Last summer my Ecofabs colleagues and me organized another exciting clothes swap during Amsterdam Duurzaam.Happy t-shirts, slick and proud skinny’s and joyful summer skirts found a new owner.
But recently, we’ve collected some more said dumped dresses and lonely accessories. So get yourself ready for a clothes swap and visit upcoming Ecofabs Fashion Party during Margriet Winter Fair in Utrecht(18/24 November 2011). This time Ecofabs teams up with Ecover. Ecover is THE leading -eco friendly cleaning products brand- in Europe. Fresh up your swapped clothes with Ecover and you will not only have a happy but also a glorious new outfit!
Did you know that women account for 85 percent of all consumer products? In TrendsActive’s opinion, women aren’t a niche – they are the primary change-makers. The world is more feminine than ever, but most world leaders in business and politics are still male. Nevertheless research shows that women are the drivers behind sustainability. Women take care for themselves, their family, their friends and the world.
In the beginning of this year I joined the TrendsActive team for a while to do some very interesting research about social cultural trends focusing on women trends. In the book “In Your Purse: Archaeology of the American Handbag” I could read that American women carry around 66 items in their bag to help them through the day. Hmm that’s a lot right..? An interesting trigger to count the stuff in my own bag.
Wow…I felt like entering a fairy tale when I visited the Ijm colour pop-up store, perfectly matching colours on walls and ceiling and these enchanting String Gardens. Imagine these beauties by nature in your house, balcony, and bedroom…
Amsterdam based bag designer Kim van Beek presented Buddhi bags.
1. What is your story behind your product? To design for a developing country. Nepal. I developed a new design for an old craft: felting. A craft which they master well in Nepal.
Wondering where you can find these alluring designer products? Check out former posts and links participating designers/stores at the right. (credits in this report will follow asap).
Utrecht based eco-friendly store Smile Superstore is presenting some innovative products: Ecogen products designed by Hans Maier-Aichen, Paraplu Brelli and fair trade condoms.
Interview with Hans Maier-Aichen, the designer of ECOGEN.
Hans Maier-Aichen is a Stuttgart (Germany) based Designer, Curator and Professor for Product Design .
1. What is your story behind your product? Try to avoid any plastic waste for the future and designing some archetypic/longterm, super normal products for everyday life with a 100% compostable material.
2. What are your values of luxury? To do LESS but BETTER products, reading LESS BUT BETTER books, try to stay independent from most of global and Read the rest of this entry »
1. What is your story behind your product? All items in our store are hip, fair + eco friendly. All our brands have a story to tell. We communicate the brand’s philosophy, production methods and innovation in the field of sustainability through our concept.
Designers David Luxembourg & Daniela Pais based in Eindhoven are presenting: F.O.F.F., La. Ga. Bag, Xisto games and Elementum.
1. What is your story behind your product?
F.O.F.F.
– F.O.F.F. in its current incarnation is a spin off from my 2006 masters project ‘the volution’, to which it also provided the initial design inspiration. Right now its more of a social project then a product – as owning / adopting a F.O.F.F. is the starting point for creating you own micro community. Wanting to give them the widest range of expression I chose to keep them faceless - giving a chance & freedom for their owners to determine their identity and not forcing any association which might be pre planed by companies out for brainwash and money.
La. Ga. Bag -
The La.Ga Bag was the first product designed together by Daniela Pais and Jorge Moita under the name Krv Kurva. It started as a white canvas and soon became dressed with artworks from different designers, artists, friends and lovers. Love is science is a special edition made for the Portuguese Museum of Knowledge and science. The idea of the artwork started from the concept of the designer Marisa Vinha about what happens when we fall in love. David Luxembourg developed the final artwork that carries this knowledge. Awarded with the National Prize for Design – Sena da Silva Trophy, of the Centro Português de Design, in the category of Product Design, in 2002. Made in Portugal, 100% Tyvek Graphics Quality, water, radioactive and biochemical resistant. It weighs 40g and loads up to 55Kg. Machine wash at 30ºC. HDPE 2 Recyclable.
Xisto games –
the story for the games starts in Portugal, in the region known as Aldeias do Xisto (known for its traditionally stone built houses) the local municipalities there run a project, a network of shops called ‘loja do xisto’ that promotes local & sustainable production, craftsmanship tourism and design. In one of them I saw a ‘made in china’ domino set with the logo of these shop and was moved both to protest against it and to offer an alternative by designing games that will match the agenda and intentions of the project in it originality.
Elementum - ELEMENTUM started as a research called Clothing Species and developed during my master thesis at the Man& Humanity department of Design Academy Eindhoven between 2005-2007. This research was prompt by the waste created with fashion and clothing production and consumption. I tried to find other ways of producing and consuming. The result is a collection of 6 different pieces in a tubular dimension, where minimum cuts provide maximum use. The story is about creating less waste and is also about giving the opportunity to use and enjoy our clothes much more.
Welcome to YOI: a blog about sustainable fashion and design. YOI: is an acronym for Your Own Identity and stresses that life can be enjoyed the most when you can be yourself. In other words: do what you enjoy doing and be true to yourself. Be YOI! Read more about the story of YOI:
On this blog you can find a lot of alluring examples of Hiphonest fashion labels. Hiphonest’ stands for stylish fashion that is made with respect for people and planet. It's about looking good, doing good and feeling good.
the story for the games starts in Portugal, in the region known as Aldeias do Xisto (known for its traditionally stone built houses) the local municipalities there run a project, a network of shops called ‘loja do xisto’ that promotes local & sustainable production, craftsmanship tourism and design. In one of them I saw a ‘made in china’ domino set with the logo of these shop and was moved both to protest against it and to offer an alternative by designing games that will match the agenda and intentions of the project in it originality.