Sustainability

I have always been interested in sustainability, and recently I've had that interest renewed.  I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject lately, but I don't promise to be an expert on this concept, so dont hate me if I'm a little bit off on some of this..i'm still learning.

 Sustainability is a tough concept to describe in relation to fashion, but the best way I can put it is producing a product with limited energy consumption that can either maintain its usefulness over time, or return to the earth without added harm to the environment.  I started Linden with this in mind, but at the time I was more concerned with simply producing a 10 look collection so i mainly focused on producing locally as my effort in sustainability.  I have since begun researching how to keep my aesthetic while using materials that are more sustainable.

In my searching I have discovered some interesting things:

1. many "revolutionary" textiles on the market are often the result of excellent marketing - for example, polyester derived from recycled PET bottles is merely prolonging the inevitable of being another  harmful item in a landfill.  It is unlikely that the recycled fabric will be repurposed in the future, and in its textile state it is more difficult to break down again to reuse.  These textiles have been brilliantly marketed as keeping plastics out of the landfills and oceans, but the best way to stop plastic from hurting our environment is to find a less harmful alternative so plastic production slows down.

2. natural "environmentally friendly" materials, while bio-degradable, can still be polluting.  Cotton requires a great deal of pesticides and energy to produce - organic cotton is significantly better though, but still consumes a sizable amount of energy to harvest.  Often the natural substance has a flaw, especially with regards to mass production, that keeps it from being truly sustainable.  That said, because it is biodegradable, it is still superior to plastics.

3. Leather, my guiltiest design pleasure, while natural and using the whole animal, is usually treated chemically and as a result is quite harmful to the environment.  There are leathers tanned with natural substances that are not harmful, but their uses are more limited.  I have however, excitingly come across fish leather.  Again it is natural, and uses the part of the animal which is usually just discarded, but it simply requires hot water and not chemicals.  The source I have found uses a natural hot spring instead of powering water heaters, and the only drawback I have found so far is that I would need to ship it from Iceland, but I think I can live with that since most of the leather I use is not tanned locally (looking into that as well) and is also shipped to the states.

So what i've learned so far is that I cannot produce a product that is completely sustainable, but I can, at the very least, reduce the amount of polluting waste my line produces as much as possible.  I mean, even sparing some bottles from the landfill temporarily gives us all a bit more time to find another way to repurpose those plastics.

I will continue to share my findings here!

So what should I wear?

I am certain those of you out there who are also in the fashion industry experience this, I am regularly asked by new acquaintances where to shop and how to dress.  It's a question that amuses me because half the time I never know what to wear myself.  I've probably never dressed "right" for a job interview, or a date, or a nice restaurant, and I constantly harass my best friend and my mom for approval once i've settled on something to wear (and let me tell you they are both brutally honest - which i desperately need).

The thing is, I've always felt there is no "right way" to dress.  Because I studied costume design, I look at my wardrobe to hold some representation of who I am.  I have quite a few personalities according to my closet, but the understanding of what I am looking for comes from the creative side within me, and is about who I am, which is why it perplexes me when people ask for my advice, especially people I don't know well.  They ask, "What should I wear?", and I can't help but reply with, "Whatever you want to wear!"  They often look at me confused, as if I am meant to be their fashion sage and guide them through the difficult world of shopping.  How should I know what ideal image they are trying to fit so I can suggest the right attire for them?  There are so many different ways to dress, for all shapes and sizes, and there is no longer one right way to dress.

I shop all over the spectrum, from places like Forever 21, PacSun, and H & M to Bloomingdales, Saks, Neimans, etc.  I mix cheap with designer constantly - and usually the outfits I get the most positive reactions on are the less expensive ones.  But the one thing that is a constant is that when I actually make an effort to look a certain way, something I am wearing has to channel the ridiculous or the absurd - but that's my thing.

