Zöe Melo talks to SURevolution about “Uniendo Puntos”, Valencia Design Week and South American Design on the forefront of universal ideas

Zoë is a co-founder of TOUCH, a brand that develops, markets and promotes social and sustainable design projects. She also consults designers and brands on a variety of projects worldwide. Over her career, Zoë has collaborated with some of the most talented and renowned designers, photographers and art directors in fashion, art and product design. Her work has received worldwide attention and media coverage. In 2008 Dwell magazine recognized Zoë as a Nice Modernist for her work in social and sustainable design. She has organized and curated important design events and exhibits, such as Inter-Connected, a showcase of Portuguese and Brazilian design during New York Design Week.  And most recently, collaborated in the exhibition "Uniendo Puntos" which was organized by Spanish designer Luis Eslava during Valencia Design Week. She will also be speaking at the TEDx Amazonia conference next November.

Marcella Echavarría (ME): What is Valencia Design Week? 

Zöe Melo (ZM): Valencia Design Week includes a series of exhibitions, presentations, showrooms, discussions, workshops, meetings, markets and parties. The purpose is to promote design within society, and make design a part of daily life for the general public. Along with this, VDW shows innovative projects, fresh ideas that evoke new alternatives and the huge array of disciplines that represent the profession. 

ME: What is the concept behind " Uniendo Puntos" 

ZM:The concept behind “Uniendo Puntos”, which literally means “Connecting Dots,” started with showcasing craft and talent from a range of designers that span the Spanish speaking world. However, because definition excluded Brazil, we wanted to expand the exhibition to more than just the Spanish speaking countries. This exhibition is intended to set up a creative network of designers from Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and El Salvador. “Uniendo Puntos” paves the way to consolidate this collaboration between Latin American and Spanish designers. This diverse collection of products and designers flawlessly comes together in the name of collaboration and beautiful design.


ME: What was your criteria for selecting the products and designers 

ZM: For this exhibition the criteria were based in the materials and craft techniques used by the designers that expressed the cultural and social aspects of each region where the product was made. Most of the designers have been long time collaborators of TOUCH with the exception of few that I wanted to collaborate with for a while and thought this was a great opportunity to bring them together. The aim was for each designer to emphasize the social and environmental issues of each country. 

ME: How do you see the interaction between South America and Spain? 

ZM: I believe that “Uniendo Puntos” is a great initiative of ADCV (Association of designers of the community of Valencia) under the coordination of Spanish designer Luis Eslava who brought us together. The exhibition made it possible to enact an ongoing dialogue and a cultural exchange between designers and curators from different backgrounds.


ME: What were some of the surprises you found while curating the exhibition? 

ZM:There were not many surprises while curating, I knew exactly what I wanted and everything came together smoothly since most of the products were already at our studio. I would say that the surprise came after I arrived in Valencia, when I saw the actual exhibition installed. Then I realized that while we curated the work independently from each other, our individual selections complemented each other pieces extremely well and translated the concept of the exhibition perfectly into a complete show.


ME: How did the public react? 

ZM: The public were genuinely interested in learning and understanding about the designers, products and the cultural aspects that connect Spain and Latin America.

Two products represented by SURevolution were selected for this exhibition:

The hand dipped silver leaves by Clara Saldarriaga-Colombia and the hand blown glass pumpkin collection from Kirah Design http://www.kirahdesign.com/ 

Clara Saldarriaga's Gold Leaves made in Colombia

Hand-dipped leaves process

Kirah Design hand blown pumpkin 

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/spanish-fly-valencia-design-week/

http://www.valenciadissenyweek.com/eng/index.php?url=home&idioma=eng

http://www.do-not-touch.com/

FEED + Gap are Feeding school kids in the US

For every FEED USA bag sold, Gap donates $5 to improve school food and nutrition education in America.

