In part three of Dumbing Down American Design, we talk with Han Lee, owner of Fine Line Production, a company that does everything from pattern making  to grading and hang tags. We also speak with Nancie Chan of Tyler Production, a cutting and sewing floor. Both companies are located in New York City’s historic Garment District.

We revisit the driving question: Has our quest for convenience and rock bottom prices forever altered fashion and is American design becoming a thing of the past?

A week ago today, I was in New York City with Part 2 guest, designer Anthony Lilore. Anthony was nice enough to take time out of his schedule to take me around New York City’s Garment District.

Our first stop is with Han Lee, owner of Fine Line Production. Han sits down to talk and the conversation quickly veers from what he does for clients to who his clients are. Lee currently works with about 30 designers who help sustain his company. If they are succeeding, so is he.

“[I work with] the smaller designers,” he says. “The designers who want to be part of their design process, who can’t afford to manufacture overseas.”

I ask if perhaps smaller designers are more authentically connected to what they’re selling. He smiles and nods.

I throw out a comment for reaction: that (rumor has it) the bigger designers don’t even design much of their own collections. They simply pick a design and ship it to their manufacturing facility overseas where the facility offers a few more designs based on the original. The final design is picked and quickly put into production.

“True,” he says.

Second stop: Nancie Chan of Tyler Production, a cutting and sewing floor, also in the Garment District.

She’s a little perplexed as to why I would want to be there. There’s something to be said about working various jobs in the fashion industry, and never getting to see behind the scenes. This is what my trip is all about. As a buyer, rep, writer and marketer for sustainable designers over the past five years, I’ve always wanted to step inside a room like this.

It holds no glamour; it’s a space filled with hardworking women who are simply passionate about what they are doing. I ask Nancie if she works with larger or indie designers more frequently.

“The smaller ones,” she says, adding that some she works with come from unlikely fields. “Like finance,” she says.

I ask her if she means the designer cmarchuska; her face lights up. Yes, that’s the one.

I own a few cmarchuska pieces and love that I now know exactly where the pieces were made. Chan has no problem saying on the record that her most problematic clients are the bigger designers who never pay or are detached from their labels and the decisions made about them. She cites at least two designers who owe her $100,000.

“What about the smaller designers?”

“They always pay on time,” she says.

There are two scenarios I want you to imagine. In one, I see these connected, independent designers who pay on time ruling American design. They have convinced you that paying a little more is worth it because their clothes are real and inspired and sustainably manufactured, all in the U.S.A. They’ve rubbed off on the mainstream designers and the majority is now producing with a conscience – and with personal inspiration. Our clothing has a story.

American manufacturing facilities in major cities are working together to source and invest in clean facilities, educating the steadfast seasoned employees in new ways where fit, fashion and functionality work together. Our fashion technology is innovative and we have become dynamic in our approach. Because you believe in these smaller designers, they are thriving financially instead of waitressing by day and designing by night.

They enrich design by offering you choices of their own creation, not the pick-one-of-three-designs-you-like scenario that comes out looking like, well, everything else.
You feel unique in your clothes and dressing is a fun part of your day.

But in scenario two, larger designers rule American design. Their made-from-afar designs are being shipped to their holding warehouses where they are shipped to boutiques. Designers are nothing more than a good marketing campaign. They are no longer designs. We all dress virtually the same.

And in some dystopian Logan’s Run-like nightmare where we’re brainwashed that the consumption of our resources are best managed by killing everyone who reaches the age of 30 instead of just being conscious of what we consume, we no longer care what we wear, all designers get phased out and large corporations like Wal-Mart clothe us (and feed, and supply us with everything we need to survive).

Image: it’s life

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What hooked me into the fashion world was never labels – it’s always been fashion as an art form. I’m just as wowed by artists’ inspiration as I am at the finished products. Sometimes it’s hard for designers to get their messages across in mere words: ever tried to articulate your love, your vision, your art? It’s not easy.

Here’s a list of some of my mini film favorites of designers sharing their passion. Think of this as a fashion inspiration mix tape, just for you.

Amy’s Mix: Girls on Film

cmarchuska

What can you do with a scarf? See designer Christine Marchuska herself in the last shot lifting her own.