How do you find yours?  I'm not sure, but if its a matter of "how do I dress for my body type?" - either start with the magazines that have cornered the market of telling you what to wear, or look up people who have the same shape as you.  See what they get away with and then go shopping - ANYWHERE - and try things on, figure out how to make that look your own.  Show your personality in what you wear whether its a bright color or a mismatched print, or shoes that dont necessarily make sense -- all that matters is you love what you wear and you wear it with confidence.  There is no sense in walking out the door without feeling amazing about yourself - there is a look out there for you, but you have to find it yourself.

My only real advice - it's best not to longingly look at the stylings of someone who is your opposite in shape, size, lifestyle etc.  I know a lot of people who say "I wish i could dress like ..." - try it, but if it's not for you move onto something else and don't look back wishing you were anything but who you are.

Beginning of Hope/Craigslist is a wonderful thing

A few months ago I got bored and started searching the creative gigs on craigslist.  This was certainly not the first time I've done so, and not the first time I wound up making great contacts as a result.

The first paid design job I ever had thanks to Dee.
A motorola campaign with Danica Patrick and "her dog"

The first time I found success, I found a listing by stylist Dee Anderson.  She turned out to be the stylist for one of my all time favorite bands, Green Day.  I cannot even begin to explain the many MANY things I learned in the several months I worked for Dee.  She's an amazingly talented stylist and was such a great influence on me.  So many of the great things I have done were a result of knowing Dee.

the poor Dresden Dolls
fan I had the pleasure of
dressing on set

The second time, I worked on a Dresden Dolls music video assisting Katie Kay as the stylist.  Not only was it just a super fun video, knowing Katie resulted in Linden being sold at her fantastic boutique Gather and her being my sales rep, getting the line out  into the world.  Yet another incredible contact via CL.






The third time, I found an internship with Park Showroom owner Kristen Aguilera, and without her I would never have gained enough knowledge of the fashion industry to start my own line.

Four and Five were within a week of each other.  I met up and coming stylist Corina Garcia through her CL ad where we teamed up to shoot the spring 2011 photos on www.Lindenca.com AND I found the Elite fashion academy posting that led to my very first Linden fashion show.  Just check the website and past posts to see the results of those efforts.

And now here I am, several months later with yet another successful contact made.  I replied to an ad early in the year regarding a charity fashion show event in San Diego.  Stacey Blanchet, of Blanchet Designs, has coordinated a wonderful event, titled "Beginning of Hope", benefiting two charities dedicated to foster youth.  The event will take place this coming Wednesday in San Diego (May 18th, 2011) and will feature 3 designers showing, some local artisans vending, wine tasting, food, a silent auction, and a raffle, all to benefit these charities.  I haven't shared the information about this show until now because I only finally met Stacey a day ago, and finally started to feel more involved in the whole thing.  I have cast my models, and cannot wait to be a part of this show.  I know most of you reading this are in Los Angeles, but should anyone find themselves in San Diego wednesday, here's how you can attend this wonderful event.  http://www.blanchetdesigns.com/news.html


Photos WILL be posted asap!

waste not

There has always been one thing that really bothers me about the fashion industry - the waste.  Starting with sampling, we make patterns, cut that pattern in muslin, sew it together, make adjustments, make a new pattern and sew it into a sample.  Of all of that, only the final pattern and sample are not going to get thrown out.  Move onto production - when pieces are cut out they are put on a marker.  A marker is each pattern piece of each size spread out across the fabric to utilize as much fabric as possible.  But there is still always waste, and always leftover fabric.  Much of this goes into the trash.  Next is shipping out production - pieces are tagged, wrapped in tissue, and poly-bags to be as protected as possible while they travel to shops.  The shops then unpack each item, throwing out the poly bags and the tissue paper.


There is a green movement in fashion, trying to cut waste, but no matter what, it will always be a waste-heavy industry.  To minimize my own waste as a designer, I've begun taking scraps and turning them into wearable pieces instead of letting it go to the trash.  I plan to expand this effort, but for now, I'm making jewelry out of leather scraps that are too small to use for anything else.  Adding a little bit of whimsy to my designs, customers can now buy hand cut leather skull and unicorn earrings - this is only the beginning.  While I continue on with Linden, there will be many limited or one of a kind hand made items that I will use predominantly leftovers to produce.

