Virtual Fashion & Sustainability | Materials for the Arts X BK Style Foundation
ReFashion Week NYC:March 4, 2021
John: Host: Education Director of Material of the Arts
Rochelle: L.O.V.E. Brand
Brigette Artise: @bridgett.artis @bornagainvintage @houseofbav
Victor Pearlman: @vpearlman
Founder of Show: Ricky Davvy: @rickydavyfwbk
PC: Material of the Arts
ReFashion Week NYC Event
“BK Style is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, which showcases emerging designers and provides educational programs to young people interested in careers in fashion. For this special event, BK Style Founder Rick Davy will lead a team of designers in incorporating reusable materials from the MFTA warehouse to create upcycled fashion designs.
MFTA presents this event in collaboration with Rent the Runway, which has donated hundreds of accessories to the MFTA warehouse. MFTA also gives a special thanks to Tory Burch and Burberry, whose donations of fabrics and props were featured in this event.
Materials for the Arts is a program of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, which provides free donated materials to arts and cultural organizations, public schools, and City agencies.” -Material For the ARTS
Watch the video here: youtu.be/8op1Vc9m7Vg or read and view photos below!
John: Donating materials for Material for the Arts
Rochelle, Did you design what you were wearing?
Rochelle: Hand made/hand sewn, last minute project. Good feeling from snowy winter to bright warm spring
John: Tell me about your company?
Rochelle: Sustainable : L.O.V.E. Fashion
Product, sustainable housing, home art decor
John: Part of Refashion Week…you will be apart of it as well?
Rochelle: Model as a designer as a stylist as a producer of my line
John: Advocating of this, folks like yourself, conscious of sustainability…
Bridgett Artise
Bridgett: Gravitate to texture
Faux fur had to have.
You first think of jacket. Pair up to upholstery… never safety pin together before….
John: Looks gorgeous… creative insights I’m talking about
Bridgett: Woven piece, of unwoven… gravitate to color and texture… more upholstery… jazz with upholstery trim.. I love to do the wrong way. This is suppose to go this way but I did it this way. Model has yellow shoes which matches perfectly.
John: What draws you to reuse materials?
Bridgett: I’ve been an up-cycler since day one… 20 years now. Sustainable Fashion Week. Founder, co-founder. Spreading the word, sustainable fashion week exists. Not hemp brown tunics. Design it in different ways….Things with schools and students [sustainability in] their minds so structured. Word so tiny and it’s so bigger.
John: Can be so beautiful, distress… there’s a story. Even the safety pins telling a story.. Beautiful patterning.
Next designer: Victor Pearlman
Victor: Cutting apart couches
Amazing couch cushion…pair of pants with window drapes. More draping-wool. 2 pockets. could fit laptop in there.
Found carpeting back over there. Full pant pattern in the front-drapery over here. Vest piece, safety pin a lot of stuff.
John: I see all kinds of contrasts here… you’re not necessarily trying to hide it?
Victor: I brought from home. Styled with pearls bc of last name.
John: Headpiece?
Victor: Doilies- grandmother’s
John: Those connections..built in understanding couch and carpentry…
Victor: It is a couch but in a more clean manner.
Sustainability, I try to get across. Real sustainability. Material from the streets and remaking.
John: Find materials?
Victor: People send me pictures…craigslist. I like the carpeting a lot.
John: Get rid of things out of our apartment…reuse. Like words in a poem…
Designer: Tyrone
Tyrone: Chinese… actually a quick jumpsuit. Bag-travel. On a plane…international inspiration.
John: Arm pieces? Sleeves literally extends
Tyrone: Like flying in the wind. Bring from back over
John: Pack in a bag and go anywhere? My head balance: solid pinks..and then the bag materials. Very amazing!
Tyrone: See the harmony. The three shades, go together.
John: How choose colors?
Tyrone: Magical being: Material of the Arts
We had a job to do today. A few hours. Stressed but got it done.
Creative spirit. Walks the catwalk. Brings it to life. Wind hitting it…
John: Sunset, the water….so beautiful.
Kind of thing that happens with Art community… inspired, be more creative in your style… Maybe put on a couple of bracelets or doilies. Every third Thursday of the month [tune in].. Can also check out older videos. Tune in Refashion Week.
Shoutout to donors. Burberry, Tory Burch, Rent the Runway…many many others! Always looking for more supplies.
