Emily Amorello

Emily first emailed me in the Spring, telling me that she lived in Dubai but was coming home to the US to visit family and hopefullyintern for sustainable designers in NY over the summer.  Her website is interesting and documents her travels as well as her design ideas very thoroughly, and her design aesthetic, while being similar to mine, includes a lot of very graphic prints, which I usually overlook.  So I figured I could teach her lots about sustainable design in NY, and maybe extract a little graphic influence for myself.

Her inspiration for her Study mini collection, in her own words:

I handpicked four designs from my portfolio. Theses ideas were born at different stages of my academic career and reflect my study of utilitarian chic. When I moved to the Gulf 4 years ago I thought I would try to solve the problem of what to wear for Western women in the Persian Gulf. It turns out all women in the region face the same issues of modesty, social customs, extreme heat and chilly interior spaces.  I strive to create clothes that serve to do more than follow a trend or look pretty. They are meant to be tossed in luggage and get you anywhere you need to go- be it the beach, a club, or your interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. It turns out that getting more bang for your buck and packing space with convertible/adjustable clothes is sustainable- go figure. Keen to take this approach to fashion one step further I am thrilled to hitch my wagon to Tara St. James’ this summer and learn all I can about the innovative methods and materials emerging from the Green community in America. This collection will be ethically produced (does one say that?) in organic and sustainable fabrics.

So now you’ve met Emily…

Tim Ditzig

I’ll be highlighting a different intern each day this week, starting with Tim Ditzig.

Tim is starting his fourth and final year as a fashion design student at FIT this Fall.  I met him when I lectured on sustainable design and critiqued one of his classes on eco fashion last Spring.  Tim’s aesthetic is very structured, tailored and clean with details referencing his inspiration.  His inspiration, in his words:

For my mini collection I turned to human anatomy for inspiration.  I always loved how the skeletal, muscular, and circulatory system looked and worked together.  In this collection I chose to focus on the skeleton, more specifically the spinal cord.  I am fascinated at the complexity of the spine.  It is truly one of the most amazing and beautiful parts of the body.

He’ll be developing a beautiful coat in a hemp/wool/lyocell tweed, a skirt in a hemp/silk drift, a sweater in deadstock yarns and a tee-shirt in a lightweight organic cotton jersey.

Today we visited Michelle at JM66 for the first time in Tim’s development process (he’d been before but only ever to drop off or pick up samples for me).  Today he discovered what it was like to have to explain his design to the person who will be making it.  I had flashbacks to the first time I had to do that, and it was terrifying.  But he held up well and answered all Michelle’s questions like a pro.

Live chat on Pattern Review

Awamaki

I’ve written before about my upcoming role as a mentor for Awamaki Lab and I wanted to update that post and include some amazing photos – courtesy of Awamaki – that are so inspiring to me.  If you know my own personal design work you  know it’s mostly devoid of pattern and bright colours, not because I don’t appreciate those aspects of design, but somehow they never seem to become incorporated into my collections.  My being a mentor for Awamaki might seem like a strange choice, but when it comes to guiding young designers to use these elements, for some reason, I seem to know what I’m doing.  The textiles are hand woven using yarns that are dyed with natural plant dyes.  Amazing!  You don’t see much of this quality of work in our fast fasion disposable world. I’m continually inspired by traditional artisanal techniques and want to help preserve these any way I can.

Awamaki Lab is a fashion mentorship program that works in conjunction with Awamaki, a Peruvian NGO that runs a textile revitalization project to help impoverished Quechua women weavers improve their skills, gain financial independence and secure a reliable source of income. It explores sustainability, ethical sourcing and product innovation. The program – lasting three months – fosters the cross-cultural partnership between the designers and Awamaki’s indigenous weavers. This is an unparalleled opportunity for selected designer participants to develop a capsule collection in the serene environment of Ollantaytambo, Peru. Through the process, designers hone their artistic skills and lend a modern perspective to Awamaki’s range of products. This will improve the organization’s marketability and help to stimulate economic growth in the isolated, rural communities where Awamaki works.

As a mentor I’ll be working from NY to help guide the design students with the direction of their collections.  However I’m really hoping to spend some time working in Peru myself later this year or early next year.  Time will tell…

In the meantime I’ll leave you with these amazing photos courtesy of Awamaki.  The program also opens itself up to professional photographers wanting to visit the weavers and document the process.  So if you are a photographer interested in photographing at Awamaki, contact them!

The NY Project- Teen Vogue’s Eleanor Banco from FASHIONmeGREEN on Vimeo.