Samantha Pleet

Au Revoir Simone and a cool newspaper-riddled wall is always inspiring.

Reet Aus

She designs for swanky boutiques but also, movies…

Feral Childe

Always quirky and artsy and makes me giggle.

Mothlove

Is just plain beautiful.

Image: geishaboy500

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Will you be in New York this February for Eco Fashion Week? (And do ya like how we’re slowly turning the tables on you, boring old Fashion Week?) The GreenShows should be your major focal point.

Touted as the only “premiere fashion event exclusively committed to eco-friendly, ethically sound, fair trade fashion in New York City,” the venue, now in its second season, has peeled some serious rubber (not to mention, appealed to some really great talent).

Thieves by Sonja Den Elzen, Spring 2010

This time around, notable designers like Samantha Pleet, Thieves by Sonja Den Elzen, cmarchuska and eight others will debut their Fall 2010 lines to hungry eco-press and audiences hoping for something new from the sustainable front.

Designer Samantha Pleet, photo by Jacqueline Di Millia

This is a challenge when all designers participating in The GreenShows have to abide by a “Designer Criteria” which means they have to include some aspect of the sustainable design industry. In this case it means:

1.    Vegan/Animal Free
2.    Ethically Produced
3.    Fair Trade
4.    Organic Materials
5.    Recycled Materials
6.    Ethically Produced Wool
7.    Natural Dyes
8.    Carbon Footprint Conscious

Let’s hope it also means really well crafted designs that don’t play it too safe.

Main image: The Daily Green

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At EcoSalon, we love versatile clothing as much as our giveaways (and eco-designers!). The Diane dress, by designer cmarchuska, is one of those multi-tasking talents.

Is it a tunic? Is it a dress? One thing we do know is that it’s beautiful.

Draped softly at the neck and shaped just enough to skim your sides, the Diane looks lovely worn alone or with accoutrements.

Hailing from a Wall Street background, designer Christine Marchuska knows what looks good on a woman during and after office hours. Most of her designs move you smoothly from nine to five to a late night cocktail soiree.

In other words, when you arrive at work wearing the Diane with a blazer, wide belt and a pencil skirt and heels, you can simply peel away the layers to the essential before heading off to happy hour.

Based on comments from the last giveaway, you creative ladies know how to get the most from your wardrobe. For those of you in warmer climates, we cold-weather girls are heartened by your ideas and will live vicariously through you when you say, “Accoutrements? I’ll wear this one as is.”

How would you wear it? Leave a comment below and you are one registered woman. Good luck!

Editor’s note: photo credit goes to Erik Dong. Hair by Peter Lam.

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The current economic climate has been nothing short of brutal for many eco-designers, but where there are challenges, there are also opportunities for growth.

SUST, an eco-label out of San Francisco, sees their own challenges as a way to reconnect with America and carry the torch for sustainable apparel.

Kicking off a “Sustainability Across America” tour co-sponsored by EcoSalon, cmarchuska, Indigenous Designs, I love Ryann, Restore Clothing and Guayaki Yerba Matte tea, the tour will tape interviews with industry experts, specialty clothing boutiques and “friends” along the way, which will be shared via social media like Twitter and Facebook as well as at their blog, getsust.

The brainchild of Kevin Baum, CEO of SUST, the trip will serve not only to increase awareness of the SUST brand, but act as a grassroots marketing effort to create connections at the store level and garner a greater knowledge about how real Americans view words like “organic” and “sustainable.”

Despite what you may think, Baum says collaborating with the other designers on the tour isn’t competition, but rather, collaboration.

“We help each other whenever we can, share ideas, and work together to grow the market for organic and sustainable goods,” says Baum. “We’re much more complementary than competitive. Our competition, by contrast, comes from companies who are not organic or sustainable in their practices, and who can offer their goods at much lower prices because of that.”

From San Francisco, mobile meetings with Baum will involve SUST’s  brand ambassador (and van driver), Laura Jones.

Jones will not only promote her three-month trip across America through personal interviews with the eco-community but will also feature some of our nation’s most beautiful parks and monuments. The SUST crew hopes that by taking this approach documenting the natural splendor of a place we call home, it will remind us all of the resources and landscape this new sustainable generation represents and works hard to protect.