Ugly

I have this fascination with anything that can be deemed ugly, ridiculous or absurd.  Ugly is the best word for this rant though.  At a point in my life, I realized that I want everything to have a chance to be beautiful.  An ugly fabric for example, if used in the right way, could become a beautiful garment.  (I also like to remember that calling a print or a pattern ugly could be demeaning that textile designer's masterpiece - unless they're like me and they kind of dig ugly).  For many years I have recollected the famed Warhol line, "if everybody is a beauty, then nobody is", and considered its meaning.  Warhol's obsession with mass production pointed out that when we are given too much of something, it loses what makes it special, so if everyone looked like a standard beauty, we would all be the same and therefore unattractive.  I think about this concept, and I look for the beauty in things that would not otherwise be considered as such.  There's been an ongoing joke in my life that those of you who know me well are aware of - I like to collect ugly things, including the men I find attractive (to clarify, I don't mean to say I go after ugly men, I just have such different tastes from my friends that it has led me to believe I pursue the off beat type and not the "standard", I personally find them very attractive).  Similarly, I am notorious for wanting the granny furniture because I want to give it a chance to be loved, or picking up the ugliest dress in a store because I need to know if it looks better on the body than on the hanger, or finding the ugliest art and believing it should belong to me because it is so ridiculous, or wanting the ugliest animal in the pet shop because it's so ugly that it's cute.

People talk about soul mates, and how there is someone out there for everyone, I like to think there is something out there for everyone.  As a designer, no matter what you design, someone out there will like it - even if it's really only just one person.  Creating is a beautiful thing as long as it fulfills something in someone, even if everyone else in the world thinks what you have created is ugly.

---End Rant---

my niche?

I've designed 3 seasons now.  Each season I've learned more about the business, more about how to relate to my (or any) pattern maker, more about the types of fabrics I want to use, and more about what I do best. While I really do like this last collection, I think I got a little lost trying to fill several categories and be marketable in all of them.  The pieces do go together and work together, but somewhere along the line I lost my original intention, and now its time to regroup.

The interesting thing I learned post trade show is something I'd suspected after my second collection - my leggings have the potential to be my design niche in the fashion world.  I'm actually really amused by this because a few years back when leggings began to make their way back into mainstream fashion, I absolutely resisted.  I resisted skinny jeans too though, and I think it had to do with adjusting my mind set toward a new silhouette.  But now, here I am, hoping to finalize larger orders on leggings.  It's definitely made me start to rethink the direction I take the line in, or at least it gives me something to design around for the next couple of season.  Basically, expect less silk, more cotton, leather, and lace.

On a somewhat related note - Keri Hilson was the host of the official Grammy's after party this year, where she was wearing the original Linden moto leggings (pulled by her stylist from Gather, 630 S Main St Los Angeles CA 90014 - www.gatherla.com).  Here's the best photo I could find via google, but I'm working on getting a better one.

And it's time to rest...for 1 minute

That lull I'd mentioned - short lived

I'm officially exhausted.  Fabrics I'd custom ordered from UK weavers Joshua Ellis showed up a mere 6 days before my fall 2011 deadline - stressing out not only me, but my pattern maker too.  That small amount of time means no margin for error, no time to deal with possible fabric errors, and a serious rush on samples that would otherwise have more time.  If the fabrics had shown up any later, those samples may never have been completed, and those pieces turned out to be some of my favorite in the collection, so what a relief that they came in! WHEW

Aside from running all over the city trying to get everything done on time, fighting the computer trying to create line sheets for the trade show, and sewing some accessories on my domestic machine at home, I'd been struggling with how expensive starting a company can be, and decided it was time to get a part time job - which I started this week - my craziest week

So basically I'm too tired to write anything interesting, but hey, here are some pics!