New York Fashion Week may be the week of glitter and extravaganza, but for its last year at Bryant Park, Fashion Week embraces fashion-consciousness with an incredible wave of sustainable designers to follow. Most of the shows will be organized by the Green Shows (the eco-version of the MBFW organization) and some like Organic will have the chance to present at Bryant Park. Often underrated, eco-conscious designers may be as talented than traditional designers but with the challenge to use sustainable fabrics and techniques. And what a challenge to create garments that are well-constructed, creative, playful and wearable with the eco spirit added to that.
So if you feel like you are in mood to bring your support to this new wave and step onto the green carpet, here is a schedule to mark up on your agenda.
Feb 14, 7PM Gary Harvey “Recycled Couture” @ the Green Shows 311 E 11TH ST
Feb 15, 1PM Vaute Couture @ the Green Shows
Feb 15, 3PM Thieves by Sonja den Elzen @ the Green Shows
Feb 15, 5PM JoAnn Berman @ the Green Shows
Feb 16, 1PM Willian @ the Green Shows
Feb 16, 3PM POPOMOMO @ the Green Shows
Feb 16, 6PM Samantha Pleet @ the Green Shows
Feb 17, 3PM deux fm @ the Green Shows
Feb 17, 5PM House of Organic/ Ekovaruhuset @ the Green Shows
Feb 17, 7PM C. Marchuska @ the Green Shows
For more than 20 years now, Maison Martin Margiela has valued creative authenticity and modernism with pure handcrafting. Transforming the materials into eco-conscious and sophisticated wearable items has been the precept of the fashion house. And I hope the house’s image won’t fade after Margiela walked away last Fall.
If you love MMM, exclusively available at Yoox.com, the latest Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal collection is on sale with a bunch of amazing, or extraordinary would be a better qualifier, clothes in the spirit of the 100% handcrafting signature. All the dresses, jackets and accessories are ridiculously innovative, specially like the mummy-jacket and the disco ball top which is made of small mirror tiles, all glued on an open-back top lined in black leather. Price tag is certainly not for everyone’s wallet, but you can still dream on one of these jackets.
An exclusive video of inside the Maison Martin Margiela’s atelier and produced for Yoox.com is available for your eyes only:
“New vintage II” is the round two of Yves Saint Laurent’s take on eco-conscious fashion. Recycling is not only limited to small designers, YSL reclaims archived and sustainable fabrics to create new and modern looks. The collection of 121 items is only sold at the moment at the YSL flagship stores in New York, London and Paris. So if you love vintage and YSL, hurry before it’s gone!
If I get the chance to take some shots of the collection I’ll post them.
When the world is in its darkest time, there is always hope when you fight for what you believe is right. 410 BC is the date when Democracy was restored in Athens after years of long wars against Spartans. Probably a date that sounds too far for many of us, but it inspired the NY-based label 410BC to strive in developing a brand that promotes conscious consumerism and great fashion. 100% made in the US, 410BC offers high quality sweatshop free clothes only released in limited quantities.
Even with a strong ethical commitment, they don’t forget to focus on innovative and conceptual design. Designed by talented artists, the brand promotes their work and give back to the community which enables the creation of fantastic clothing. Highly inspired from the skater, punk, hip-hop and indie cultures, from Leonardo Da Vinci-esque illustrations to classic varsity jackets you’ll find a wide range of eclectic choices. (more…)
Actually it’s been a year I’ve known this website and bookmarked it somewhere in my del.icio.us account. At first, I was never really attracted by getting more in depth in the catalog, so this site would have been lost forever in my long long list of stores. Until I recently was particularly looking for sachets of lavender I could put in my drawers with my clothes and in the drying machine. I’ve been missing the scent of my clothes since I’m in the city. My mother and grand’ ma used this technique to create a beautiful scent around our clothes. A classic and green way to smell fresh and clean every morning.
Somehow I had a flashback, Etsy came to my mind as I’ve always remembered seeing these lavender bags on the homepage the first time I’ve visited the website. And happy I was to find tons of beautiful handcrafted bags of lavender. Not crappy lavender but real, harvested and dried lavender. No industrial sachets but sewed bags with cute leftover fabrics. Ok, I could not resist to buy them! Impulsively I’ve bought 12 of them from 2 different sellers. While I was shopping from both crafters, I was actually talking to them directly. How surprised I was to speak with real people. They were absolutely nice and sweet, very helpful in selecting for me their best items with my favorite colors.
The more I visit the site and the items that it offers, the more I fall in love. There are so many absolutely amazing products. All handmade from creative minds. The community is growing as I speak and I truly invite you to get on the website and help these real crafters by buying their products.
Am I obsessed by wall decoration? If I had to count the number of posts about decoration inspiration for a wall, I’d say I’m just discovering a new obsession!
After browsing the latest news from Apartment Therapy, I found this great link to ferm living where you can find tons of clever and elegant wallpapers for the ones in need to revitalize their habitat. The picture above is probably a favorite, and you can see below how it looks like after the author of the blog Chez Larsson revamped his wall. We have to admit that replacing the orange wall by a flower-ish wall might have been the smartest move. Not that I hate orange, but the pattern were… speechless. Anyway, wonderful job for their interior, the result is beautiful and I guess they also changed a few things on their furnitures. The wallpaper works great with a predominant white atmosphere (or Nordic ambiance). One side note, on the second picture of his post, the color of the hard wood floor is not going together well with the wall. I’d suggest to paint the floor in white and give it a rustic/wood feeling.
Because education will always make a world better, I’m happy to share this information with everyone. Design21 just announced the result of a great design initiative to help increase the awareness of forest sustainability. The competition called “Wood, Paper, Checkmark” would help educate consumers about FSC-certified (FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council) wood products including home furniture. Not only consumer but also designers to really integrate more sustainable products in their work. The winning team (see below) did a simple and fun campaign which would work hands down. The creatives can be seen here. Let’s hope they launch the campaign soon.
We selected this campaign for its direct simplicity, warm and humorous tone, and how it allows FSC to play in such a huge territory: climate change, indigenous people’s rights, wildlife protection. The everyday items featured “spoons, tables” are world-changing secret weapons that we all can wield in our everyday lives.
If you are into Swedish architecture and interior, you will enjoy browsing the work of Claesson Koivisto Rune. The talented trio of designers from Sweden developed their own design studio and an environment lab where they experiment their Swedish influenced interior design. They have received plenty of distinctions from the architectural industry and numerous opportunities to showcase in exhibitions.
I find a lot of inspiration in their work: minimalist, clean and sleek, practical and makes your life efficient without blowing up your cocoon. Enjoy!
"I'm a man living on a fashion runway. Not a professional fashion editor neither in the industry, this blog is my diary of self-indulgence in pursuit of a dream." - Kevin
