More Recycled NZ Fashion

In an unprecedented sneak preview, The Dominion Post revealed one of the designs to be entered in the WOW - World of WearableArt - Awards to be held in Wellington this September.


The design, by New Zealand fabric artist Susan Holmes, is an outfit beautiful constructed from various recycled items such as an old lampshade, pre-loved fabrics, fencing wire and flax baskets.

Ms Holmes' creation was commissioned by WOW sponsor Montana to celebrate its Brut Cuvess sparkling wine and was inspired by a visit to Marlborough's Brancott Winery. The artist said
"I took my cues from the rolling hills at the winery, the weather, the vines, soil and grapes. The colours I have used represent the hues of nature".

Source: Article - The Dominion Post, 19Jul07 via Stuff

MacDonald-Paed's Recycled Vinyl Winner

At the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards 2007 held last Saturday at the Gore Town and Country Club, the overall winner was Timaru art student, Christeena MacDonald-Paed whose winning dress is consturucted from tiny sections of vinyl records and CDs.

Christeena, who designed the evening dress as part of an art assignment, was persuaded to enter the competition by a fashion tutor and is so glad she did! Huge congratulations to Christeena for producing such a fine piece of work with sustainable credentials! Lets hope it inspires more young NZ designers to push the boundaries in an ethical and sustainable direction.

From: Sophie Speer, The Southland Times, 30Jul07
Glitz and glamour in Gore


The Award of Excellence went to Aoraki Polytechnic art student Christeena MacDonald-Paed. Her evening dress landed her $10,000 in cash and prizes and the designer was "stunned" to have taken away the top award.

"I keep waiting ... to wake up and (for) them to announce the real winner," Mrs MacDonald-Paed said...

She was inspired by glowmesh wallets of the 1980s and said her main focus was on recycling. The glittering dress resulted from cut-up vinyl records, CDs and watch pieces. "It's about making the precious out of the common," Mrs MacDonald-Paed said."

Full article here

More Recycled Design

Turning plastic bottle bottoms into functional art pieces for your home Michelle Brand creates beauty from unwanted trash. Lightshades and window drapes become fashionable jems with these designs.

Michelle says, "The root of my interests lies in sustainable waste management. At present it has manifested itself into a designer maker practice.

I have designed an aesthetic and decorative fabric from which most people in the western world would perceive to be waste/rubbish.

The fabric is composed of plastic drinks bottle bases, which have been cut, sanded and then tagged together.

I love seeing design opportunities where most people only see problems"

Check out the range here

Life On The Edge Exhibition, UK

From: Practical Action

Reducing vulnerability in Kenya
"Life on the Edge is a stunning new photographic exhibition exploring the vulnerability of rural communities in Kenya. Life on the Edge exposes the failures of international aid and examines how targeted support can transform the lives of some of the poorest people in the country."

This free exhibition can be viewed at the venues below:

26 May — 2 September 2007
The Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, PL24 2SG

1 — 28 February 2008
Said Business School, Oxford OX1 1HP

Junky Styling Sale, London E1, 28 Jul

Ways To Recycle CDs

Now that most of us have embraced the technological wonders that allow storage of our music & movie collections on PCs and portable players, there are an awful lot of CDs and DVDs gathering dust on our shelves and piling up global landfills. So, what to do with these little discs of magical waste? Here are a few ideas:

An easy way to turn a room into a divine rainbow filled oasis is to hang CDs on your wall. You can get creative and form sculptural objects like GW Hart's (see below) or simply attach with blu-tac or make a mobile by sticking CDs back to back (shiny sides up of course!) and hanging from string or ribbon either individually or in groups. Be sure to hang them in an area that gets good sunlight and the resulting rainbow bathed light is almost guaranteed to brighten your day!

RecyclingCDs in the UK will take your unwanted discs and turn them into fabulous clocks which you can buy to close the recycling loop. Have a look at the vast range of designs available here.

Jim Watters has created an awesome lamp from a fluorescent bulb some plywood and around 60 CDs. It looks great and there are full instructions on how to make your own here. Use sustainable (FSC sourced) or recycled 'scrap' wood for the base to ensure extra eco credibility.

GW Hart is a mathematically minded artist who makes fantastically cool sculptures from an assortment of house-hold objects including several great designs from CDs.

More interesting, bizarre and useful tips can be found here, here, here and here...

