Fashion Tries on Zero Waste Design

FRED R. CONRAD/NY TIMES 8.15.10

You must click the link in the title of this post and read the article now.
The fact that a discussion about Zero Waste Design has made it to the NY Times is mind blowing to me (in a good way).
I am beyond excited for Timo and as a member of the Loomstate team, very excited to be working on this collaboration. Stay tuned for updates.

Here's a clip.

YOU wear organic T-shirts. You hang your clothes to dry. You recycle your unloved suits and dresses.

But frankly, that’s just the tip of the green iceberg.

Today’s truly fashion-forward have a more radical ambition: zero waste.

That may sound more like an indie band than an environmental aspiration, but it’s a new focus of top fashion schools.

Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation’s landfills because it’s cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them.

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM

Published: August 13, 2010

1 of 200.

We are at a point in history with a unique opportunity to create new sustainable economic models, businesses, and lives. I imagine an explosion of economic solutions where the powerful force of entrepreneurship is mobilized for eco-preservation and social enrichment. As part of the fashion community, I hope for increased awareness that we do not work in isolation, we are part of a process and aesthetics is only one part. Good design includes creating a production model where everyone in the process is nourished, including the earth. Within this model, we might then deliver beautifully crafted garments, that potentially serve a lifetime.
-Caroline Priebe 11.15.09

Books:

1. Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher

2. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

3. Developing Power: How Women Transformed International Development editted by Arvonne Fraser and Irene Tinker

4. Cradle to Cradle by McDonough and Braungart

5. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz


Bio:

Caroline Skelton Priebe founded fashion label ULURU in Brooklyn, July 2004 based on "slow fashion" design principles. She also co-founded the 5 in 1 designer retail collaborative in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the hotbed progressive American design and craft. In addition to operating and designing ULURU, Caroline is a stylist, image consultant, sustainable design and business model expert and a certified Martha Beck life coach. She is currently writing a book titled, The Collection, an introduction to "slow fashion", an investigation into garment communication and how building one's own personal "collection" can accurately speak your truth.

Sustainable Exchange: Methods and Practices for Collaborative Partnerships

FRIDAY MAY 7TH - 9TH

TODA DESIGN STUDIO

250 WEST BROADWAY, 6TH FL

OPEN DAILY 12-6PM

SUTAINABLE EXCHANGE: METHODS AND PRACTICES FOR COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

EXHIBITION CURATION BY: MEGAN HOWARD / IN COLLABORATION WITH RACHEL LITTENBERG WEISBERG

Sustainable Exchange: Methods and Practices for Collaborative Partnerships is an exhibition shedding light on the possibilities and versatility of sustainable consumption, production and business within our local and global community. Through the presentations of six local artists and designers, we hope to inspire and be inspired by our local community, bringing people closer and more connected with the things they own and more allied within the shared networks where they live and work. The artists will occupy TODA design studio for 4 days, creating an open platform for sharing, exchange, coexistence, alternative teaching and learning. Sustainable Exchange will showcase thought-provoking art and design and will be an experimental laboratory where communal ideals, practices and methods can be shared and exchanged to collectively grow the sustainable movement. Please join us for our workshops and open gallery hours, 12-6pm daily.

ARTISTS INCLUDE : SUSAN CIANCIOLO, RACHEL LITTENBERG WEISBERG, EKO-LAB, BLACK SHEEP AND PRODIGAL SONS, AKI GOTO AND ALEXANDRA PARKIN. INSTALLATIONS BY TODA, MEGAN HOWARD AND ELYSE LITTENBERG ARE ALSO FEATURED.

BEGINNERS FINGER CROCHET

FRIDAY, MAY 7TH 12-3PM, HOSTS: MELISSA KIRGAN AND XING-ZHEN CHUNG-HILYARD OF EKO-LAB

In crochets early days, it was considered a pastime of the upper class, whereby they could create delicate and detailed items to decorate their homes or their clothing. Now this portable practice is popular amongst all ages and skill levels. Join Eko-Lab for a gathering of creative crocheting for beginners. You will learn the basic crochet stitches and how you can put them together to make different patterns using solely your fingers as hooks. The workshop will be instructed by Eko-lab’s master crocheter Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard (XZ). Materials are generously provided by Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool and Swans Island, but feel free to bring your own fingers.

NATURAL DYEING

FRIDAY, MAY 7TH 3-6PM, HOSTS: RACHEL LITTENBERG-WEISBERG AND ALEXANDRA PARKIN

In this workshop you will learn and experiment with natural dyes. Synthetic dyes are harmful for the environment replacing them with earth friendly natural dyes that are made from flowers, trees, fruits, vegetables, spices and teas can give a range of colors and are a beautiful alternative. Bring a garment or a piece of fabric that is a natural material (ie. silk or cotton) and we will show you how to dye using simple practices that can easily be replicated in your own kitchen. The dyes involved will be turmeric spice (yellow), smoked tea (grey), and madder root (red). Attend the Eko-Lab beginners crochet workshop and bring your new crochet piece in for dyeing!

