BEAUTIFUL AGONY



A really inspiring collection from Reem Alasadi. She is from Iraq!, but studied in UK of course... Her collections are truly excuisite and distinctive. Not just beautiful but also eco conscious. (if there is still anybody outhere who things eco is boring, here's the prove of the contrary) The signature on all Reem’s clothes is artisanship - she turns discarded clothes to couture pieces, full of handcrafted details.
 as written on her webpage: 
Ream Alsadi has always been a trailblazer and a pioneer. A mapmaker and a pathfinder. The hallmark of an item by Reem is integrity and originality, she manages to put together the most surprising elements and somehow they always work. Mixing metaphors is Reem’s signature style,...
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She will present her new collection on ECOCHIC FASHION SHOW in Geneva in 2010.
 Included in this collaborative effort will be the launch of a Sustainable Design Exhibition and Competition, and a dramatic EcoChic Fashion Show featuring sustainable and ethical ready-to-wear and eco-couture created by fashion designers from around the globe. 

 
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STEAMPUNK



A few days ago, while I was doing a reasearch about victorian age for the new project I'm preparing, I "discovered"*  steampunk. (*like Christopher Columbus discover America although it has been there for centuries :)   
It's a  a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction. It's like an alternative reality... a mixture of victorian age and the beginning of industrial revolution. Full of unusual machines, tools and extraordinary inventions.There are a lot of references in popular culture to it... so if you like it you shouldn't miss the movie from Jaunet and Caro: The city of Lost children. Full of unusual characters, machines, tools and extraordinary inventions.

with words of others:  
Wacko victorian fantasies.
K.W. Jeter & Michael Berry, 1987
 
Everything Jules Verne could have written.
Everything H.G. Wells should have written.
Everything A. Conan Doyle thought of but never published because it was too fantastic.

Frank Chadwick, 1988



 
 
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DRESSING THE MEAT

Maybe vegeterians are going to eat meat in the future ... without having to sacrifice a life of an animal...
It is scary in a way how technology, in this case nanotechnology, can change the way we percieve the world and chalenges our concentions. Can you imagine that meat can be grown in vitro from a small sample of animal tissue? And we can actually design how it is going to look!
Students of Royall College of art made a project called: Dressing the meat of tomorrow.
The mobile animal MRI [Magnetic Resonance Imaging] unit scours the countryside looking for the most beautiful examples of cows, pigs, chickens and other livestock. Once located, the creature is scanned from head to toe, creating accurate cross-sectional images of its inner organs.
The most interesting and aesthetically pleasing examples of anatomy are used as templates to create moulds for the in-vitro meat .
 
enjoy your meal :)
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DIGITAL WATER

 
IMAGINE A BUILDING MADE OF WATER…

click : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtMzbeMA58I

Carlo Ratti, an Italian architect and engineer, is the creator of   Digital Water Pavilion,
 which was chosen by Time magazine as one of the best invention in 2007 and presented at Expo zaragoza 2008. It is an interactive structure which features liquid curtains for WHICH can be programmed to display images or messages and also sense an approaching object and automatically part to let it through.

The "water walls" that make up the structure consist of a row of closely spaced solenoid valves along a pipe suspended in the air. The valves can be opened and closed, at high frequency, via computer control. This produces a curtain of falling water with gaps at specified locations - a pattern of pixels created from air and water instead of illuminated points on a screen. The entire surface becomes a one-bit-deep digital display that continuously scrolls downward.

The dream of digital architecture to create buildings that are responsive and reconfigurable and can dynamically adjust to people and conditions, came true.
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CALEIDOSCOPIC MAGIC - make your own

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DON'T SCREW IT - WEAR A. CREW

 
ANDREA CREWS
...a collective which federates artists of the French and international cultural scene
with a totaly fresh and inovative approach to sustainable design...
More than a brand: Andrea Crews is a new concept which proposes a federing and equitable model of production , an alternative to the current consumer system . It fits in the world of creation like a space of resistance and freedom.
 I was really inspired by the way they do things: recycling, salvaging, sorting out... they transform tons of second hand discarded clothes into unique,artistic, chic, trendy pieces... 