I caught up with Laura before she took to the open road.

What is the most exciting aspect of this trip for you as brand ambassador?

I’m excited to experience the sustainable movement coming to life by meeting the people who are its motor and experiencing the nature that is protected as the fruit of their labor. This journey began as an exploration of the country I’ve called home for many years, but has grown into an endeavor to experience not just the place, but the people, culture and even the commerce that make it what it is.

It’s exciting to take this broad notion of the green movement and a love for fashion and marry them together in a totally unique, fun and collaborative way. This is really an opportunity to meet our fellow partners in both fashion and green commerce and to make friends, learn about their missions and projects and help champion their successes. I think the most rewarding aspect of the journey as SUST’s ambassador is the opportunity to connect with like minded people, learn about their contributions, and to be able to paint a real picture of the industry, the movement and the nation in a very human way.

What do you hope this campaign will promote first and foremost for SUST?

I hope this journey will help promote the collaborative energy that fuels the sustainable movement. The movement itself seems like a very high-level, ethereal concept, but the reality is that it’s individual people, working to build and change the way we think and live.

This trip is an effort to extend the hand, to engage our community and to build friendships so that together we can all help one another thrive and achieve in our efforts towards a common goal.

Where can we follow you on social media and will you be making daily posts?

You can all follow me on our Facebook fan page – www.facebook.com/getsust – on Twitter @getsust, and on our blog at getsust.blogspot.com.
I’ll be posting as often as possible, but will have to recess into the wifi-free wilderness of our National Parks every so often! You can expect to hear a lot from me while on the road and in urban areas, and to get full reports of the back-country adventures when I get back in range.

One sentence that sums up how you see the future of sustainable design?

Sustainable design is already going mainstream, continually making inroads into the fashion industry with something that not only feels good and has a sense of style, but is better for the environment as well.

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Sheena Matheiken, founder of The Uniform Project, has challenged herself to wear the same dress for 365 days as an exercise in sustainable fashion.

To prove her point, she had seven of the exact same dresses created for her (to avoid any stinkiness), that she can accessorize any way she wants – but she has to wear the same dress all year and says at her website she’d like to “think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade’s boudoir.”

So far, so intriguing.

This exercise is also a worthy fundraiser and all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for slum children in India, where Matheiken was raised and schooled.

Please visit Matheiken’s site to see how you can participate or donate to her cause. At the very least, how you can help the poor girl accessorize enough to put her through a full year of wearing (gulp) the same old, same old.

In the meantime, I wrangled my own posse of designers to answer the question:

In light of The Uniform Project, do you think you could design a dress that could multi-task for a woman for a whole year?

Bahar Shahpar:

I could and I would. Very excitedly so. Repurposing and reimagining beyond a normally acceptable level is right up my alley. In fact, I was just approached by a forward-thinking friend to do just that. But I wouldn’t do a dress. I’m just going to put it out there: Long Live the Onesie.

LAEKEN:

LAEKEN’s vision could absolutely be translated into developing a dress versatile enough to be worn 365 ways, as seen in the Uniform Project. We love the idea of multi-functional pieces. For example: a zipper in the back of a dress so that it may be worn tighter or looser (seen in our fall 2009 collection) or a jacket with removable sleeves so that it may also be a vest (seen in fall 2008) or the Osaka dress from spring 2009 that has two different ways that it can be worn. We would create something very unique, true to LAEKEN’s edgy spirit but simple enough to be accessorized, dressed up or dressed down, comfortable and perfect for the transition from day to night.

Alabama Chanin:

We have been striving to make multitask dresses and clothing since the beginning of the company. I love a dress that can be used as a night gown, for gardening, to go to work, dinner and a party – perhaps with a washing in between.

MothLove:

I believe MothLove dresses are meant to be worn under the same constructs as the Uniform Project. I had no intentions of putting boundaries around my line, as I think that can stunt its potential! What is important to me is that MothLove creates pieces intended to be worn however the wearer chooses, interpreting the “artists” creation in their own way…and even that has cause for constant “re-interpretation.” When that happens the real magic happens and a new spirit evolves…your spirit evolves.

