ART of SLOW FASHION

Join the Ethical Fashion Academy and BEinSpain for an inspirational and intimate look at the art of Abigail Doan and designer Zaida Balmaseda this September 18th from 6:30-10 pm.   Scroll below to explore the work of  Abigail Doan and Balmaseda. Click here to RSVP

Abigail Doan

Abigail Doan
Environmental fiber artist and writer, Abigail Doan, currently divides her time between NYC, Eastern Europe, and Tuscany. Her work as a fiber artist offers a unique view into the materials, methods, and life cycle of handmade textiles, slow fashion garments, and related environmental issues. Abigail's recycled fiber forms and land-based installation work has been featured on Art Cloth Text, Craftzine, LabforCulture, Landviews, Treehugger, Trendtablet – as well as in the New York Times, HAND/EYE Magazine, Surface Design Journal, The Natural Resource's Defense Council's OnEarth and the books, Fiber Art Today and Green Guide for Artists.

She is an internationally exhibited artist and works to promote the preservation of textiles, natural resources, and cultural handcraft techniques globally. Her most recent curatorial projects include Fete for the Senses as reviewed on Trendtablet, (Re)Fashioning Fiber in NYC, and Fashioning Self and the Environment at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn. Residencies include The LAND/an art site in rural New Mexico as well as symposia and environmental art exhibitions with the United Nations Environment Programme and in museums and galleries internationally.

A summa cum laude graduate of and former adjunct professor at Purchase College, State University of New York, Abigail also attended Princeton University and studied at The Center for Book Arts in NYC. She has organized art, textile, and design events globally and keeps visual journals and research archives at Lost in Fiber and Toolshedding.

Abigail's website

Abigail Doan

Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico to Cuban and Puerto Rican parents, Zaida grew up in the countryside surrounded by horses and mango trees. Her mother and grandmother are master craftswomen who provided a household full of creativity where she developed an effervescent interest in the Arts.

Zaida graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2011, after spending two years studying at POLIMODA in Florence, and the Politecnico di Milano, in Milan. She holds a BFA in International Fashion Design: Knitwear Specialization.

Committed to ethical/sustainable practices, throughout the design/production process, Goveo Balmaseda worked with Auralis' and STUDY NY. A believer in quality vs. quantity, interested in research, and in exploring the realm between art and fashion. Zaida's mission is to emphasize the meaningful results we can obtain while using alternative methods to create unconventional, clothes/art that are beautiful and fair to everyone. She feels that going the extra mile can bring out surprising ideas and creative solutions to an industry that needs a new set of values.
Zaida’s work has been exhibited at the MMXIproject (Tribeca Grand Hotel, NYC), Mittelmoda in Gorizia, Italy, the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris, France, The Green Fashion Competition during Amsterdam Fashion Week, and Fete for The Senses in NYC.

She is about to begin an Artist Residency program at the Textile Arts Center in New York.


Zaida's website.

Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda

Carmen Artigas
Carmen has worked in the fashion for nearly 20 years, most recently in sustainable design, consulting, and sourcing. Working in India in 1999 with artisan communities reviving endangered crafts and later developing a yoga line using certified organic cotton and natural dyes exposed her to the challenges of developing sustainable products. She currently teaches Ethical Fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons New School of Design in New York, and she dedicates her time to reevaluating the human and environmental cost of products, advocating for craftsmanship, and redefining “made-in” and “made-by”.
about.me/carmenartigas

A 15-year veteran of the publishing industry, Jasmin Malik Chua is the managing editor of Ecouterre.com, the leading website on sustainability and innovation in fashion. She has an M.S. in biomedical journalism from New York University, where she was a founding fellow of the literary reportage program, and a B.S. in animal biology from the National University of Singapore. In addition to stories published in online and print publications like Alive, Inhabitat,Plenty, The Huffington Post, and Sprig, Chua has been quoted as a green expert by such publications and outlets as The New York Times, BBC Radio, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and People.  www.ecouterre.com 

Francisca Pineda is the founder of the Ethical Fashion Academy, a community focused initiative that organizes eco-fashion events in New York City and a yearly hands-on Eco-Fashion Workshop in Costa Rica.  She is the creative director for BHAVA, a luxury artisan-made cruelty-free footwear collection: conscious & cool with a dose of ingénue charm.
Francisca is also passionate about sharing what she has learned throughout her 15 year career designing apparel and accessories with the next generation of designers and teaches design through the Fashion Portfolio Academy, an online design education platform.