"The FEED on Fifth pop-up shop at the Gap will be open until November 7th, 2010.  It is at 54th St and Fifth Avenue.  The shop features all of FEED's products, including the new FEED USA bags made in partnership with the Gap and a special, limited edition FEED USA bag made from vintage bandanas!"

Lauren Bush from FEED Projects wearing SURevolution's Gold Dipped Leaf Studs

Tucker Robbin's Wood

Marcella Echavarria (ME) : Why wood?

Tucker Robbins (TR) : Wood would if wood could, the most giving of all, nature's home is in the woods, historically the great forests are community land yet it's most perilous threat is the individual out of context, often politician, who use it to line their pockets. The story of wood runs parallel to human civilization and is as varied and more common than the villages that wrap this glorious earth. The landfills of the industrialized nations are overflowing with wood whereas the developing world’s forests are shrinking. Wherever humanity is compromised their forests are poached. Wood is a common denominator amongst people and those commonalities are culturally uniting elements. While the developed world can experience healing by working with materials at hand such as wood. Where as through education and collaboration, the developing world can experience healing through the resourceful handling of its fallen trees, honoring artisans, salvaged woods, protection of its forests and the replanting of trees.

ME: How can wood be a sustainable material? what are some of the challenges and ways to approach its responsible use?

TR: Our forests produce the oxygen needed for our survival, support our planet's biodiversity, provides the physical materials and the sanctuary for our artists, poets, artisans, and all life. Our forests are the green of the Green Movement and are here for us to enjoy, responsibly so that this life sustaining treasure is here for our children. There are many responsible approaches including; forestry stewardship, agrarian partnerships, salvaging fallen materials and reusing building materials. The people who live in or next to forests are the best caretakers and often they are craftsmen and or farmers.

One successful partnership is the interdependent relationship of the shade coffee growers who maintain the forest canopy while allowing filtered light to reach their coffee bushes. When the canopy overcomes the coffee, trees must come down and the artisans are called to remove these large trees. This integrated community of farmers and artisans empower and balance each other while supplementing the incomes of each other. These communities work in harmony and sustainably with each other and nature.


Our growing man-made and natural world experiences, expansion and contraction while artisans utilize the fallen materials from construction, road building, storms and old age. Cooperation between industry and the artisans will enable a more balanced approach to growth. In The Philippines and Sri Lanka where the World Bank has financed road building there are trees coming down that can be utilized rather than destroyed.


Our rural population is in decline, opening opportunities for the re-purposing of abandoned wooden houses and tools. While those left behind find their wooden houses unpractical for modern life so they would happily trade their wood for concrete blocks

ME: What is your vision towards the preservation of traditional cultures?

TR: We live within a diverse, complex natural and human world. Some cultures race ahead while others take their time. Neither want to return to the smashing stones or carrying of water but so must the modern dis-ease be balanced and healed. Our resources are our traditions, our great diversity, our living planet and our ability to adapt. Without the grounding and soulful expressions of our history and traditions, our communities suffer from irrelevance and discontentment. The balance of tradition and contemporary knowledge can lead to successful collaborations as found around around the world and best illustrated in pockets of Japan, Scandinavia and Brazil. One preservation tool is the recognition of living National Treasures such as the protection of strategic bio-regions, artisans, ancient trees and other unique beings who remind us of our need for inspiration, healing, growing and community thus the living traditions evolve to serve their societies. As in a forest where biodiversity flourishes and evolves so can our human culture flourish with the vibrant life of a traditional culture along side an ever-evolving contemporary culture. How can we look ahead without knowing from where we come?

ME: What connects you to SURevolution?

TR: SURevolution's philosophy of sustainability while celebrating and engaging the traditional craftsmen is an ever-evolving voice within our material culture. While the artisans need the advocacy of great design, to be well produced and beautifully represented, objects with these elements are rare and even rarely do they come together in a product and ever more rarely do come together as a collection within a company. Well they have at SURevolution making it a global treasure! I am thrilled to connect with it, collaborate with it and unite in celebration of ever evolving traditions and vibrant culture.



