Montana 1 for fashionRIP

Re-use and renmnant skirt. The perk of having been in custom biz means i have a lot of left over fabrics. The pain of being in custom is those bits and pieces are stacked in crates everywhere!

Collective UK

Tammam website

-Bespoke collection

Jane dress

Have been learning about the Conscious Design Collective which was founded by Lucy Tammam. She is an eco aware designer that saw the best way to boost sustainable fashion was to organize. The collective started in 2008 and has 8 members that really get involved with putting on the shows (striving for 2 a year) though other sustainable designers are invited to participate.

" being part of the CDC allows us to share costs for Fashion Shows etc. Its also a good way for combining contacts." says Nicola of Beautiful Soul.

Lucy started Tamman her own label in 2007 and sees the collective as a good thing but says it needs a full time director to be really effective.

Well Seattle i am ready to try it here. Contact Kimmi Designs or email me,

x

the Victoria and Albert Museum

lecture oct 28th at SCCC -mom needs a tripod

along with people from the London College of Fashion joined forces to talk about ethical fashion October 27th..
Designers Sarah Ratty of Ciel, Christian Kemp-Griffin from Edun and Matilda Lee from the Ecologist were the guest speakers and the question of the day was “is green still the new black?”
The discussion was pointed towards trade and labor practices in the industry. The full house showed that people are aware and concerned.

However right now cheap clothing sales are rising. Quality and personal style are lost in the propaganda of a throw away world. Trouble is that when we throw away this world we pretty much go with it!

ignorance isn't bliss- its now just tacky denial.

Lecture -Free Fun

Feathered friends

The Lacey Act of 1900 was passed to stop the killing of 1oos of thousands of birds, including entire breeding colonies of over 10,000 as the feather fad boomed into the 1850s. Marie Antionette puportedly wore a feather plumed headdress during the reign of Louis the XVI which ignited the trend.

However she never said "let then eat cake."

Fast Fact

Success is not excess!
Every year there is $100 billion to $1.5 trillion in over supply of goods- the worst being non-perishable foods, seasonal clothing, consumer electronics and other consumer packaged goods. (that's a lot of packaging waste as well)

Excess inventory represents 7% of annual revenues in the apparel segment.

This results in corporation losses as well as extra environmental impact as this overstock must still be transported and warehoused. Add this to the initial manufacturing costs, its a big price to pay for garbage!

Words to Sentences

Monster Shop Shoot at the SB Fest

Kim and i started on the path to organize the reFashionists, the recycouturiers, upcyklers, altClothiers and the slew of eco and green designers....in order to help each other with information, do shows, buy bulk (great for the tee trade) and generally get the word out that we are the leaders in fashionable change. (and to get some language down )

Sustainable fashion is a treasure chest of possibilities. Our choices in spending and earning, in work and play influence the larger picture. As we educate each other about the connective reality of life and forgive the lack of knowledge that got us to the edge of disasters, we will participate less and less in the old madness. If we see the alt path clearly, we will follow it.

Sustainable Clothing is a choice that can be independent of the wastemaking cult right now! The new designers and the new textiles are making it easier every day. As we enable research and economic viability for the changes to continue and grow, they will.

And that is a very good thing.

fast fact

Between 8-10 million tons of textile waste goes to landfills every year. That's a lot of material garbage.

Made with sustainability

recyCouture dresses from "Species on the Verge" collection. The skirt (at left) is made from man pants that were refashioned, painted, reverse appliqued, stenciled and free stitched. Part of the Signs and Symbols Collection this one celebrates Rachel Carson and her book, "Silent Spring". (see other early work at start of this blog)
The skirt at the right walked by to balance the photo; isn't that nice?

The Andean Collection

Socially conscious fashion is about the details. This is where the physical and the mindful meet.

Fashion has to be more than protection against the elements. We left that stage way back, say thousands of years and even then i suspect a pretty feather or stone was added just because! In that light we now have choices that are polished and beautiful and made with a thought to fair economics, human dignity and worth and environmental concern. We can adorn ourselves with amulets and earrings, bracelets and beads and feel good about it.

That is how it works. When you support the actions you want to see in the world by participating you enable that which you want to happen.

Tis Simple!

The Andean Collection is a treasure chest of color and design made from seeds. The artisans are respected, earn fair wages and participate in the companies earnings. Please check out the website as there is no way to do it justice with words. I love the chunky tagua bracelets!

(PS Amanda is a former Seattlite and is offering a 20% discount this month- i am not capitalizing on this entry except in goodwill, which just might be fair trade principle number 1 )

PPS the 20% discount comes in a confirmation email when you sign up for the AC mailing list

Kimmi Designs

Kimmi and models at SB Festival 2009

Real clothes were on the main stage of the annual Sustainable Ballard Festival. The (neo) Fashion Show was a collage of work from local designers and innovators. It was full of delightful, fun and functional garb from second use textiles and alt materials.

Kimmi Design showed a formal and feminine collection made from "recycled fabrics, curtains and tablecloths etc."

In the spirit of sustainable sanity, Kimmi Designs soar.

More from the SB show later!

See you at the Festival!