Fashioning Self and the Environment for Earth Day

Mosstika's installation of live succulents (Edina Tokodi/József Vályi-Tóth)

I am excited that things are coming together so organically for the Earth Day open house that I am organizing at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn. This evening event will take place from 6pm to 9pm on Friday, April 22, 2011, and the range of projects and activities to be shared will include a spectrum of ideas related to fashioning self, fiber, textiles, and craft in environmental outreach. Refreshments and organic treats will also be provided.

Eko-Lab's A/W 2011 Collection

The current list of artist/designer participants is as follows: 

Susan Benarcik, Meiling Chen (Fearless Dreamer), Abigail Doan, Daria Dorosh, Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard and Melissa Kirgan of Eko-Lab, Ceca Georgieva,Titania Inglis, Anjelika Krishna (a.d.o. clothing), Renata Mann, Rachel Miller, Eve Mosher, Shannon South (reMade USA), Study NY with Awamaki Lab, Edina Tokodi (Mosstika), Tali Weinberg, and Zoe Sheehan Saldana.

Please RSVP at rsvp@textileartscenter.com 

'Life Jackets' filled with boyant milkweed fiber 

(image courtesy of Zoe Sheehan Saldana)

Berlin Fashion Week: KM/A at The KEY.TO

(polaroid snapshots by Abigail Doan)

Fiber and textile junkie that I am, I was completely smitten with the Viennese fashion design duo, Katha Harrer and Michael Ellinger of KM/A, during this past week's visit to The KEY.TO at Berlin Fashion Week. Their hand-crafted frocks and military style coats are impeccably crafted out of small scraps of 60's parachute material as well as used wool army blankets from various countries. KM/A's designs are true works of art, and create beautiful silhouettes, even on a hanger. Designed for both men and women, they are substantial sculptural forms that are quite wearable as well.

I love that the stitching on the surface of these garments creates such a gorgeous texture map. A mysterious journey into the life of the cast-off materials artfully recycled in each creation.

*Visit KM/A's website to learn more

11 Inspirational Sites For 2011

exquisite embroidery courtesy of Alabama Chanin

Alabama Chanin Journal

Art Cloth Text/Mackenzie Frere

Danyelle/Jill Danyelle

Jule Knuepfer photo courtesy of EcoFashionTalk

Eco Fashion Talk/Sass Brown

Goodlifer/Johanna Bjork

Hand/Eye online

photo courtesy of Marcella Echavarria

Marcella Echavarria

Past Fashion Future/Emma Grady

photo courtesy of the Permacouture Institute blog

Permacouture Institute

Social Alterations/Mary Hanlon

The Square Project/Tara St. James

Welcome to 2011 and the fresh white expanse of the unknown. I am sharing some of my favorite links to the art/fashion blogs and websites where I gain my daily inspiration and the fuel to press on during more difficult times.

Ecco*Eco is 'simply' a (non-commercial) space for creating community and shared ideas. I want to make sure that you know that I am working on your behalf so that you can keep doing the amazing work that you do. I want us all to succeed in making this world a more beautiful and sustainable place. 

Folks often ask me how I raise two toddlers, live in multiple cities, tend to aging family, write on a weekly basis, create art, and try to give back. It is all possible because I do not see any other way of living. Doing one makes the other possible. I want you to soak up this vast landscape as well as you cast your net out over 2011. 

Let's do it. I am itching to get started.

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

Saara Lepokorpi's NICE Summit Award

Saara Lepokorpi's award-winning sustainable designs (photo: Liisa Valonen, model Christel/Paparazzi)


Congratulations to fashion designer Saara Lepokorpi from Finland, for her stellar award at the Fashion Summit runway presentation in Copenhagen last evening. Sara's chic, sustainable designs included the material Ingeo, based on annually renewable sugar plants.

Learn more about Saara's innovative work here.