Fashion Editor Juli Alvarez talks to SURevolution about Slow Fashion and a Growing Appreciation for Everything Handmade

Juli Alvarez in Tao Comme des Garcons hat

Fashion Editor, Stylist, Writer

Marcella Echavarria (ME): Do you think sustainability is a passing trend? 

Juli Alvarez (JA): No, there's no turning back now. which is a very good thing.


ME: What are the main trends in accessories for 2011? 

JA: I think we're going to move away from a lot of the excesses that we've been indulging in for the past few seasons. I think we're moving towards a more minimal, clean esthetic...a bit of a cleansing of the palette. I think we will still see bold, beautiful design just in a more quiet, sophisticated way. Less can be more.


ME: What is your favorite SURevolution product? Why? 

JA: I love the jewelry of course. I like that the pieces are from all over the world and that they are made by hand, not mass-produced. Whenever I wear any of my SURevolution pieces, I always get loads of compliments. I also love shooting them, including them in my fashion stories. It makes 'the look' special.


ME: What other sustainable brands do you follow? 

JA: I really like HESSNATUR, EDUN, LEM LEM & KORRES for Beauty.


ME: What is your favorite sustainable material for accessories? 

JA: I think my favorite is tagua*....I love the texture, the shapes and the colors you can dye it. It matches my nutty personality.


ME:. What is the fashion industry missing? 

JA: I think a lot of small, independent companies understand the idea of being conscious and working on a sustainable level...at least they think about it and make an effort but I think the really large mass companies (and they know who they are) don't consider sustainability and the environment, human-rights issues, etc.... It's all about profit, profit, profit at the expense of so much. They make cheap products in a negative way and it should really change. It's time for the consumer to start understanding where these products come from (not just fashion) and the harm it causes, we are way to addicted to cheap products. One kind of inter-related example is the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What a disaster...one of which I don't think we'll even know the effects of for a while and people are still calling for more drilling. I mean, what is wrong with us??


ME: What is the future of fashion? 

JA: I wish I had the answer to that....but I can say what I would like to see.....and that is a bit of a slower pace, a broader appreciation for craftsmanship and a desire for special hand-made things that hold meaning for the consumer and the artisans that created it. Fashion doesn't have to be expensive to be fabulous, but it's nice to have a unique, hand crafted piece that feels unique.....And it would also be amazing if the USA started to produce more fashion here again. We need to find a way to bring that part of the fashion industry back to life.

SURevolution Tagua* rings

SURevolution animal print Tagua* rings

Tagua Animal Print color chart

*Tagua is a seed that grows from a palm in the Pacific of Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. Because of its texture it is also called vegetable ivory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytelephas 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Colombia-Dispatch-8-The-Tagua-Industry.html

Wubet's Netelas

Images by Mark Glassner

Arnold Haas’s Wubet collection takes Ethiopian cotton to a whole new level where design and craftsmanship meet to give stature and relevance to traditional textiles.

Marcella Echavarria (ME): What makes Ethiopian cotton special?

Arnold Haas (AH): Hand-spun and hand-woven cotton brings out the best in these materials; simply lovely.  The fine cotton used for these garments is the base material for most Ethiopian textiles, whether shawls, pillow covers or table linens.

ME: What is the origin of Netela?

AH: Netela is a scarf like cloth made of cotton very thin and delicate, with the texture of a gauze, worn by all women in Ethiopia. 
The Netela has only one/two layers and is quite big.

It’s white with a colorful border (Tibeb) between 1 to 2 inches at each end with two variations, one has only one color and the second can have many colors and patterns.

The Netela can be worn in different ways. For general wear, the Netela covers back and shoulders and the border is folded up over the right shoulder, but for church activities the two layers of the Netela are opened and the border goes over both shoulders.  When the border is worn around the face or shoulders, it’s a sign of mourning, but for recreation or resting the border goes over the left shoulder.