FASHION ILLUSTRATION, PAINTING AND COLLAGE

SATURDAY MAY 8TH 1-3:30PM, HOSTS: SUSAN CIANCIOLO AND MEGAN HOWARD

This experimental workshop will introduce participants to the art of fashion illustration and mixed medium collage. Experimental artists Susan Cianciolo will introduce the varied techniques of drawing from a live figure as well as encourage the use of paints, chalks, pencils, and inks to develop ones personal style. Immediately following the drawing workshop, both instructors will introduce the art of collage using their newly created fashion illustrations, papers, tapes, glues and other miscellaneous materials. Participants are encouraged to bring and work within their own sketchbooks. Materials will be provided but attendees are welcome to bring their own.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS CONVERSATION

SATURDAY MAY 8TH 4:30PM-6PM, CAROLINE PRIEBE OF ULURU NYC

This seminar will focus on the possibilities of starting and operating a sustainable business within the art and design world. The methods and practices discussed in this open forum are versatile and can be applied to many fields and various industries.

COOKING WITH SEASONAL AND NATURAL FOODS

SUNDAY MAY 9TH, 12-6PM, HOSTS: ANNE APPARU AND FRIENDS

Using food obtained through CSA baskets and local farmers, Anne Apparu, an acclaimed sustainable foods chef, will prepare an extraordinary meal and offer cooking demonstrations using natural ingredients and lots of love. This all day event will celebrate slow and seasonal cooking. Please join us for open discussions, good food, and good people. All are welcome, bring something to share and watch it transform into a delectable dish.

Centers For the Advancement of Craft

image from style.com taken at the save the garment center rally 10.21.09

As you may have read on earlier posts, I recently attended the American Craft Council Conference in Minneapolis because I believe that garment making is a craft. The combined skills of draping, patternmaking, cutting, and sewing or each on its own, are skills that can only be mastered with time and practice. These skills, like many other trades, are not valued like they used to be. Globalization has moved garment production out of the United States, searching for cheap labor outside our borders. As recently as 1965, 95% of American clothing was made in the US, today 5%. Environmental and social degradation aside, we are also losing "the craft". As Dr. Sennett so eloquently points out, modern capitalism rewards mediocrity and discriminates against craftsman. There are countless (and would I love to do that count) unemployed master craftspeople without work, who may be aging and have little means of teaching the next generation. If this interests you, HBO on demand SCHMATTA and check out The Sundance Channel's, Full Frontal Fashion Series, The Day Before. The atelier scenes make me cry.

Inspired by the Minnesota Center For the Book Arts, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Northern Clay Center etc. I envision,


A Center For the Advancement of Garment Making
(official title tbd)

Anyone want to join me?

First draft of a vision/mission statement inspired by the MCBA:
The Center for the Advancement of Garment Making celebrates fashion as a traditional craft, vibrant contemporary art form and means of providing nourishing employment. From the traditional crafts of pattermaking, draping and sewing, to experimental art making, CAGM supports the limitless creative evolution of garment engineering.

CAGM will be established in the year 2012 in the generously gifted, historic building in downtown Manhattan as a lively destination for a diverse public interested in the craft of garment making, and the American fashion industry.

The soul of CAGM is the studio spaces where you find masters and novices draping, patternmaking, sewing, hand finishing and engineering muslins into beautifully finished garments. In addition to the studios, there is an exhibition space, a studio shop, an archive, reference library, and offices. Visitors are welcome to observe the activity and work close-up. CAGM serves artists, students, teachers, designers, and fashion lovers through a variety of participatory programs.

The mission of the Center for the Advancement of Garment Making/Slow Fashion is to preserve the traditional crafts of garment making, re-establish American fashion as vital domestic cultural industry/asset, re-introduce the American public to the process of garment making, inspire and incubate diverse craftspeople and learners and engage audiences in educational, and creative experiences.

CAGM will serve as a vital craft resource for a diverse public audience and will make valuable and important contributions to the American Fashion community’s cultural depth and economic health. CAGM will respond to current industry challenges facing it by focusing on its mission and three strategic goals: skill preservation, sustainable business development (social, environmental and financial) and acceleration of public consciousness public education.

Disclaimer: This isn't an organization to bring down big corporate fashion companies, rather to give craftspeople or aspiring craftspeople the opportunity to do the work that nourishes them, preserve skills, and re-value garments and the people that make them. It is my hope that we can work side by side and/or in collaboration with one another.