 
 
collection fall'winter 2010

COOPERATION WITH NIKE - REMODELED AND REINVENTED STOCK CLOTHES 
  
ACTIVISM: RECYCLING WORKSHOP  AT L'INSTITUT FRANCAIS DE BILBAO
 


more from Andrea Crews on http://www.andreacrews.com

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QUEER AS FOLKS

 
 PHOTO PROJECT MADE BY ANDREA CREWS TEAM
...or how the creative approach can transform the forgotten clothes into most up to date, edgy and avantgarde fashion...
Queer as Folks was made in the archives of the Ethnographical Museum of Warsaw. It's a styling project with history clothes from the archives, but worn in a tottaly differen't way as by the rules...meaning that a guy was wearing a wedding hat for a virgin from the north mixed with a hunting belt from the mountain, and labor shoes, etc... is was a free reinterpretaion of the pieces in term of styling.
 
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RAIN ON ME CRAZY DIAMONDS


"Rain installation" by Stacee Kalmanovsky

 Beautiful instalation of  beads on a fishing line under a glass ceiling. As if the time has stopped...

artist statement
Stacee Kalmanovsky's work is rooted in the uncanny, suggestive, and picturesque. Her urge to invent and exaggerate is tempered by a deep dedication to the medium at hand. She believes in the conceptual process itself, from gathering information and sorting through, manipulating, and qualifying the image, to the indisposable skill to achieve the end result. Like in the alchemic process, the raw matter (sulfur = visual information) is transformed, refined, and persuaded into its purest form (gold = art).
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LA MORTE DI UN'IMMAGINE


 la morte di un’immagine #6’, 2006
One of my latest (too late, I know :) discoveries is Andrea Galvani - a guy who pushes the boundaries of the photographic medium. A promising italian young artist who's work is synthesis of philosophical, political and economic concepts. Although the title of one of his Galvani's latest series is the death of an image I would reather call it a birth...

l’intelligenza del male #5’, 2007
 
la morte di un’immagine #5’, 2005
  
N-1 #5’, 2007


Minimal and surrealistic. See more on http://www.andreagalvani.com/
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ECO FIGHTER


I am a dedicated reader of two newspapers Delo and Dnevnik, actually of their saturday supplements Objektiv and Sobotna priloga. Not a long ago I was performing my saturday ritual: waking up late, drinking coffe and reading news... and I was intrigued by an article - a diary of  an ecologist Marko Debeljak who was writing about the negative effects of the fashion industry on the environment. He says it takes a road tanker of a water to make a pair of jeans. Although I agree with him in many aspects I had to answer and show that the situation is changing and that there are many alternative ways to do fashion with conscience. T shirts  on the picture above are designed by Katharine Hamnett, who was one of the first eco  fighters and believed that fashion can make a difference.
My letter was published in next edition of Sobotna priloga.  In the readers letters of course but I was happy anyway :) btw: Eco fashion is also the ropic of my exam for my masters... 
Published letter (in Slovenian of course) :


