the cotton field to your wardrobe – as well as a slow fashion festival, an experimental ‘eco-fashion show in the forest’, featuring some of the UK’s brightest young sustainable fashion designers, and hands on sustainable fashion and textiles workshops. 

Moss Collar by Tara Baoth Mooney

Visit the CCANW website for more information on programming and events in conjunction with this exhibit.

A special thanks to Tara Baoth Mooney for sharing this information and congratulations to the exhibit's curatorial team: Sharn Sandor, Emma Rigby, Felicia Felton, Tara Baoth Mooney, and Johanna Korndorfer, CCANW's Learning Programmes Manager. Images courtesy of the curators.