Innovations in Sustainable Textiles: A Review of the 12th Biennial TSA Symposim Keynote

Weavers at Work via www.flickr.com

Ever wonder where you can find hundreds of people, from around the world discussing the history, artistry and innovations in textiles? The Textile Society of America’s bi-annual conference is the place for textile arts enthusiasts. We were thrilled to discover all the incredible people, crafts and ideas exchanged at their 2010 meeting, held in Lincoln, Nebraska. The next symposium is scheduled for September 19-22 in Washington, D.C.,  an interesting time and place to discuss “the ways politics influence the aesthetics, production, materials, uses, and myriad other aspects of textiles.” Read an excerpt from HVC’s founder’s review of the keynote address, which highlights the work of Sheila Kennedy and her work with the  innovations in sustainable textile design.

Wangari Muta Maathai: Positivity Embodied

Wangari Muta Maathai Photo Credit: Martin Rowe

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Haute Verte Couture has chosen to honor the life and work of a civil rights activist who fought to protect the natural and cultural values and rights in Kenya. Professor Wangari Muta Maathai (1940-2011) was a champion of civil, environmental and women’s rights who dedicated her life to raise awareness on these causes globally. Some of her more famous accomplishments include leading the Green Belt Movement, serving in Kenya’s Parliament, and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. However, it is Prof. Maathai’s fortitude that enabled her to lead revolutionary women-driven communities to reclaim their traditions and that inspired a global movement of grass-roots environmentalists.

Melancholia and Sustainabilty

In Lars von Trier‘s film Melancholia (2011) two planets literally collide. The two-act foreplay that preludes this event demands the viewer to meditate on the ultimate question of our human condition. They are forced to examine the question of what happens before the end of the world as we know it? And leave the theater pondering what is left after the earth is destroyed.

While Melancholia does not explicitly focus on sustainable fashion, it uses dress to categorize emotions of the characters and evoke issues of environmental sustainability within their relationship to nature. One of the questions Melancholia explores is how depression can inspire a sense of calmness. This quandary is set against an exquisite backdrop (Louise Drake) with painstaking attention to detail ( Simone Grau) and costume direction that interacts with the natural in almost every shot (Manon Rasmussen.) Melancholia offers fresh look at the role of humans in nature that all of us in the field of sustainability wrestle with at some point.

Small Business Saturday and the Sustainable Consumer

General Store 1936, via Flickr.com

Where were you yesterday morning at 4am? Were you camped out and freezing in front of the doors of a big box retailer with 2,000 of your closest friends? Did you leave your Thanksgiving celebration early to make sure that you got the door-busting deals on America’s busiest shopping day of the year? Or were you sleeping soundly because you knew that you’d be visiting local businesses for Small Business Saturday?

The Economic Crisis and Sustainable Fashion

What this old thing? Via Flickr.com

Remember when it used to be a social no-no to say that you were out of work? In 2011, the trend towards joblessness is so high that it’s a rarity to meet someone who  hasn’t been affected by this  global financial crisis. HVC asks its readers, how has the inability to count on a stable income affected your closet?