ME: Why did you become interested in Netela?

AH: When I saw these beautifully hand woven textiles it came to my mind to design accessories and using my educational background

and long time experience in the fashion business to establish traditional Ethiopian textiles into the International fashion scene,

an endeavour that will be highly profitable for Ethiopia as Ethiopian textiles are hardly known in the fashion world.

The enthusiastic response that I had from the buyers at my first display during Paris Fashion Week at Premiere Classe

(an International trade show for accessories) was a pleasant surprise.

It encouraged me to step up efforts, to the supply of high-quality, hand woven items that will be appreciated by foreign buyers.

Having those objectives in mind and with tangible results achieved in their production, the next obvious step was to secure such markets.

ME: What is your design input for this old technique?

AH: Ethiopian design may never have been as timely.

In an era of increasing globalization in business, communications, marketing and public policy, as we become one world,

it is important to understand and preserve what is unique to our various cultures.

The beautiful textiles of Ethiopia are unique, I would like to see them cherished and also shared with the world.

I have earned a reputation as a „visionary and imaginative designer" who has attained a „high level of professionalism"

and displays a „unique approach" to process of design.

My „creations are full of originality" and are considered „strong, intelligent pieces, which explore design in an innovative and unique manner".

I have been described as ingeniously clever and elegant and have won praise throughout the international design community as incorporating original minimalist forms.

I believe now is the time for designers to pass up mass production and global branding in favor of personal products that represent individual style.

ME:. What can you tell us about the material, the technique, the artisans who make them?

AH: These textiles are woven by hand in handmade looms.

There is an important group of weavers in the Gamo Highland of Ethiopia among the Doko people.

Weaving is a traditional male job regarded very highly.

Weaving in Ethiopia is an art, which was practiced since ancient times and perfected as far back as the middle Ages.

It has changed very little since then, and is highly skilled, compared to all other crafts in the country.

The weavers called “Shamanes” are highly skilled and incredible talented.

During my stay in Ethiopia from 2003 – 2008 at that point of time W/ro Sara from MUYA decided to create a center were the old,

traditional ways of weaving can be practiced, but at the same time, the environment in which these talented people will be working are very much improved as well as quality and number of products can be increased. New products regularly introduced but at the same time keeping the traditional Ethiopian design alive, to the benefit of all concerned.

Available at SURevolution’s store in Bridgehampton

2462 Main St

Bridgehampton, NY 11932

(631) 613-6565

www.wubet.com

www.surevolution.com
http://handeyeblog.com/content/very-wubet

Weaver Shamane at work. Image by AH

Gomo Gofo Region, Image AH

Karin Nelson: A True Mochila Fan

Karin Nelson is a born and raised New Yorker. Senior editor of V Magazine and a fashion writer for The New York Times

1. Last month you wrote an article about the mochila bags in the Times.

 Can you please tell us why is this bag the IT bag for the summer?

Karin Nelson (KN): Aside from its gorgeous colors and patterns, it's the perfect size and fabric to toss all your stuff in and tote to the beach.

2. What makes it special and unique?

KN: The fact that it's made by hand over the course of several weeks. Very few things today are created with such care and devotion.

3. Do you think one of a kind conscious products like the mochila are defining the trend and the road that fashion is following?

KN: Well, it's definitely a growing sector with more attention being paid to it. I think a lot of people—both within the fashion industry and outside—are developing an aversion to mass-made, easily disposable clothing.

4. Is this sudden consciousness a trend? will it last?

KN: I don't think it's a trend. I think we actually are evolving as human beings and realizing that we need to make better decisions about what we consume—whether it's food or fashion.

5. Do you think fashionistas care about the story, the women who make the bags?

KN: I think so. At the very, very least, it makes for interesting cocktail conversation.

6.What other products similar to the mochila have you discovered recently?

KN: I haven't really discovered anything lately quite as special as the mochila. That's what makes it such a must-have!