ReInventing Fashion: Emmeline 4 Re & Snood

Check out Emmeline 4 Re for gorgeous recycled fashion designs and an equally gorgeous website to boot! Talented designer Emmeline uses fabric off cuts, donated habedashery, vintage fabrics and unwanted charity items to make her fabulously stylish collection. Unique tie-neck blouses, box pleat skirts, original jackets and cute cami tops are the result. Some of Emmeline's delectable designs are also available through The Natural Store here.

In an interview with Kucha magazine Emmeline says:
"The whole ethos behind the label is highly ethical so the challenge for me was to capture the feelings without compromising the ethics! Recycling is a serious issue, so we are very passionate about colour, cut and trim of our clothes to make sure the finished product is not seen as recycled garment but as a highly desirable fashion piece with the added bonus that buyers have a clear conscience!"

Another new designer on the UK Eco block with a divine website is Snood (Sustainable New One off Designs). Based in Huddersfield, UK, Ruth Walker is the woman behind the label and she has created a beautiful and practical range of clothes from recycled knitted garments. Snood is another great example of modern design promoting the sustainable approach. As the website says: Re-use * Re-Shape * Re-Style. A selection of designs are available through The Natural Store here.
"At Snood we believe in reducing waste by re-using existing resources – makes sense doesn’t it? We like to rescue neglected and rejected garments and bring them back to life with a sprinkle of imagination and our treasure trove of scrumptious bits, giving you a high quality one-off style without the designer price. All Snood garments are British sourced, designed and made. They are produced ethically and with consideration for the environment so with our unique garments your conscience will look as super-dooper as you do!"

For more eco fashion from the UK and abroad check the sidebar listings at Ecomonkey

The Clean Hub

From: The Clean Hub Open Architecture Network

"In refugee camps and areas effected by natural disaster, a common policy exists that most structures or improvements must be temporary, even though they may be used for decades. As a result, infrastructure systems are designed to last only a few months, resulting in substandard living conditions. Today, this condition adversely effects over 170 million people worldwide.

The Clean Hub is a portable, self sustaining source for clean water, electricity and sanitation. Designed within an intermodal shipping container, the Clean Hub can be fabricated, shipped and deployed anywhere in the world in a matter of days. In keeping with all policies, it can be deemed portable, but since it is self sustaining, it can function in one place for as long as necessary with minimal maintenance. The Clean Hub uses a photovoltaic array with battery storage, a 4,400 gallon water reservoir, a rainwater catchment system, ceramic and reverse osmosis filtration, and composting toilets."

ReUse Project on Flickr

The ReUse Project is an exhibition of global work that intends to display in Jerusalem later this year. It is organised by the Inspire Collective and will exhibit art work that is made from 'waste' products. In this way it is more than recycling and more about re-using found or everyday items. Inspire, whose work can be viewed here and on flickr, says:

"It's pretty simple really, The ReUse Project and its upcoming exibition here in Jerusalem is about finding multiple uses for things and throwing nothing away that doesn't have to be. ReUsing is kind of like Recycling, only we aren't getting rid of things, we are finding new uses for them. The show is tentatively set for Sept. and will be showing for 6 days! The exhibition will feature completely ReUse concepts including the exhibit space itself, which is one large room inside an abandoned building complex which we will fix up and reuse the space as a gallery space to show how reuse is where its at!"

The deadline is 31st July so get creating and post completed work to the address given here

Find out more at the ReUse Project online and the INSPIRE Collective here

ArTea Party One Success!

The debut ArTea Party went swimmingly! Thank you so much to all those who were able to join us despite the atrocious weather blowing round Ponsonby on the day! Your support, generous raffle ticket purchases, art interest and sales were very much appreciated!

In the 2.5 hours ArTea Party ran, we sold several pieces of art work, almost 100 raffle tickets, heaps of Fairtrade cakes, muffins & cookies as well as Fairtrade tea & coffee through our kind hosts The Crib bar.

Together we raised $194.80 for Oxfam which will go towards their work to alleviate global poverty. Here are some examples of how the donation may be used:

$80 could enable Oxfam to provide safe drinking water for 50 people / $150 could enable Oxfam to help four women in Indonesia start their own business / $500 could enable Oxfam to provide technical and business training for coffee farmers in Timor-Leste / $1000 could enable Oxfam to construct living quarters for 2 teachers at a rural school in the Solomon Islands

Thanks once again to all our generous sponsors and supporters

If you have any comments or feedback please email me here