Conducive Chronicle &#187; Delia Montgomery

Vintage Cashmere Turns to Wearable Art

Delia Montgomery — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:27:18 +0000

Thai designer Koi Suwannagate lives in Los Angeles, born in Bangkok. Since her collection launch in 2001, and New York Fashion Week debut in 2007, the press frequently highlights celebrities in her exclusive designs. Examples are Gretchen Moi, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Demi Moore.

Vintage merged with organic fabrics and natural dyes are utilized in Koi’s seasonal collections. She proves how exciting fashion can be when recycling is formed into art. It takes a special talent to make stylish clothes from recycled materials — an artistic talent, and for Koi’s creations, impeccable handwork.

Koi has a thing for vintage cashmere, which really is a form of recycling. She incorporates the material into her designs with a signature style. That is to hand-sculpt the cashmere into fabulous rosette appliques. The combinations with organic cotton and silk is a richness that Koi describes as the epitome of luxury and pure indulgence.

And results are more than fashion, more than clothing. Each garment is a timeless collectible that can be worn with confidence and joy for years to come. Utilizing the three Rs: reduce/reuse/recycle, Koi’s growing fame and pride is well deserved.

WWD Women’s Wear Daily named Koi’s Spring/Summer 2009 collection one of The Top Ten Collections of the season. That’s a prestigious addition to her impressive portfolio of honors which expands into 2010. Items may be purchased from Barneys New York, Nordstrom, Harvey Nichols, and various exclusive boutiques in the U.S. and around the world. Indeed, couture is going green too.

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Ecogear Claims Recycled Is the Ultimate Green

Delia Montgomery — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:49:08 +0000

Ecogear apparels are made from 100% recycled material. The company was founded early 2008 by Robert Hii, who is a 25-year fashion veteran with a passion to create clothing with only slight impacts on our planet.

Robert says it took more than a year to complete their ecowear collections as the most eco-friendly clothing in existence. His team went through lots of different materials and processes to conclude one without a cesspool of chemicals to produce and dispose. They investigated bamboo, organic cotton and hemp.

Whether cotton is organic or not, mass deforestation is required to grow crops. Top cotton-producing countries such as the Republic of Uzbekistan have been laid bare. Such a mono-culture as cotton cultivation depletes soil. A few years later fertilizers are added and other agricultural chemicals, which is a major reason for all the oceanic dead zones observed globally.

Hence, none of the natural fibers were chosen. The bleach and heavy metals used to strip them of their naturally occurring oils added to Robert’s dismay. He didn’t like the amount of drinkable water used to clean raw fibers or the addition of chemical dyestuffs and formaldehyde to promote color fastness.

So Robert’s attention shifted to recycled fibers. He was amazed to learn what people do with scraps of fabrics. Excitement grew, but the rough coarse texture was a challenge. Frustrations mounted for months until miraculously, Robert was introduced to a knitter in North Carolina who had been experimenting with European recycled yarn. The texture was soft and manufacturing standards for durability and consistency were high.

Ecogear landed some contracts with environmental groups and government departments to produce t-shirts. Now they sell their recycled finished goods to Sears.ca, who features the brand on their website. Impressive sales at Sears enabled Ecogear to expand beyond t-shirts to yoga wear, athletic apparel, and other market segments.

It was a rough start to get recycled right for clothing, but it happened through determination and adherence to EcoLogo™ Program standards. Ecogear earned their pride knowing that their products leave only the slightest of footprints on our planet.

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Recycled Tires, Tubes and Splaff Flopps

Delia Montgomery — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:20:46 +0000

Cliff Drill and Craig Wallace are two guys who got creative in a garage. It was back in 1997 when their company, Splaff Flopps, joined the green wave. Their materials and tools were a tire, a bike tube, and a shoe knife. They had a vision.

The goal was to make durable, comfortable and reasonably-priced sandals from recycled materials. They collected, sorted, cut, and cleaned the recycled tires and bicycle inner tubes themselves. That guaranteed the quality of their recycled materials.

The garage and entrepreneurs moved to Baja, California where they hand craft Splaff Flopps today. Recycled car tires are converted to soles; used bicycle inner tubes are made into straps; hemp fabric is in the foot beds, covers the straps; and the mid sole is made from Regupol®. That’s a brand name for a cushioned material developed from used tires. All this spells waste-free production, but that’s not all that’s special about this company.

Splaff Flopps are actually field tested by surfers. The surfers literally live in their flops and typically nothing else on their feet. So add strong and comfortable to describe these functional styles. They offer a six month guarantee with respect for our environment. Better than a few testimonies; huh?

Designer Cliff Drill is the contest winner of Chic Eco’s 2009 Footwear Designer Poll. Perfected simplicity is where he’s at with only three style offerings for men and women. Accessories are simply perfect too. Check out their belts and guitar straps made from 100% recycled bicycle inner tubes and lined with natural hemp fabric, in plain or grommet styles.

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Designing with Recycled Glass

Delia Montgomery — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:46:54 +0000

The green market continues to explode for both health and sustainable reasons. That combination of goals brings lots of creative recycling options. For example, walls, counter tops, floors, furniture, and even houses can be made with recycled glass.

