curated by Rhonda P. Hill, Blurred Boundaries Fashion as an Art exhibit, Tingyue Jiang, designer, Erik ReeL painting, GraySpace Gallery, Santa Barbara, photo Charlene Broudy, 2018

2018-09-262020-06-30 by Rhonda P. Hill

EDITOR’S Letter | Hidden In Plain Sight

Stories, design details, and quality are stripped away to meet a system built on speed and greed. EDGE presents designers, in plain sight, who counter this.

Kyle Denman, designer, “mul·ti·po·lar—ex·ist·ence”

The making of the "Seven Unforgettable" project by Maryanne E. Mokoko. Storytelling through the lens of fashion, filmed in Kenya, West Africa.

Rescued Rubbish is ReIMAGINED | Sayoko Kojima

“Culturally reusing and taking care of what you have and keeping it longer was much more common when I was growing up in Japan.” – Sayoko Kojima

Sayoko Kojima, designer | Photographer @manonceartist

Sustainable Fashion: Be Informed | EDGE Suggested Resources

A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future
CFDA Guide to Sustainable Strategies
CFDA Materials Index
Circular Fashion
Circular Fashion System – EDGE explains
Climate Action Playbook
Eco-fiber or Eco Fraud?
ECONYL®
Ecouterre
European Commission Circular Economy Action Plan
European Parliament Report
Fashion Futures 2030
Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Change
Fashion Industry Environmental, Waste, and Recycle Statistics
Fashion on Climate
Green America
Green Fashion Week
Green Strategy
Hemp Textiles
Hemp Traders Flyer
Looptworks
Net Zero Challenge: The Supply Chain Opportunity
Quantis Report | Measuring Fashion
Redress
Relooping Fashion Initiative
Sustainable Apparel Coalition
sustainable EDGE
Sustainable Textiles, the Textile Community Talks
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
The Pulse of the Fashion Industry Report
thredUP
Triple Pundit
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Textile Waste Is the Next New Product
United Nations Helps Fashion Industry Shift to Low Carbon
United Nations Partnership On Sustainable Fashion
WRAP
Zero Waste Design

A Fashion Story Honors Women in Combat | Isabella Diorio

“It’s not just about the garment itself but about the story behind it.”

– Isabella Diorio | New Orleans, Louisiana

The Ashley Coat, The Cathay Dress, The Brewster Bolero | photo: Emily Warfield, courtesy of Isabella Diorio

Early Adopters: Ukraine’s BE SUSTAINABLE! Fashion Summit

Ukrainian Fashion Week has demonstrated leadership in showcasing fashion not tied to a season by responding to a circular fashion system.

“Oyma” by Polina Veller, designer | Ukrainian Fashion Week No Season 2021, photo: courtesy of Ukrainian Fashion Week

Circle By Design | A Talk with Ophir El-Boher

a circular design system for a sustainable future

“My strategy is to design systems where individuals can produce fashion items out of waste, according to an existing design, in a way that is circular. . .my theory is that if some percentage of your closet is made by you through such a system, then you have changed your consumption behavior for the long term, and therefore will be a much better fashion consumer and user.”

– Ophir El-Boher | Portland, Oregon

Debussy, Renoir, and Hokusai: REIMAGINED Dead Stock at the Hand of Yun Qu

"I rely heavily on the sense of hearing to provide me inspiration instead of sense of sight." - Yun Qu

Must See Fashion Exhibits | Africa Fashion – Brooklyn Museum, Portland Art Museum

Africa Fashion, Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum

Elevating African Fashion | A Talk with Maryanne E. Mokoko

“Throughout my journey I have met/spoken to a variety of people from different countries, cultures, races. With this I have realized that you don’t have to be Black to be Afropolitan. You simply have to have an affinity for Afro culture.”

– Maryanne E. Mokoko | USA/Cameroon

“I am so grateful for this opportunity! Thank you for the bold questions @edgexpo” 🙏🏾

– Maryanne E. Mokoko | USA/Cameroon

Fashion and Society, A Constant State of Interpretation| 배혜진 Hyee Jin Bae

배혜진 HYEE JIN BAE exhibit at CICA Museum, Seoul, Korea

“Typically, the visual form or design is based on the functionality, but the function of the clothing that I make differs from looking posh or preventing the cold. My clothes are designed for people to focus on the act of wearing the clothing.”

– 배혜진 Hyee Jin Bae | Seoul, Korea

Preserving the Art of Shibori | Jun Nakamura

“I think the process of developing design by working on a form, sketching, and collaging is similar to that of creating art. It all challenges our creativity, striking a balance as a whole piece.”

– Jun Nakamura | London

Shibori, a modern look by Jun Nakamura

The Power of Cloth and Why We Should Care | Abiola Onabule

Abiola Onabule, designer | Photo: Jessica Eliza Ross

“My interest in textiles such as Adire and Aso Oke comes from a fascination in how a textile can become the through-line of people’s lives, their personal histories, economic change and growth, political and cultural shifts.”

– Abiola Onabule | London

Aryanization and the Destruction of Berlin’s Fashion Industry

Today a memorial in Hausvogteiplatz, the center of Berlin’s fashion district, marks this history.

“Today, Berlin only teaches fashion as far back to the 1950s; they don’t go further back. Talent is lost from the 1920s and ’30s, and when you don’t pick up on that, you lose a new generation of designers.”

– Uwe Westphal, as told to Atlanta Jewish Times

“A Study of Eight, The Untold American Story”

"A Study of Eight, The Untold American Story", (hardbound archive, NFS) Library of Congress General Collections

NPR Here & Now showcases ‘A Study of Eight’

W.E.B. Du Bois' Exposition des Nègres d’Amérique Transformed the World's View of Black in America

“African Americans have contributed historically to fashion in ways that we just don’t know about. ‘A Study of Eight’ highlights those hidden figures and events.”

-RP Hill

The Golliwog: The Patrick Kelly Story

"That simple white dress, stamped with this image, became a garment that was powerful in historical relevance, designed by a Black man, as well as a sophisticated, cool message print." - André Leon Talley

EDGE Afropolitan | African Diaspora Fashion Makers

Josefa Da Silva, designer, AFWLA, photo: Cindy Ceballos

Fashion Study | EDGE Suggested Resources

A Study of Eight, The Untold American Story
Aryanization and the Destruction of Berlin’s Fashion Industry
Black Past
Fashion History
Fashion History Timeline
Fashion's First Black Designers
Fashion's First Black Supermodels
History Is Rarely Black or White
Ikats from Central Asia
Meet Mildred Blount, Costume Hat Designer
Patrick Kelly: A Retrospective
The Fashion and Race Database
Traditional Dress from East Asia
Willi Smith: The Creative Intersection of an American Genius

Museum Destiny: The Case for Contemporary Fashion

Inspired by Hokusai's "The Great Wave", The 'White Feather Dress' by Hera Zhou | Exhibited at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; GraySpace Gallery, Santa Barbara

“Let’s keep fighting the fight for fashion as art.”

– Hera Zhou | Shanghai

“Blurred Boundaries: Fashion as an Art”, curated by Rhonda P. Hill

"Blurred Boundaries: Fashion as an Art" installation | Santa Barbara

Neo.Fashion.: The Vanguard of Fashion Emerges from Germany

"Look at EDGE" Showcases Neo.Fashion. | A Curated Showcase of Emerging Talent.

“Although fashion has it’s utilitarian purpose, we can view it more than just a consumptive object. A new generation of designers offer an intelligent dialogue on fashion’s contribution to art, culture, and practices of sustaining earth’s resources.”

-RP Hill

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Rhonda P. Hill