MothLove is highly adaptable, designed in grey scale for wearability and relevance beyond a season or a trend; meant to be the favorite piece you pull out of your closet routinely.  The dresses stand alone, yet are easy to layer and accessorize, keeping the focus on conscious consumption and creativity. I really only meant to make something that allows a woman to feel natural, pure and pretty. I don’t think we allow ourselves that privilege enough. And in that, I hope the wearer can feel the love and devotion I have in making each piece.

cmarchuska:

I think designers will have to view design with more functionality instead of creativity since this one dress uniform will have to last a whole year. In general, I think this is the direction fashion is headed during these tough economic times because consumers want pieces that are classic, affordable and can be worn to various occasions. This also speaks directly to the sustainable fashion movement, which focuses on classic pieces that the customer will want to hold on to for years instead of tossing out trendy clothing each season and contributing to more waste and less sustainability.

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The more I talk with designers, the more I want you to know what they’re thinking. Here’s some insight.

I recently asked nine various shades of green designers what they thought about the question:

“Does collaborating with big names like Target, Kohl’s or Wal-Mart sound enticing to you?”

Heyne Bogut: I think in order to make that work you need to have a very packaged and defined product that can be understood and categorized quickly and easily. I’m always up for a challenge and I like the idea of contributing to pop culture in any way, shape or form, but it’s tricky to water down what you do enough to make it work in those places.

Plus, there’s the quality end to consider, and the concern for what conditions it’s made under. So, basically, the idea is intriguing, but a lot depends on what these partners are like to work with. I know people who design product for Wal-Mart and the process is living hell. I’ve been approached in the past by mass producers and have found the attempted collaborations uneven and unsatisfying.

Mociun: I think collaborating with someone like Eastpac or Keds would be great. Or some company that makes things I don’t. I would love to have a printed backpack or something like that. So I guess I would be more interested in doing a collaboration with a company where I could design print one of their products. And doing something with a company like Target could be cool, just to get exposure and see what production on a really large scale would be like.

Harper Della-Piana:  There would be positives connected to working with companies like that, of course. The prospect of making a large-scale impact on my company’s finances; provided the pieces I design for a company like that are made in the U.S. or by ethical workrooms would be part of the guarantee. I would not work on a project with a company like that if it didn’t have a positive impact on the workers or the environment in some way.

Alison Kelly/Dahl: Collaborating with larger corporations is at once appealing and unappealing. First, you will have to mass produce your collection in a ghastly inexpensive manner. Department stores like these aspire for quantity, not quality, which leads you to the question of whether or not you’ll want to forfeit the integrity of your designs by having to use cheaper textiles, eliminate important design elements and manufacture in China. I have a friend who just turned down an Anthropologie deal because they would not succumb to her eco-friendly standards. It becomes a question of morality.

Cmarchuska: I have mixed views about collaborating with big names like Wal-mart or Target. Ultimately, I feel  there could be some great opportunities for exposure and marketing when combining efforts with a major retailer.  However, it is tough as a small start-up/new designer to find favorable agreements for both parties. I think I would work with a major retailer if the terms were right.

Souchi: I understand why designers are enticed by these types of collaborations but I have no interest in this avenue of exposure. The type of collaborating that would excite me would be to work with artists I admire in all mediums. I think Marc Jacobs is fantastic with this. His collaborations with Stephen Sprouse and Murakami were great because they were new and unexpected for a house that traditionally was about the brown and camel logo. Or when Hermes hired Martin Margiela to be its house designer. For me, it would be a combo of materials – mixing yarn ideas with metal smiths or painters.

AK Vintage: Enticing?  Yes. Very much so, in fact. I’m interested in building my business and doing it as green as possible. I think if big box stores like these were ever to approach me they would obviously be interested in the sustainability of my product/brand just as much as my ability as a designer, because that is part of the identity I’m creating for my lines as well as for myself.  And, under these circumstances, I would absolutely be open to having that conversation.

