We are pleased to announce our next Ethical Fashion Academy event Thursday, Nov. 29 from 6:30-8:30 at 
GGrippo art+design 174 Grand St, Brooklyn, New York.
After party from 9-11 at Le Comptoir 251 Grand Street, Brooklyn.
RSVP on facebook or [email protected]
Scroll below for info on our talented panelists, and click on images for larger view!

Join this inspirational discussion with ten talented New York based designers who incorporate re-cycled or up-cycled materials in their designs. Once again, the space is provided by GGrippo art+design 174 Grand St, Brooklyn, New York.  
Last time it was hard to stop the conversation, so this time we've reserved an "after-party" lounge 2 blocks down from the event at French lounge Le Comptoir, with music by nu-disco DJ Dezy.

Natalie Frigo is passionate about promoting ethical jewelry design on a local and global scale. Every step of the design process, from inception to finishing, occurs in New York City. All of her pieces marry 100% recycled metals, mainly sterling silver and 18K gold, with personally selected, conflict-free gemstones. By implementing these approaches with her creations, Natalie helps to lead the wave creating a new paradigm in jewelry design.

Natalie uses the ancient practices of metalsmithing and 'cire perdue' (also known as lost-wax casting), sculpting all of her designs by hand. Her inspiration ranges from early metallurgy and textile design to recent architectural developments, culminating in a collection that is contemporary, but by referencing venerable artifacts, also feels timeless. Natalie has been featured in September's Vogue as well as Allure, Lucky, and Marie Claire. She lives and creates on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
http://bynataliefrigo.com/

Bao-Khang Luu works exclusively with commonly discarded materials to create fashion, art, and design-inspired home accessories. He officially launched Relevé Design in 2011, unveiling his inaugural collection of upcycled lighting and an expanded blog, which documents his unique perspective on craft and DIY. 
Since then his work has been featured in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Apartment Therapy, The Huffington Post, Surface Asia, Inhabitat, and Krrb. He and his designs have also appeared on The Nate Berkus Show and HGTV’s Flea Market Flip. Bao-Khang graduated with a BFA in Design from The University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons.
www.relevedesign.com

Adrienne Antonson is the designer behind STATE, a sustainable clothing label that utilizes repurposed, domestic, and natural materials. While living and working on an alpaca farm, Antonson launched STATE, and the label is a reflection of the beauty and resourcefulness of rural living. STATE's products are made in limited quantities using thoughtful methods from Antonson's Brooklyn studio. http://www.shop-state.com/
http://adrienneantonson.com/sculpture/

HIMANE SUSTAINABLE DESIGNS is an independent sewing and design studio founded by Catherine Edouard Charlot and based in NYC. The company injects a heavy dose of style, precision tailoring, and visual interest into its upcycled garb. HIMANE has been and is continuing to exceeding peoples’ expectations of what recycled fashion can be.

Shop Online- http://himane.bigcartel.com/
Site- http://www.himane.com

Tamara Leacock is a fashion artist and ethical fashion writer who uses recycled clothing donations and repurposed objects to create wearable fashion statements. Through her work, she works to engage others in the myriad of ways in which fashion can be used to facilitate empowerment and social change.
www.reciclagemny.com

Madeline Jacobs studied painting and jewelry at Rhode Island School of Design. After moving to New York she took a job in the corporate world, and has now left that behind to develop her knitwear and jewelry line, MADELINE and to write a DIY column for TeenVogue.com. 

Sara Mennona is a marketing program manager, jewelry designer and vintage enthusiast. She is interested in traditional artisanal crafts, as well as new developments in sustainable design.  In 2010 she earned a sustainable design certificate from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
http://saralies.com/

Bambi Orban is a fashion industry professional with extensive experience in all product categories. Her childhood was populated with women who had strong interests and high talent levels in textile arts and crafts. In adulthood this translated into gravitating towards a career in fashion design, which has given her a wide range of exposure to fabrics and techniques that find their way into many of her personal projects. 

Special thanks to Dj Dezy who will be spinning Old Boogie and Nu Disco at the after party at Le Comptoir.

I recently had the honor of meeting textile artist extraordinaire Kachama.  She shared her beautiful textiles with us at our recent Conscious Collaborations event. I then had the privilege of meeting her again the next evening at an open house hosted by Jeanne Golly.  Kachama was kind enough to answer some questions and allow me to photograph some of her pieces.  For decades Kachama has been using hand woven and natural dye techniques in her studio in the Chang Mai region of northern Thailand. The first time she went to the mountains to learn these ancient techniques almost every home had a loom and often the grandmother was the weaver.  Since then the number of weavers has dwindled and those using natural dyes are even more rare.  What are we losing?  More than those of us who live a modern life can even begin to comprehend.  Natural dyes are not just about gorgeous colors, but serve us with their medicinal properties as well.  By studying with the tribes she learned so many of the subtleties like why it is best to dye indigo at night.  She also spoke of a woman who healed her son's skin ailments by dyeing his clothes in natural tree bark dyes to protect his skin.  As each generation loses interest in this history who knows what knowledge is lost.  It has taken hundreds of years to pass down this information and the temptation to work in the city, often to sew at a fast fashion factory, is too great to stay behind with grandmother and weave.  Conservation of cultural heritage is key in Kachama's mission.  By re-weaving traditional hilltribe tapestries, both antiques and contemporary, inside her own creations Kachama hopes to preserve and promote the cultural legacy of Thailand’s mountain people.  In her Reuse/Recycle/Replenish series exhibited in Tokyo, Kachama explores our everyday waste and manages the impossible by incorporating our modern day garbage into her work, creating a devastatingly beautiful landscape.  Thank you Kachama, my conversation with you was inspirational and your work is exceptional.  I have uploaded several photographs in full size so you can take your time to explore her work.  Each piece takes months to complete, and is unique unto itself.  Enjoy.

