Last night, Dave joined a panel of amazing and inspirational champions of fashion and social change at the Be Social Change New York Meetup at Green Spaces. The panel came together to discuss the question Can fashion be a catalyst for social change? And, if so, how can style and sustainable social impact merge to dictate a new future of fashion? This is a subject that is integral to the work that we do at Holstee, as we seek to create a more sustainable world through conscious design that makes a positive social impact. Here were some take aways of the goals in looking toward the future of fashion:

 

The NYC part of the Holstee family took the morning off for a little summer trip and we all trekked to the MET and got inspired by the genius of Alexander McQueen and his incredible pieces of art aka dresses. Plus, we waited in line for over 3 hours, which was great team bonding ;-)

The exhibition is only on till the end of this week, I highly recommend it, despite the mega lines.

Just the other day Barrie and I got to meet Jenni Avins the founder of Closettour. Closettour is all about "The WONDER in wondering what to wear".  It talks about the ways people value clothing from every perspective. In short, Closettour is to Clothes, as Omnivores Dilemma is to Food. An exploration of into fashion from someone who has experienced fashion on many levels as a student, as a connoisseur, and even on the production side of sustainable fashion line Edun. Be sure to follow along with Closettour for some great insight and fun videos!

I am excited to introduced the latest addition to our blogging team, Michele Alexander. Her first words to us were something to the affect of 'I love to eat, breathe, live, write, dream about fashion as art,function and social responsibility...' need we say more? She will be a contributing blogger focusing on beefing up our coverage of  everything Eco fashionista. Maybe this way, we'll be able to balance our coverage of, ahem, lunch with equally relevant topics. Michele lives in Florida via New Jersey and is captivated by the energy of big cities (NYC,MIA). When she is not blogging fashion or art (fashion as art), she is lucky enough to spend her days with her daughter and her dog!

Score Swap is today - if you're not familiar, here is how it goes: Attendees bring their old clothes, music, books, etc, to the event and drop them at the door. Volunteers sort and distribute these items to themed departments where professional curators organize them into boutique-like displays. Attendees have the option to browse each department and take as much as they can carry! Meanwhile, DJs keep the party poppin’, artists silkscreen custom tote bags, and fashion photographers take photos of stylish “scored” outfits. At the end of the day, all leftover items and proceeds from the event are donated to charity. Check out the video from their last swap here. All proceeds from the May 29th Score! will be donated to Global Inheritance – a 501c3 that reinvents youth activism by providing tools via music, art and technology. All leftover donations will be delivered to charity, and all textiles will be recycled by Wearable Collections. WHERE: BKLYN Yard // 400 Carroll St btw Bond & Nevins DOORS: Noon – 6pm COVER: $3 w/ RSVP - ALL AGES - RAIN DATE: Saturday June 5th (following weekend) Hosted by MeanRed, Flavorpill, & Bust Magazine More info here or keep up with them on the interwebs here.

With this limited edition line, we’ve decided to give tee’s of years past, a new life. We’ve collected tee’s from friends + neighbors, carefully inspected them for quality, and gave them a sweet little Holstee touch. Each shirt has been hand silk screened, with a one of a kind print. Many thanks to Erin for helping make it happen! Holstee: Upcycled Shirts Printed with Erin from HolsteeTV on Vimeo.

Hello Holstee world! I’m Sarah, a new addition to the team!  I’m a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology here in the city and alongside another internship I’ve come aboard here at Holstee! I was able to inaugurate my first day by revamping the look of the office a bit! After getting a brief update on all the exciting things ahead for Holstee I was given the freedom to makeover a huge wall in the work area. With the Holstee Tees, Fins, inspiration, prototypes and quotes already on the wall I just re-organized, added a few core Holstee sayings and tadaaaa: a brand new Holstee wall! (Photos below.) My first day at Holstee was definitely a success. There was great music to work to provided by Mike, the official Holstee DJ and lunch to satisfy all our taste buds made by Holstee's own top chef Dave. The music, food and great people were icing on the cake since I'm able to contribute to such a great Company like Holstee. I look forward to all the exciting things ahead and I won't hold back from sharing, so stay tuned! :)

We swung into the tents at the 2010 New York Fashion Week.  We didn't have tickets to any particular runway shows, but from what we could tell, runway shows were cool- but the tent was where it's at - and I'm not just talking about the open bar.  The Tents offered a great chance to meet new + experienced designers and many others in the industry.  We brought along some fins to see what the most particular fashion community in the world thought of the Holstee Fin... and I'm proud to report- it was well received.  Check out our recently posted album on facebook to see some of the pictures.

Related articles you may enjoy!

• New York Fashion Week: Deux FM Fall 2010 Runway Show (Video) (treehugger.com)
• New York Fashion Week: JoAnn Berman (Slideshow) (treehugger.com)

Meet our latest invention, the Fin.The cowboy-inspired design keeps your neck warm on those breezy days without the weight of a scarf. When it warms up throw it around your wrist, on your head or any other creative way. With your beautiful eyes, you will look great any way you wear it - giddy-up! Similiar to our shirts, the grey ‘salt and pepper’ jersey fabric is made from 100% recycled polyester (a combination of plastic bottles and industrial scraps - how cool is that?!).

Today we would like to introduce the newest member of the Holstee team, Ryan Kaebisch! Ryan comes to us from Milwaukee, the land of beer and motorcycles. Similar to Mike and I, Ryan was on a career path that wasn’t inline with his dreams and he did what every person should do…make change! Ryan hot-routed his plans by quitting his job and moving to New York City to pursue his passion for fashion. Ryan has a lust for life, and was living the Holstee Manifesto well before it was written. We are glad to have Ryan on board, as he helps us bring new Holstee concepts and styles to life! If you have any new style ideas or concepts, or just want to wish Ryan a warm welcome, get in touch with him at ryan[at]holstee.com !