The "Parts" of the CAGM:
- 5 to 10 students a year fully or partially funded in apprenticeship-like program. Students take classes in draping, patternmaking, sewing, fashion history, sustainable design taught by master craftspeople and other esteemed fashion professionals.
-Small business entrepreneur incubators that focus on financial literacy.
-4 artists in residence in the fields of illustration, photography, design and textile arts. Work collaboratively with each other and students.
-Materials library
-Gallery
-Cafe
-Workshops and short term classes
-Small boutique/atelier with work (garments, patterns, kits, art, materials, custom pieces etc.) for sale from students and artists in residence. Online and/or brick and mortar depending on space available.
-Public membership program.

A New Hive

Derrick Cruz of Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons curated a most beautiful, intimate pop-up exhibition at Earnest Sewn on Washington St. titled A NEW HIVE. (you will regret not hitting that link and seeing/learning more)

ULURU desinged bags hand stitched by the "worker bees" of Alabama Chanin in addition to hand spun/hand knit alpaca honey comb vests.

A NEW HIVE: by Derrick R. Cruz Opens July 9th in NYC

New York, NY, 20 June 2008 – As part of its ongoing installation series, Earnest Sewn Co. hosts "A NEW HIVE", an installation at their flagship store in the Meatpacking District of New York City in July of 2008. The work takes the current mysterious and alarming en masse disappearance of honeybee colonies as an opportunity to stage a hyperreal environment in which nature and myth return to influence science and industry, causing balance. “The rich folklore and natural history of honeybees inspires an ethereal childlike curiosity in individuals,” said Derrick R. Cruz. “Curiosity leads to contemplation, internalization, and then to genuine concern. I hope A NEW HIVE will help us regain respect for these amazing creatures; after all, almost everything we eat is made possible by bees.”

::new::5 in 1 designer retail collaborative::

Dear friends and fellow local designers,
This is an official invitation to membership of a collaborative designer retail project located in Williamsburg Brooklyn. As the face of fashion retail is changing due to the economic conditions and changing consumer behavior, small designers have the opportunity to take advantage of their nimbleness and flexibility. We are able to create the new “retail”, that can sustain our business and our creative endeavors.

“Consumers” are reverting back to the role of “customers”, the consumption cycle is slowing and we will see a closer relationship between customer and producer (you).
Customers will be looking for access to you, your story, a bit of exclusivity and objects of value and timelessness.

Norman Rabinovich has been generous enough to allow Helena Fredriksson and I (Caroline Priebe of ULURU) to turn the front retail space of 5 in 1 into a space that fosters an alternative, collaborative retail model.

Our space is 350 prime square ft located on 60 N.6th St. between Wythe and Kent. We are surrounded by Williamsburg Music Hall, Built By Wendy, Noisette, and mc&co. A block away you’ll find American Apparel, Future Perfect, Sweet William and Sleep.

We propose the collaboration as this:
- the shop is open on weekends only.
- each member works one full weekend every 6-8 weeks depending on the number of members we organize.
- the shop will be stocked with each participating designers pieces of choice.
- the weekend you work the shop, can be used as an outlet to feature your product, meet one on one with your customers, hold trunk shows, samples sales, test one of a kind and/or new pieces/ideas.
- a few other local designers place goods on consignment in the shop for a 40-60 split. 30% going to the collaborative for maintenance costs and 10% to Norman for credit card fees, sales tax, etc.
- for member designers who work, the split is 20-80. 10% going to the collaborative for maintenance and 10% to Norman for credit card fees, sales tax etc.
- each designer will be expected to add to the PR efforts individually and as a collective. we would like to advantage of power in numbers.
- checks will be cut to members at the end of each month.
- members must keep their own inventory. a simple system will be put in place in shop to log sales and must be tallied at the end of your sunday shift.
- this project will only work if trust is established between designers and a belief that what is good for one of us is good for all of us.

If this proposal interests you, please contact Helena or myself before Jan.10th and we will be scheduling a meeting. If you have any friends or colleagues you feel would be a good candidate for this project please send a referral.

We are hoping to open early to mid February but would like to send out a press release with a finalized list of designer members as soon as possible.

upcycling experiment no.1

at the end of spring 2007, i owned all this beautiful fine gauge silk/cashmere overstock because small designers are forced to meet unfortunate minimums to go into production, but that is a whole other post. after learning that natalie chanin (formerly of project alabama) had re-organized and started alabama chanin, i decided to email her and see if she was open to working with other designers in an effort to give her stitchers more work. i mentioned my beautiful overstock and that i would like to take old stock and applique it onto old stock to create new and more thoughtful garments thus the term up-cycling vs. re-cycling. you are taking something recyclable and recycling it into something of greater value, upcycling. some of the pieces i had produced did not arrive as ordered or i had an abundance of one particular style and those would be cut up and stitched onto my more basic silhouettes as photographed here. the inspiration for the spine applique came from frida kahlo, who despite breaking her spine in her teens and being plagued by chronic pain there after lived a larger than life, potent, influential, iconic life. there is a quote from a 1953 diary entry that says, "feet, why do we need them when we have wings to fly?" that reminds me its just really mind over matter and reappears in my fall 2008 collection.