ColumnThe connection between the clothes we buy and the clothes we are already wearing.

Julia Ramsey is intent on sharing an awareness about textiles with others. “I think it’s important to know the connection between the materials and the end product and the human and how it all comes together; a lot of times, I think it’s taken for granted.”

In a recent event at The Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, Ramsey unveiled her freshest fashion endeavor: Pelt. Textiles and their individual stories are integral to the inspiration and creation process for Ramsey. Pelt reveals an experience that weaves together raw materials, innovative construction, and an intimate relationship with your clothing and shelter.

Grounded in ideas of estrangement, Pelt sought to deconstruct society’s tendency to disconnect from the clothing on your back. “Normally, when you’re wearing a sweater, it’s completely devoid of an origin; since I’m inspired by materials that I work with, I think it’s really interesting to make the materials the center of attention.” Each piece of the creamy, cloudy, milky, and comfort-driven collection harbors the potential to perform as a second skin. “They kind of take on a life of their own, and when you’re wearing them, you feel like you have this second skin; it makes you take on another persona and they almost speak for themselves.” For Ramsey, your “pelt” can serve to shelter you or to give you additional strength. Evolved from observations of animal skins, animal hides, and furs, the cozy pieces make you want to curl up in them and hibernate for a long winter ahead.

While Ramsey seems clearly comfortable in her own skin, being a “fashion designer” wasn’t something she could always easily identify with. Growing up, she loved to sew and make dresses, but fashion wasn’t really part of her life. “When I went to school, I couldn’t look anyone in the face and say ‘I’m going to be a fashion designer’.” In turn, early in her journey as a designer, she contemplated and analyzed the question of what truly makes a garment special. For her, the fabric is key; even if the design is simply cut, an amazing fabric can elevate a piece to another level. Through studying textile design with a specialization in knitting, Ramsey’s curiosity in the fabric behind her fashion has taken her even deeper into an investigation of the naked elements beneath: the raw material.

Pelt was constructed from a collection of unprocessed sheep’s fleece from around the globe. Ramsey’s design exploration led her to discover wool sourced from a little girl who raises sheep on her parents’ organic farm in Connecticut as well as an organic line of super fine merino wool imported from South America by a U.S. trader company. Wherever the sheep were raised, Ramsey’s wool comes practically direct from the animal’s back to yours. The wool is carded and the fibers aligned, but it’s raw and in a sense, that still maintains its connection to the animal. “It’s animalistic, and wild in a way, because it is so close to the sheep.”

By feeling and touching each pelt, it’s possible to realize that it came from a sheep. “You don’t think about that all the time and I think it’s important to be conscious of it.”

Organics go far beyond the materials for Ramsey. Designing is an evolution that unfolds before her in a very free-flowing and intuitive way. “I like to keep it really hands-on and I like to be making with my hands. I think that’s important: to be close to it.” In Pelt, she began working with a Barbara Walker knitting swatch book and let the shapes develop naturally. “Just putting rectangles [of the knitting patterns] onto the form, they kind of take on a life of their own and I can visualize how to build them out.” Guided by the body and a mixture of the material and the body, Ramsey’s work pairs an interesting balance between emotions of strength and femininity.

Drawing upon the embedded concept of skins, animal hides, and fur, Ramsey’s romanticized photo shoot for the collection took an even further look at the significance of coverings and the meanings behind their expressions. The true model in the images exists behind a styled facade, as in reality, she has long red hair. In addition, her freckling from head -to-toe covers her skin and creates a pattern upon her own body. Layers of coverings – animal and human – overlap and almost become entangled in a merging of raw and wild, comfort and spectacle.

Ramsey’s Pelt undoubtedly connects human with animal; the shearing from a sheep’s coat is woven into a covering to shield a human from the cold. We may not generally think so directly about the origins of the fabrics draped upon our shoulders, but Ramsey’s exploration reminds us that our garments contain stories that have already been written before they reach us. Questioning those stories and pondering their intricacies could aid in reestablishing true and authentic connections with our body coverings.

“I think it’s important to have things that people would love to wear, and are actually wearable, even though they stand out and make an impact.” Ramsey says this collection was potentially her Fall 2012 preview. We hope to soon see her creations available at a nearby boutique; whether it be to shield, shelter, or take on a distinct persona, these coverings are utterly covetable.

The post THREADED: Julia Ramsey Sheds Her Skin About ‘Pelt’ appeared first on EcoSalon.

2011 was a landmark year for eco fashion: EcoSalon had it covered.

From more mainstream designers exploring sustainability and declining fast fashion sales to record numbers of museum goers enjoying a non-consumer fashion experience, 2011 was a game changer in the way we consume and think about fashion. Recognition for the need to slow down the fashion juggernaut created by fast fashion, compelled new approaches to how we can become more connected to fashion as a way of improving our lives and the global environmental crisis. Our top 10 fashion stories encapsulate the year that proved, once and for all, that eco fashion is not simply a trend.