For more information visit www.kachama.com

Here are some photos from this week's event in the stunning Ggrippo Art & Design gallery.  Our panelists generously donated their time to inspire us with their experiences traveling all around the world to collaborate with artisans.  Carmen Artigas summed up the event perfectly when she said "Everyone in this room is like family."  Our amazing audience of about 70 and their energy is what keeps us all going.  Thank you all so much for your passion and support!  Be sure to sign up for news about our upcoming events!

Please join us for an intimate round table discussion with NYC based designers, Carmen Artigas, Tara St. James, Swati Argade, Jessica Marati, Amy Decew, Jennifer Gootman, Anh-Thu Nguyen, and Francisca Pineda.  This inspirational discussion will explore the personal experiences of designers collaborating with artisans throughout the world.  The space is provided by Ggrippo Art + Design Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Ggrippo 174 Grand St, Brooklyn, New York.  RSVP here at our facebook page

Tara St. James
Tara St. James is the owner and head designer for the New York-based clothing label Study, a high-concept brand primarily produced in New York City. St James was born and raised in Montreal, Canada but has lived and worked in New York since 2004, she now calls Brooklyn home.  Tara also works with local artisans in India to create very limited edition runs of hand-woven textiles. She is looking to expand this specialized production to other artisans around the world.  "I approach ethical design as a series of questions and answers, most of which begin with my comfort level with the choices I'm making for each design process.  For example, Is this fabric choice using an excessive amount of resources? Can I find a way to produce this item more ethically or more beneficially to a society?  I see ethical design as a series of checks and balances, a constant learning process... which I think is part of the reason I named the brand Study."
www.study-ny.com

Jennifer Gootman
Jennifer Gootman is the Executive Director of Global Goods Partners, a fair trade nonprofit that helps women artisans in the poorest communities around the world access the US market. Jennifer Gootman has ten years experience working with economic development and arts-focused nonprofits and social enterprises.  In addition to her work in social enterprise, Jennifer designs and produces her own line of jewelry. Jennifer received an MBA with distinction from NYU Stern where she specialized in Finance and Social Innovation and Impact and a BA from Harvard University where she majored in History and Women’s Studies.       
www.globalgoodspartners.org

Carmen Artigas
Carmen has a background in apparel, accessories, and product design. Her experience in India with artisan communities, certified organic cotton, and natural dyes exposed her to the challenges of developing sustainable products. Carmen has worked in fashion for almost 20 years, most recently in sustainable fashion consulting, designing, and sourcing. She is currently teaching Ethical Fashion at FIT and Parsons New School of Design in New York, in order to reevaluate the human and environmental cost of a product and to advocate for craftsmanship, endangered crafts and to redefine “made-in and made-by”.  http://about.me/carmenartigas

Swati Argade
Swati Argade is the Creative Director of Bhoomki, a Brooklyn-based ethical fashion line. Bhoomki makes 4-6 small collections each year. Each one consists of 3-7 styles to highlight the ever increasing array of artisan, recycled, organic and ethical fabrics and processes available to designers and consumers. 
www.bhoomki.com.

Anh-Thu Nguyen
Anh-Thu Nguyen came to Cambodia as a legal practitioner, working as a lawyer for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and returned fascinated by the many social enterprises and community development initiatives she encountered there. With a friend whom she met in Cambodia, who was a microloan officer, she co-founded Ahkun, an initiative to promote and collaborate directly with artisans who had received Kiva microloans. She'll share her insights on the opportunities and challenges facing design collaboration within the field.  shop: http://ahkun.bigcartel.com 
http://blog.ahkun.org
                                                                                                                          

Amy Decew
A graduate of the University of South Florida and of Parsons the New School for Design, Amy has lived and worked both in New York City and abroad in countries such as Kenya, Fiji, and Vietnam. Motivated by the FIT sustainable design curriculum and interested in ethical and environmentally-conscious business practices, Amy is using her background in both anthropology and women's apparel design to create her collection of handmade artisanal knitwear. Sourced from a women's cooperative in Peru and using vegetable-dyed heritage cotton and alpaca yarns, the collection combines traditional methods with new techniques to create a fusion of cultural arts and conscious fashion. [email protected]  Amy Decew Facebook Page