Mothlove: I grew up in a small town, where my quaint little downtown full of mom & pop shops not only supported its community, but was supported by its community. Wal-Mart arrived in our town, and that sad story we’ve already heard started playing. A small, yet thriving community ceased to exist. Those small shops now represent the individually-owned boutiques I pursue as a designer.

I believe in the independent, the well-crafted and the local. I also believe that the designer-to-boutique, boutique-to-customer [relationship] creates community; communities with consumer awareness, communities that self sustain and support. Of course, financially the idea of big box collaboration is tempting, but I’d lose my story. And the consumer would lose its culture.

Aster And Sage: Collaborating with Target or Wal-Mart is definitely an enticing idea. I daydream about my imaginary Target collection all the time. Mmmm, yes.

Read more candid thoughts from eco designers.

Image: j.reed

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You like to buy U.S. designed and manufactured clothing, but how do designers feel about their roles in it?

11 designers would like to tell you.

Emily Katz: I enjoy being able to talk with my contractors, meet with them when need be to make sure they are doing the quality that I require, and know that they are only a few miles away. I could bike to 2 out of 3 of my sewers’ workplaces. I think it is important to know how the garments are being made and to have a hand in it. However, we still need to find cheaper ways to produce locally. It is difficult to compete with big brands who are “luxury” and are charging the same amount as small eco designers who manufacture domestically. They have a much higher profit margin, and that can be the difference from staying in the mainstream consciousness, or going out of business.

Angel Court Jewels: To me, an eco line is about a concern for the whole. Producing in the U.S. is the same sentiment. Production in the U.S. helps us all just as producing and buying eco helps us all.

Aster and Sage: I’m in New Jersey and my products are made by me or by my stitchers in New England. UPS ground guarantees next day delivery, so I can get stuff to or from them overnight. I can visit them easily (though I wish I did that more often). I think it’s a little like buying fruits and vegetables; I may think globally, but I try to eat and manufacture locally.

Filly: I benefit from manufacturing in the USA by being able to connect with my manufacturer. I know her. Her name is Mary. She lives in San Francisco. She drives a Mercedes. And she likes my designs. She is beautiful and kind and rooting for me. Neither of us is exploiting the other but we are both benefiting from our relationship.

cmarchuska: I benefit from having my line manufactured in the U.S. for numerous reasons; some of the most notable would be:

– quality control standards – I am able to be involved actively in every aspect of the manufacturing process and to make sure the pieces are put together according to my standards.

-shorter runs/on-demand runs – Manufacturing in the U.S. provides you with the luxury of being able to produce smaller run sizes and on-demand runs which is very important in this tough economy.

-fair trade/fair labor/eco-friendly processes – I guess this relates more to start-ups and smaller companies, but you are able to oversee the operation (as mentioned in my first point) versus working with China/India where you might just be entrusting another individual on these very important issues.  This was one of my main reasons for manufacturing domestically here in NYC.

Souchi: I love that our production is not only made in the U.S. but that 100% of our line is made in our studio in Portland, Oregon. The benefits are on many levels: creating jobs in the town I live in, overseeing quality on each piece, cutting shipping costs which  lowers fuel costs.

Figs and Ginger: We benefit from feeling good about supporting our local economy.  There’s nothing better than feeling good about yourself!  Also we have much more control of the quality of our products because we’re making it ourselves in the U.S. and not having it produced overseas.

Kate Organic: Producing Kate Organic in the U.S. 45 minutes from our house has a lot of positives and negatives. We like being in control from start to finish, but, we hate being in charge from start to finish. Every decision is ours. Every choice that is right or wrong is ours. No excuses! When we made the line overseas, sometimes it felt like flipping a coin and whatever you got, you got.

It is nice to keep as much money in the U.S. as possible. But, since it is made in the U.S. the costs are so much higher. Stores do not like that the costs go up. They want it made in the U.S., but they want it at a lower price point, so it gets rough. At this point our biggest issue is keeping stores in business.

