Meet the interns, part 2: Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda

Zaida was first referred to me by Sass Brown, an incredible mentor, teacher and pilar of the eco-fashion community.  Or maybe I was referred to Zaida by Sass.  I’m not really sure.  Either way, I consider myself lucky have Zaida’s smiling face grace the Guilded studio twice a week.  Like Kate, she is also a knitwear student graduating from FIT this semester.  She has spent half of her student life studying in Italy and plans to return very soon (New York will miss her!).

You can read about her development process on her blog, which offers a lot of insight on her thought process and methods.  She brought in her thesis piece today and apologized for “the smell” because she dyed her piece with curry and coffee.  Honestly, it didn’t really smell, in fact it made me hungry!  And it was brilliant to see a student taking initiative and trying new things instead of taking the easy route.  That’s Zaida for you!

Did you know FIT had so many classes in sustainability?

I spoke to a sustainable design class at FIT this evening.  It was the first time I’ve spoken to a class that was specifically formatted for sustainable designers.  In the past I have lectured to the regular stream of students, which is why, I’m guessing, more than a few of them fell asleep when I mentioned organic cotton for the umpteenth time.  Not tonight, though.

This evening’s class, taught by Rachel Miller, who I met for the first time last Friday at the Textile Arts Center’s exhibit by Abigail Doan: Fashioning Self & The Environment, discusses sustainable textile sourcing and certification.  What was exciting to me about the class was that every single student in the room wanted to be there.  So much so, in fact, that one of the students who came up to me at the end of the class to say hello mentioned that she lives in Virginia Beach.  Not lived, but lives.  As in, currently lives there and takes the bus up to New York once a week to attend a class in sustainability at FIT.  If you’ve never taken the bus from Virginia Beach to New York, believe me, it’s not the most enjoyable ride.

So to that student, and the 20 others who gave up their Tuesday evening to listen to what I had to say, thank you for paying attention.  That made this struggle worth it for me today.

I may or may not have done this properly (it’s my first time using an email subscriber service, so humour me).

If I did do it right, you should be able to sign up for our brand spanking new mailing list below and we’ll send you updates on what’s going on in the Study workroom (ie. what the elves are up to), special offers and advance warning for sales.  All fun stuff, I promise!

Ever been to a clothing swap?  Susan from DLC Brooklyn introduced me to this concept several years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since.  There are many different versions of a swap, some more intimate than others.  Susan’s involve walk-offs.  The one thing they all have in common, though, is that they’re all fun!

Bring your unloved, unworn, slightly worn, vintage, new & used clothing that just doesn’t get the love it deserves in your closet and swap it for something you will love (or hopefully a whole bag full of things you’ll love!)

$5 at the door, proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society

See you Sunday!

Meet the interns, part 1: Kate Strohecker

I haven’t written much about this semester’s crop of studio elves (ie. interns). Admittedly, I haven’t written much about anything lately so I apologize to all of you for using this blog as a dumping ground for trunk show & sample sale invites, that stops now.

Two of my current interns, Julie and Tim, are Study Hall alumni who decided to stay on board throughout the Winter, but I also have two new design interns who joined the team in January and helped produce the Fall 11 presentation at NYFW and have been working hard ever since.  The first of these is Kate Strohecker, a knitwear design student who will be graduating next month from FIT.  One of Kate’s garments (pictured below) will be shown as part of the final project runway show at the school.  The top is a hand knit of a chunky white yarn mixed with hand cut leather strips.  It’s hard to see the skirt in this pic but it’s actually two pieces, a sheer/opaque striped maxi skirt layered over a black and white stripe mini skirt.  Nothing but love for this look!

Congratulations Kate, you’re going to go far!