Delo, 25.julij 2009
Dnevnik Marka Debeljaka: Za izdelavo enih kavbojk je potrebno toliko vode, kot je prevaža tovornjak s cisterno
Marko Debeljak v svojem dnevniku opozarja na številne škodljive posledice, ki jih ima modna industrija na okolje. Problemi s katerimi se ta panoga sooča so številni. Že v fazi proizvodnje se porabijo velike količine obnovljivih in neobnovljivih virov poleg tega pa pri gojenju bombaža uporabljajo okolju škodljive pesticide. Zaradi seljenja proizvodnjih procesov v Azijo se povečuje onesnaževanje zaradi transporta v fazi distribucije. Velik problem pa seveda predstavlja kratka življenska doba modnih izdelkov, saj večina prezgodaj pristane na odlagališčih in le majhen procent vseh oblačil se reciklira. Kljub temu bi rada predstavila alternative temu začaranemu krogu, saj vedno več okoljsko ozaveščenih oblikovalcev ponuja okolju prijazne modne izdelke.
Izraz eko- moda se zdi protisloven, saj je neprestano menjavanje modnih trendov v nasprotju z načelom trajnosti, ki je eden osnovnih pogojev okolju prijaznega oblikovanja. Kljub temu primeri dobre prakse kažejo, da je mogoče uveljavljati načela trajnostnega razvoja tudi v modi. Eko moda je še danes prepogosto asociira na brezoblična oblačila iz konoplje ali volne, primerna samo za modno neosveščene in do oblikovanja brezbrižne posameznike. Danes se mnenje počasi spreminja, saj so številni inovativni in kreativni oblikovalci s svojim delom dokazali, da so lahko okolju prijazni izdelki zelo dobro oblikovani in trendovski in naših nakupnih odločitev ne omejujejo na izbor med lepim in okolju prijaznim.
Ena osnovnih strategij oblikovanja za okolje je oblikovanje, ki upošteva celotni življenski krog izdelka. Okoljsko ozaveščeni oblikovalci se trudijo, da bi zmanjšali negativne vplive na okolje v vseh fazah: od proizvodnje, distribucije, potrošnje in zavrženja. Običajen kupec običajno predvideva, da so okolju prijaznejši naravni materiali, kot so bombaž, konoplja in lan, vendar je dejstvo, da za rast bombaža porabimo velike količine okolju škodljivih pesticidov ter velike količine energije in vode pri izdelavi tekstila. Poleg tega je možnost recikliranja naravnih vlaken v primerjavi z umetnimi veliko manjša. Dobra alternativa je organski bombaž, saj za rast niso uporabljeni okolju škodljivi pesticidi. V svoje kolekcije ga vključuje vedno več blagovnih znamk, ki se zavedajo pomena skrbi za okolje. Glede na to, da oblačila zaradi hitro spreminjajočih se trendov hitro zavržemo, številni oblikovalci podaljšajo življensko dobo oblačilom s predelavo in preoblikovanjem. Pri oblikovanju uporabljajo oblačila zbrana na boljšjih trgih ter v trgovinah z rabljenimi oblačili. Nizozemski avantgardni oblikovalec Martin Margiela za svojo linijo Artisanal oblikuje luksuzna unikatna oblačila iz zavrženih oblačil in modnih dodatkov ter kaže smernice za inovativne, okolju prijazne modne izdelke. Londonski oblikovalec Christoph Reaburn za svoje kolekcije uporablja stare vojaške uniforme in tkanine vojaških padal. Zelo pestra je ponudba torbic iz recikliranih in ponovno uporabljenih materialov. Izdelane so iz odpadnih oglaševalskih plakatov, embalaž sokov, zapiral pločevink, papirčkov bombonov, recikliranih plastenk in številnih drugih ostankov potrošnikov.  Zanimiv koncept predstavlja blagovna znamka From somewhere, ki za proizvodnjo svojih oblačil nikoli ne uporablja novih materialov ampak ostanke krojenja in poškodovane tkanine, ki jih večje tovarne zavržejo. Inovativna rešitev ponuja tudi Rebecca Earley, ki oblikuje oblačila, ki jih lahko po njenih navodilih preoblikujemo, ko se jih naveličamo ter tako uporabljamo dlje časa. Razvila je tudi postopke tiskanja, ki ne onesnažujejo vode in za katere porabimo minimalno količino energije. Posebno inovacija pa je izum japonskega oblikovalca Isseya Miyake-ja A-POC. Z uporabo sodobne tehnologije je ustvaril pletenino iz katere lahko kupec sam izreže oblačilo po svojih željah. Za izdelavo končnega izdelka ni potrebno krojenje in šivanje. Na ta način prihranimo ogromne količine vode in energije, ki so sicer za to potrebne. Modne blagovne znamke si glede na svoje vrednote in prepričanja prizadevajo tudi za pošteno plačilo in dobre delovne pogoje vseh sodelujočih v industriji, skrbijo za bližino proizvodnih procesov, spodbujajo in promovirajo pošteno trgovino in se trudijo spodbujati lokalno gospodarstvo ter domače obrti.Moda ima lahko zaradi svoje razširjenosti in dostopnosti pomembno vlogo pri ozaveščanju potrošnikov o pomenu skrbi za okolje, saj lahko posameznik z izbiro oblačil sporoča svoje vrednote in stališča.
Kljub temu, da pestrost ponudbe eko modnih izdelkov raste in je na trgu dostopnih vedno več okolju prijaznih izdelkov, je eden ključnih problemov potrošniški življenski stil zahodnega človeka. Cenena delovna sila in materiali iz vzhoda so omogočili, da so na trg prišla poceni oblačila, ki posnemajo zadnje modne trende in so dostopna skoraj vsakomur. Velike trgovske verige s svojo hiperprodukcijo cenenih oblačil spodbujajo potrošnike k neprestanemu menjevanju garderobe. Rezultati prizadevanj okoljsko zozaveščenih oblikovalcev niso dovolj, če hkrati ne spremenimo svojih potrošniških navad. Sprejeti moramo odgovornost za svoje nakupne odločitve in kvantiteto nadomestiti s kvaliteto.
Neli Štrukelj
Študentka magistrskega študija oblikovanja na NTF in ALU-O
 