Feral Childe: Feral Childe works with printers, dye houses, cutters and sewers within a 50-mile radius! Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Long Island and Paterson, New Jersey are also frequent stops. We want to support our local garment industry and have become so friendly with our suppliers and contractors that it would break our hearts to get our clothes produced elsewhere. The New York City Garment District is totally unique. Where else can you get your clothes cut and sewn on the sixth floor, run across the street when you discovered you’ve run out of elastic, dash back upstairs and then scoop everything up to get the snaps put on by the guys on the sixth floor? Not to mention our accountant and our favorite fabric showroom are across the hall from one another in yet another tall building! It’s one-stop shopping. Business is very much done by word of mouth here so everyone really counts on one another – it really is a community. We love the history of the Garment District and we are proud to produce Feral Childe in New York City.

Mothlove: The costs I face as a small/independent and American-made designer currently outweigh the benefits. The average citizen has been so spoiled by low-cost, poorly-made and outsourced products, reluctance to truly support local artisans remains. Education is key; re-learning the importance of not only locally-made, but well [made] – and with environmental/economical consciousness comes cost. Costs to the designer (especially small-scale designers) in supplies and production equal higher price tags, especially in independently owned/operated boutiques – the new “mom & pop” shops that support them. Without supporting the boutiques, we don’t support the local economy. Without supporting our local economy, we lack the support for the artisan. And without the local artistic community, we lack culture.

Kim White: Number one, my buyers care. They ask where my stuff is made. Number two, locally made means I can see production and catch mistakes. I don’t get production from, say China, and it’s done wrong. Quality Control is waaaay easier.

Image: The Shopping Sherpa

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I was recently reading an article in Entrepreneur Magazine about eco-designer Christine Marchuska of cmarchuska and was so inspired I had to share her story here.

Not only was 28-year-old Marchuska a success story as a human surviving the recent loss of her job in New York City’s financial sector, hers was a story of overcoming temporary defeat.

Because smart, strong women like Christine don’t just lie down and give up.

Marchuska decided to go after what she’d always wanted: a creative life in fashion. It began with an entrepreneurial stab at sewing, designing and modifying what was once her conservative Wall Street duds into, as she calls it, “chic, hipster gear.”

Joining forces with her brother, Justin, they started Marchuska t-shirts, a sustainable line that quickly evolved into cmarchuska, a feminine eco dress line made of modal, tencel, organic cotton, organic silk and recycled fabrics.

Now found roaming New York City’s garment district with fashionable crowds, Marchuska is a growing force on the eco-fashion scene and we commend her profession change if only to allow us more options when it comes to pretty clothes.

I caught up with Christine recently.

Christine Marchuska

How did cmarchuska come into fruition?

This past November ’08 after months of running Marchuska with my brother and after taking several sewing classes, fashion crash courses and networking, all in New York City’s garment district.  I had always wanted to do something with fashion and the environment.  Starting the Marchuska tees with my brother, Justin, gave me the proper jumping off point to focus on my real dream, a sustainable women’s clothing line where a portion of proceeds would be donated to charitable organizations.  I also felt there was a need for an affordable yet stylish green/sustainable clothing line for women where the pieces would be chic and versatile.

When you’re designing, do you have it in your head that you’re creating a piece to transition from day to night?

Yes, I do for the most part.  I realized when I was in finance that I spent a lot of money on clothes that I could only really wear to the office, which I thought was a waste.  Why can’t you have fashionable pieces that can be worn more conservatively for corporate life and then dressed up for a night out on the town?  So I really try to keep that in mind whenever I am creating a new piece.

Do you create quarterly collections?

I do 2 collections a year, although since most of my pieces are knit based they are great in any season, especially for the west coast.

Is sustainable fashion important to you?

Yes it is. I think we really need to preserve this earth and environment.  It is scary how wasteful we are and how damaging some of the garment industry processes are in terms of producing clothes. It isn’t that difficult to make clothing that is sustainable and fashionable and I think supporting green fashion is one way to get other popular designers on board to help support better and safer practices for our environment.

What are some of the organizations you support and why?

I am on the junior council of Safe Horizon, which fights domestic abuse and violence.  I feel very strongly about that topic and continue to support their efforts.  I am a part of several young entrepreneurial organizations in NYC to help work together to create better businesses.  I am also part of several green organizations that are in the start-up phases.  I really love this group that is emerging of young people concerned with the environment and business and ways to improve upon old outdated processes.

Images: Marchuska, New York Social Diary

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