Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A Blossoming

Edward Addeo for HAND/EYE

"California College of the Arts graduate Karina Michel turns tons of organic cotton waste into fashion for Indian organic textile mill Pratibha Syntex.
"Twenty two year old fashion designer, Karina Michel, is already drawing international attention for her designs. Karina’s latest collection is A Blossoming, which she designed as part of a 5-month stint at Pratibha Syntex, a 4,000 employee Indian company that produces organic cotton yarn, fabric, and knit garments for export and local markets."
"Michel was hired to devise new strategies to reuse and redirect the company's waste, which between cutting scraps, overruns of fabric and rejects, currently sits at 30%."
"Redefining the value of waste, Michel used a reverse appliqué technique: sandwiching fabrics, and stitching through all the layers before selectively cutting pieces away, to create sumptuous and complex patterning."

"...the work that Karina is doing in India provides her with a far broader real life knowledge base, enabling her to fuse design and business decisions with value to local culture and economy, regional craft skill abilities and social and ecological benefits, in one holistic thought."

Waste Not, Lynda Grose, HAND/EYE 12.10.09

Not Just A Label

The Skyline Skirt from Study

My friend and designer, Tara St. James, of the label Study, recently introduced me to this very interesting place on the internet called, Not Just a Label.

NOT JUST A LABEL ("NJAL") is the leading global business directory for showcasing avant-garde fashion designers of today, nurturing the upcoming talents of tomorrow. It provides an outlet for talent to blossom; a place where visionaries meet collaborators dedicated to the creative spirit of fashion. The platform targets graduates and avant-garde fashion designers, providing a stage where collections are showcased online. Numerous designers have already been discovered by international press and recruited by renowned retailers and prestigious fashion houses via the NJAL website.
"Fashion finds its freedom in the art of individuals; NOT JUST A LABEL is a place for those who find their way off the beaten track, allowing them to express themselves in a community where everything goes...break the mould, redefine the expected, re-colour the palette, inspire and be inspired.”
On this site, I found a great little article titled, Fashion_For_Losers which addresses two of my favorite things right now.
1) Less (I would argue) is more and especially when it come to curating your own collection (aka closet) and creating/building an accurate aesthetic identity.
2) Umair and the Edge Economy Community (featured in two of my previous posts, We Broke up and The Awesomeness Manifesto)