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NOIR FASHION

Eco chic - the fashion paradox?
Fashion is my passion (it sounds so cliche, I know)  but it doesn't always fit with my values. It stimulates fast consumption and it' usually far from being enviromentaly friendly. But, fortunately things are changing and more and more designers are proving that style and ecology can work together. 
Designer of high end fashion label NOIR Peter Ingwersen says: “We want to be known as the first brand to turn corporate social responsibility sexy. And they do! ”I was really turned on by their work. Not only that the clothes look great but they use mostly organic fabrics, promote fair trade and fight for enviromentaly friendly production. Their designs are as famous for their stark monochromatic, exquisitely tailored and über-sexy look as they are sustainability.That's the way I like it :)

 
To see more great designs check out web page : http://www.noir.dk/
As soon as I found on the net I wrote them email : I WANT TO WORK FOR YOU!
It was more a scream of enthusiasm than a well thought plan but I had to do it...
this is a part of my passionate (and a little bit naive :) letter:
You may call me a dreamer but I believe that fashion can make a difference and I want to be a part of the company which proves that the principles of sustainability can be realized also in the fashion industry. I am hardworking, passionate and dedicated to fashion with conscience. And sexy of course :)
If this is something you were looking for I would be happy to hear from you.

I got answer next day thanking me for passionate job application but they don't have any vacant position at the time but that they'll notify me if situation changes... Yeah right :)
and:
We wish you all the best in your future career and never lose that passion...


I won't! ;)





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TAKE A GLIMPSE OF I-BAG



I-BAG is designed for active, dynamic and distinctive urban people; it is a reflection of our personality. A mobile home; hiding and revealing our possessions at the same time. It is multifunctional and transformable. Extremely practical and fashionable at the same time. 
There will be much more written about this topic so take just a glimpse of it...

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WILL I GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION?

 
I always had problems with introductions because I should tell something about myself but to be honest... I still don't really know who I am. I am always in the process of discovering the mystery. I could say I'm work in process :) So I guess is better that I skip this welcome part and hope you (and I) will get a picture of who I am by reading the blog.
Why am I writing it anyway? Is it an attempt to stand out of the crowd, to be seen and heard? Maybe... I always wanted to be famous so if the blog won't do I'll start to sing :)
Secondly: I heard that big brother is a very good looking guy, so I guess I have more chances to be spotted and get noticed by him if I start writing a blog... 
ok, seriously now... I am a person with numerous interests and passions... and everyday I get excited by some new discovery, person, music, idea... And by sharing it, it becomes more alive and saved from the devastating power of my scattered memory. As a designer I also feel a constant need to create... 
The topic of my next project is Surveillance. What a coincidence :) By exposing myself I won't be just the observer but I'll be also observed. Of course, not in a surreptitious manner because I'll decide what to show, but anyway... Let's start to play this game :)
I'll be watching (for) you...

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