The word sustainable is unsustainable
from the very clever blog xkcd
Fashion in the year 2000
A 1930s news clip of 21stC fashion. Transformable garments were the way of the future even then!
Precious things
An example of participatory fashion design
Above is a brave label, using their website to let the curious into their design world. Where most labels would fiercely guard their design methods, Above want to share them with you and reveal all in 'how-to' tutorials. One video demonstrates that what looks like laser cutting is in fact the age-old art of devore (just beautiful).
Nyssa the designer, is genuinely passionate about pattern cutting, the closer you look at the garments, the more interesting and clever you realise they are. Some of these clever pattern cutting ideas she is sharing with visitors. If you know your way around a sewing machine, try making one of their collars.
What interests me about Nyssa's and Kerry's approach to their label is how personal it is. They don't follow trends, they aren't really doing seasons anymore, and they're currently breaking down the very idea of a garment into components to be worn like accessories. These collageable garments can be layered together or with other garments in your wardrobe.
Above is an exploration of the things that are capturing their imagination at the moment, and each new series of garments evolves those ideas further.
Through their website you really get to know the label, not just what's new and where to get it. The site does that too, but more importantly it openly invites visitors into their world, explaining what their clothing is about. Creating that kind of environment is difficult to do when you don't have your own retail store.
Knowing the stories, perhaps making a piece yourself, layering sleeves and collars into a unqiue outfit makes these garments precious, lasting, wardrobe favourites. Quality fabrics and construction facilitate this enduring emotional connection. Above claim to make classic, wearable shapes and they do; but they're not like anything else you'll find on the market. Also, they are genuinely affordable and available online.
News items
Condoms and Candy Wrappers: And We Wonder Why Anna Wintour Won’t Green Vogueby Abigail Doan on February 10, 2011
on EcoSalon
The blog is back
My website started as a blog to help me gather my thoughts for my research, then almost immediately I killed the blog and set up an entire website with the intention of using it as both a reflective space and a publishing space. A few months in, and I have decided to bring back the blog. Although my website is fairly informal (at least at this stage), I find I need somewhere to jot ideas down, which may not be closely linked to what I am doing elsewhere on the site. This blog uses the Nucleus blog tool, the skin is adapted from Dark Ritual http://skins.nucleuscms.org/browser/darkritual.