Trashion. If you’re green and fashionable, you’ve no doubt noticed it’s everywhere you look these days. And this “creative reuse” in fashion may have finally gone too far. It’s time to question, for the sake of eco fashion’s future viability, the plethora of “trash to treasure” initiatives touted as sustainable fashion genius.

It is time to do more with less, and this includes reducing our predilection for “trash to treasure” designs and stories that glorify less than marketable fashion.

The thing that concerns me as someone who also observes how trash is now utilized in eco-art and gallery installations is the message suggesting that we can increasingly find a tidy place for the trash in our lives. Creative reuse needs to move beyond the glorification of trashion and recycled art projects in order to address long term solutions for waste reduction and sustainable economic development. Our primary focus should be on managing this toxic bloom via critically important economic, environmental, and health initiatives.

For sure, timeless design has a transcendent and culturally revealing quality, particularly when it comes to the innovative reuse of materials and cast-off bits. Are we currently aiding or hindering the sustainable fashion movement if we do not make a distinction between designs that measure up as genuine fashion innovation and those that are clever, eye-catching creations that make “trashion” seem fashionable?

Junky Styling’s recycled men’s suit coats: an empowering approach

Creative reuse projects can be large or small. In the case of fashion, several bold designer initiatives have genuinely overhauled the industry’s patterns of waste and excess via the resourceful recycling of textile surplus and unsold stock. Standout labels like From Somewhere, Junky Styling, Goodone, and Reet Aus, to name a few, effectively take yesterday’s unwanted goods and artfully re-shape them into tomorrow’s covetable items. This design strategy is genuinely empowering for the fashion lover who is investing in environmentally sound and fashion-forward design.

From Somewhere‘s upcycling of Speedo’s LZR Racer designs

The recent collaboration of From Somewhere with Speedo to create a capsule collection upcycled from unsold and obsolete Speedo LZR Racer designs might seem like an odd pairing to some. However, an industrial fabric challenge like this clearly demonstrates how unwanted waste can be transformed into eco-luxe couture.

Recycling should and must be an engaging activity, particularly when it comes to labor-intensive DIY projects. Some of the most rewarding fashion moments are definitely those where something useless or outdated takes on new life with imaginative tinkering and whimsy. As Kate Black of Magnifeco recently shared with us:

“When it comes to recycling, we have obviously been doing it for years, in all cultures. Textiles that can no longer be used as garments are incorporated into household items like quilts and pillows and now it’s not just recycled textiles making the news in eco-fashion: candy wrapper handbags, pull-tab accessories are front and center, too.  When recycling or upcycling in fashion falls short, though, I generally find that it is from a taste perspective, not necessarily a design perspective.”

I wholeheartedly support projects that provide fair-trade jobs to artisans who create one-of-a-kind accessories and art-objects out of dumpster and landfill pickings, so I am certainly not attacking these folks for the honest craft and handwork that they do.

Ecoist ‘Botero’ handbag crafted out of candywrappers

I do think, however, that we should exercise caution regarding what is an increasing inclination to sanitize and incorporate trash into art, fashion, and design projects for our own aesthetic amusement. Let’s not forget that this everyday refuse should not exist in the first place, at least not in the volume that we are now grappling with. We need to ensure that we do not become de-sensitized to just how out of control our garbage epidemic is. It is one thing to source from surplus textile stock, recycle trash in the waste stream, and get one’s hands dirty with some gritty DIY projects, but not at the expense of garbage becoming a part of our ongoing design lexicon, much less the focus of our attention.

Via Trendhunter: A condom hat may be great for ginning up clicks, but it’s bad for eco fashion progress.

‘Trash to treasure’ is a dangerous term, and one that might soon need to be upgraded or upcycled within the sustainable fashion glossary. Our long term efforts should continue to be focused on cradle-to-cradle design initiatives, zero-waste garment production, acknowledgment of indigenous technologies and crafts that actually aid specific regions, and sustainable economic development that improves the lives of people everywhere so that they can move beyond having to rely on garbage as a means of livelihood.

Chris Jordan photography

The ready-made object is a surrealist phenomenon. Fashion is about personal expression and the ability to be transported to new layers and states of being. Let’s not allow ourselves to get swept up by “quirky” design projects that demonstrate how clever we can be with Coke tabs, Barbie doll heads, condoms, or heaps of televisions and computer monitors, all in the name of recycling – but in reality only keep our movement one step further from legitimate entree into mainstream fashion or, worse, from being taken seriously by leaders in the fashion world.

‘Household goods’… deceased Estate by Claire Healey and Shaun Cordelro

This is not meant as an attack on the resourceful re-purposing of waste materials for home, fashion, and personal use. Recycling is definitely a significant part of the sustainable fashion story, but recycling without an ability to edit is doing us no good.

There is a time and a place for trashion and art of this nature, but we have a responsibility to shift away from scenes that mimic the dying “portraits of global mass culture” (a la work of photographer Chris Jordan) as we look to a greener future.

Lead image courtesy of Goodone; Household goods images via The Sydney Morning Herald.