We got acquainted with bamboo’s true environmental impact. 

1. For years the eco movement centered around finding more alternative materials to cotton, the production of which accounts for 2.6% of annual global water usage. Grown without chemicals and as one of the fastest growing plants on earth, bamboo, in particular, initially seemed like the go-to eco fabric. “Bamboo seemed like a miracle fiber – and in a sense, it is. It’s turning it into fabric that’s the more complicated issue,” Kelly Drennan wrote in her article Bamboo, We Hardly Knew Ye, getting to the bottom of an issue that’s responsible for the majority of greenwashing accusations leveled at the industry.

A condom hat may be great for clicks, but it’s bad for eco fashion progress.

2. A further image problem faced was the reliance on gimmicky “trash to treasure” designs and stories that trap eco fashion in its worst stereotype and ultimately, shortchange the production of clothing we do want to wear. Abigail Doan’s call to action “to move beyond the glorification of trashion and recycled art projects,” in Why Anna Wintour Won’t Green Vogue reminds us of the  need “to address long term solutions for waste reduction and sustainable economic development.”

Vilte’s February 2011 collaboration with designer Josephus Thimester for his AW2011 collection, illustrated the exquisite potential of recycled materials.

3. While the trashion has to go, recycled and found materials can be beautiful. In her eye-opening round up of designers using recycled materials to create unimaginably gorgeous clothing in The Wilder Side of Fashion Fashioning Self and Environment Abigail Doan shows us what is possible when we start looking at what we already have.

Luxury Shift: Recycled products that rival those from the best fashion houses in the world.

4. By the time summer was in full swing, reports of numerous eco initiatives and green clothing launches showed that eco fashion is an idea that luxury designers finally caught on to. In Hooked on Recycling we reported the “buzz is that fashion retailers are turning to reusable materials and some innovative techniques to get mainstream fashion consumers hooked on recycled fashion.” Our fashion forecast for next year: expect to read more stories about high end fashion houses recognizing the benefits of going green in 2012.

Shopping Made in the U.S.A. isn’t really so patriotic…or is it?

5. While luxury will always have an audience, the continuing concerns for the economy and high unemployment put the Buy Local/Made Here movement front and center. In her two part series, Made In The U.S.A. Isn’t Cause For Patriotism (Or Is It?) and What Goes On Behind The Business Of American Fashion industry insider, Louise Lagosi, dares to ask, “Aren’t there still values and standards that we as Americans believe are worth saving? If you can’t find what you want with a ‘Made in the USA’ label in it, is it wrong to buy it if it is made elsewhere?”

Feral Childe and EcoSalon partner to create a limited edition t-shirt designed to make you feel rebellious for fashion.

6. The increasing awareness of what has been lost in our appetite for fast fashion made by mass corporations turned to growing support for the “little guys” who fight valiantly against having their designs copied. In Amy DuFault’s passionate championing of an indie designer’s cause in Fashion Giant Forever 21 Steals Sustainable Label Feral Childe’s Design, EcoSalon drew readers into the discussion for greater protection of intellectual property rights in fashion.

Undercover writer Louise Lagosi helps us track our cast-off clothing.

7. Unlike traditional fashion which concerns itself chiefly with buying new clothes, eco fashion devotees consider fashion holistically. With roughly 75% of our discarded clothes ending up in the trash and in landfills, we lifted the lid on what happens when we throw away our clothes in EcoSalon Investigates: What Happens to our Castoff Clothing?

It became clear to cultural programming committees across the country that we want to see more fashion.

8. One of the most thrilling developments of 2011 was our culture’s deepening ability to enjoy fashion beyond the act of consumerism. EcoSalon covered the growing popularity of fashion exhibits in 4 New Fashion Exhibits Translate High Style For The Masses. Our coverage of the Alexander McQueen exhibit at New York’s MET included Abigail Doan’s thoughtful take on Why We Need More Savage Beauty in Life And Fashion which examined “those fashion conventions that genuinely stifle our creativity and ideas about self in relation to the environment.”

EcoSalon’s look at the art of  slow fashion launched a knitwear line, became required reading in some knitting groups, and even got a few off their meds.

9. Valuing the lost art and craft of fashion and its many psychological benefits was examined in a special 3 part series by Amy DuFault in her fascinating journey to inner peace when, Using Your Hands to Soothe The Brain.

What if all fashion runways were mossy paths through redwood groves?

10.  As the year draws to a close it’s time to think about the next steps towards a greener 2012. Alongside Amy DuFault‘s The Post-Recession Fashion Industry Series, which provides an excellent starting point, was EcoSalon’s report on a remarkable runway show in Flowering Of Fashion’s Consciousness. Reminding us that all the inspiration we need to make better fashion choices in 2012 is right outside our doors.

The post Looking Back, Looking Forward: EcoSalon’s Top 10 Fashion Stories of 2011 appeared first on EcoSalon.