Personally, I am fascinated with recycled glass utilized in building construction. I observed a variety of creators during the past decade, and continue to do so. However, most of my researched finds are historical. Bless the Roadside Architect site that illustrates global glass building passions that started long ago. (Please view all the pages to Roadside’s informative site).

Getting up to date, the most popular reference to recycling glass for building is from Earthship Biotecture. The site and data is thoroughly inspiring, but it’s a much bigger picture than my focused personal mission to build an exterior recycled glass wall.

Persistence pays, as I finally landed on the site of artist Jackie Stack Lagakos, titled Bottled Structures. She was originally inspired from visiting a village in Simi Valley, California that was built in the 1950s with found bottles, sand and cement. Jackie’s journey continued and brought additional inspirers, mentors and friends to her life and interest.

From those varied roots, Jackie developed her own visions with bottles, smashed tile, mirror, stained glass, stone and mortar. As you can see from her images, Jackie’s masonry skills helped give birth to her unique bottle walls, benches, mosaic tile floors, birdbaths, plaques, murals and paths.

Jackie has been at this for awhile, more than a decade, and she expanded into mosaic art. Yet I only discovered her gifted bottled skills earlier this year. I was so thrilled, especially after numerous discussions with naysayers, that I contacted her for advice. Almost overnight she replied with Bottle Instructions 101.

What a gal! Now recycled glass building can be shared while marketing deserved artisans who refine the skill to suit custom requests. One-of-a-kind creations are the style of choice for this art form and isn’t it refreshing when good designs make environmental sense?

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Recycled Material Bags Are Hip

Delia Montgomery — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:55:14 +0000

UrthBag

For the past two years, founder Monica Ralli of UrthBags in California, developed strategies to inspire people. Her goal was to create a stronger sense of eco-consciousness on our overly-disposable planet.

Monica’s company handbag materials are milk cartons, juice boxes, telephone books, and newspapers. The craftspeople are artisans from across the globe. Designers are both staffed and sourced.

To seal the hip, whimsical, smart ‘n green image visioned, Monica adds salvaged items like seashells, fashion magazines and coconuts to her designs. Individuals can shop online and minimums are reasonable for small specialty boutiques.

Model T by English Retreads

Another company is English Retreads in Colorado. Founder and designer Heather English gained inspiration from floating down Boulder Creek on an inner tube. One of her first bags produced in 2001 is still a classic: named Model T with seatbelt straps.

Relan is in Minnesota where they make the Elsie handbag pictured below. It’s a precious small lined purse with a tire rubber handle. The exterior is made from a piece of billboard about the size of a tennis court. The billboard’s graphic pattern and colors are preserved in interesting and attention-arresting ways, then stitched together to create an innovative, functional bag.

Elsie Bag by Relan

Relan bags are designed for those who combine individual style with a sense of purpose. Companies are encouraged to reuse exhibition banners, billboards or vinyl signs. The PR program concept is for customers to place orders in advance when they see a banner they love.

This is a mini preview of many companies and methods to bag it with innovative eco style. Buy consciously folks!

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Found Trashed Objects Delight Sculpture Artist Bruce Gray

Delia Montgomery — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:29:20 +0000

By Delia Montgomery

Meet Bruce, a guy who takes more stuff out of the trash than he puts in. Sculpture and Mobiles by Bruce Gray in Los Angeles is his unique biz. His Found Objects collection is made from articles that were pulled from dumpsters or company trash donations.

Woods in Bruce’s sculptures are acquired from sustainable growth trees, not rain forests. In fact Bruce is a Rainforest Action Network activist who makes custom metal creations for businesses, architects, individuals, and the film industry.

Check out his video for a peak inside his eclectic-surreal studio. Not all his sculptured art is derived from trashed objects, but it’s easy to understand why his works are displayed in many museums and art galleries. Also find Bruce’s creations frequently featured in newspapers, books, magazines, and on television.

Pictured first is Motorcycle #1 featuring model Eve Ellis. Made from heavy industrial steel found objects. Two heavy massive railroad equipment gears create wheels, a train coupling link for the seat, giant train springs for shocks, oversized chain, and a BMW R75/5 motorcycle engine with tail pipes. Slightly oversized, it almost looks ride-able! But it’s only meant to be enjoyed visually. Bruce describes it as half retro and half futuristic, – like it was used by “The Terminator,” or “Mad Max,” or some other very intense post apocalyptic character. Suitable indoors or out for $25,000.

Pictured Spikeball, sized 24×24x24, is fabricated of welded railroad spikes. It can go on the floor, on a pedestal, or it can be hung from a beam or tree branch. Bruce says he thinks of welding it to a long pole so it would look like a dandelion. How cute, and available for $4,000.

Pictured The Tank Dog, sized 22×31x26, is one of a series of dogs. Each canine sculpture is unique. This one is constructed using a gas tank from a BMW motorcycle and is available for $1,500.

Bruce’s sculpture productions are art in welded steel, stainless steel, brass, copper, and aluminum. To summarize his recycled style, it’s fun, colorful and visually stimulating. His sense of humor is conveyed through object works of people, animals, insects, or dinosaurs. Each is honored a unique personality.

Although Bruce satisfies a unique clientele, he is truly inspiring to any trash hunter. Let’s hope his Found Objects collection continues to grow with appreciation from all.

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