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With A/W 2011 fashion events currently underway here in Europe, many journalists and reporters are all already rather burnt out from a schedule that just does not quit. Perhaps this is why traveling to some of the other shows provides insight and a tempo that allows one to enjoy the host city at a pace that seems a bit more natural and sustainable. My recent trip to Berlin for a spectrum of sustainable fashion happenings was a great opportunity to learn about both local and international fashion talent, as well as the dynamic agenda of Berlin’s edgy and inviting green scene.

Berliners definitely love fashion despite their beloved city’s industrial gray palette and bone-chilling temperatures. During my excursions out and about the town, not a single cab driver held back from commenting on the sartorial goings on. Posters everywhere also featured Mercedes Benz Fashion Week ads side by side with eco fashion billing. Even cooler? The organizers of Lavera Showfloor Berlin’s runway events opened up many of their evening shows to the public. This in my opinion is a great way to energize a city’s populus in the depths of winter as well as helping to spread the message of sustainable fashion goodness.

THE KEY.TO showroom floor (photo: Abigail Doan)

My agenda while in Berlin was to attend the GREENshowroom at Hotel Adlon and THEKEY.TO‘s ethical and sustainable fashion showcase. Both events are now regular fixtures during Berlin Fashion Week, although with a focus that differs somewhat in my opinion. The GREENshowroom puts more of an eco-luxe spin on their designer presentations, due in part to the posh setting in suites at the Hotel Adlon, just around the corner from the historic Brandenburg Gate. THE KEY.TO’s venue is a more of a raw space with a grassroots ‘conspiracy vibe’ pumping through the open hall. Both were well curated and offered a mix of old and new names, with attendees who seemed more informed than ever about the current state of eco fashion and the resourceful methods that designers are now experimenting with.

Isabell de Hillerin‘s A/W 2011 runway presentation (photo: Abigail Doan)

Isabell de Hillerin runway finale (photo: Abigail Doan)

I was fortunate to also catch local designer Isabell de Hillerin‘s evening runway presentation – staged in a renovated transformer station that was lit up like a mise-en-scène film set. Everywhere I ventured, the message seemed clear: art, fashion, and sustainable enterprises make for great dialogue provided that you can actually take the time to get to know the folks around you. Berlin is not really a scene for air-kissing fashion experts, and this is rather refreshing given the work that still has to get done on the sustainable fashion frontier.

Magdalena Shaffrin collection

Here are a few key things that I concluded during a three day span that seemed way too short to absorb the energy and creative spirit that was surely just revealing itself to me:

1) People love fashion, and we should not assume that they do not want to be a part of or participate in current initiatives. If we really want to create a “conspiracy” in (sustainable) fashion, then we should continue to find revolutionary ways to democratize fashion and future fashion week events.

ELEMENTUM Collection by Daniela Pais

2) There are indeed new markets for creating pieces that do more, while also looking genuinely chic and original. The European-made label, ELEMENTUM by Daniela Pais, is proof that six pieces can indeed by cleverly transformed into totally wearable ensembles. One simply needs to take the time to play with and accessorize one’s wardrobe. Garment construction that aims for zero waste can also be extremely wearable and trend defying.

KM/A design exhibited at THEKEY.TO showcase (photo: Abigail Doan)

3) In addition to recycling garments and textile waste materials, we have now entered an era where every single scrap counts. Designers can create the most remarkable and innovative designs out of seemingly useless bits and pieces that fall to the studio floor. This requires supreme technical artistry, though, not just a desire to be “thrifty” or “crafty”. The phenomenon of studio materials being factored in from start to finish is upon us. KM/A studio in Vienna demonstrates this with their hand-crafting of exquisite frocks and overcoats hand crafted out of 60s parachute textile scraps as well as recycled wool military blankets.

KM/A recycled military blanket coats

Additionally, Estonian designer Reet Aus has created a new platform, called Trash to Trend, where manufacturers and shops can submit information on their industrial leftovers and unsold garments. Sustainable fashion designers can then access this information and use desired raw material for their own collections.

Reet Aus recycled textiles collection at THEKEY.TO’s runway show

4) As the conversation about storytelling in clothing and the development of personal style continues, sustainable fashion designers are increasingly thinking and working as modern day anthropologists who now consider every aspect of how their design is used, interpreted by the wearer, and then continually updated to fit with each person’s lifestyle. As street style websites also continue to proliferate (though perhaps they have reached their peak?), we are more than ever considering what impressions we make and what narrative journey we embark on as we walk out the door. Knowing and working with your personal style is as vital to (sustainable) fashion as knowing what options there are for environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible designs.

5) And perhaps this is obvious, but there is never a substitute for quality. Several of the designers at this past week’s event have been working for years to create an ideal design equation that combines impeccable tailoring, innovative pattern cutting, attention to detail, the highest quality sustainable fabrics available, as well as a mission that addresses sustainable living and design. Collections by Camilla Norrback, Magdalena Shaffrin, Rianne de Witte, Isabell de Hillerin, and Reet Aus will never go out of style, and we should continue to support these refined fashion efforts and unique creative explorations. Fashion will reach the people if the story is a shared and lasting experience.

Main image courtesy of Elementum by Daniela Pais; Reet Aus runway image courtesy of THEKEY.TO and the designer

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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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