With current calls for warm clothing donations to the asylum seekers reaching the San Diego-Mexico border, I became interested in learning about the availability of affordable clothing retailers throughout Southern California. The fast fashion model of accelerated clothing production and consumption has made clothing more accessible and lower priced. In this short research, I sought…
Category: fashion focused
NY Make it With Wool Competition
With strong roots in the Northeast, the Make it with Wool Competition continues to inspire innovative design with wool. This year, Haley Smith, a primary collaborator in the New York Regional Yarn Sourcebook and a junior in Fiber Science & Apparel Design at Cornell, won first place! What a great way to celebrate fiber arts,…
New York Regional Yarn Sourcebook & Make it with Wool
Over the past few months, I worked with a team of designers, fiber scientists, and educators to develop a New York Regional Yarn Sourcebook to increase the visibility of diverse farms and stimulate greater interconnections between local farms and designers. The book features 17 sheep, alpaca, and goat farms that I’ve previously visited, and several…
Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta & Spinzilla
Over the weekend, we had the great opportunity to participate in the Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta that formed to support the local fiber and arts community in San Diego. Me and my twin sister, Nidia, made our debut as Fiber Novation Loops, a farm-to-fashion social enterprise. We shared my NY fiber farm research, the New York Regional Yarn…
Green Eileen Take Back Program & Higher Ed
Watching sustainable fashion and textile initiatives emerge to address pre- and post-consumer waste issues provides hope that closed-loop, zero-waste fashion will be the norm in the future. Over the past few months, I have been able to learn more about the Green Eileen take back program, a recycled clothing intiative of the sustainable women’s wear brand…
Tour de Fleece 2016
This was my second year participating in the annual Tour de Fleece (July 2 to 24). As bicyclists in France spun their bicycle wheels, hand-spinners spun fibers on drop spindles, and spinning wheels throughout the world! It was all captured on Ravelry through various groups such as the ‘Rookies,’ ‘Sprinters,’ and ‘Climbers.’ There were also several independent…
Celebration of Ag and #FashionRevolution
I am lucky to participate in a Sustainable Fashion exhibit in the Jill Stuart Gallery. It was coordinated by the College of Human Ecology Green Ambassadors at Cornell University. The Exhibit includes student, faculty, staff, and local community member contributions. Since my focus on Sustainable Fashion is the intersection of New York fibers and fashion design, I included my…
Fashion Revolution Month Launches @ithaca New York
Fashion Revolution Day was first initiated on April 24, 2014 by global fashion leaders. Fashion Revolution Day invites farmers, mill dyers, seamstresses, knitters, weavers, brands, retailers, and consumers to participate. The purpose of this campaign is two-folded. The first reason is to raise awareness about the places where our clothing is made. We as consumers can…
“Make it with Wool” & Repurposing Wool Remnants
Wool is attracting attention at local, regional, and national levels. In Fall 2014, the Fibershed Wool Symposium emphasized the value of wool from diverse breeds of sheep to highlight the rich landscape of fiber resources at the regional level in Northern California. In January 2015, the American Sheep Industry hosted their annual convention, and the “Make it With Wool” national…
How the Northern California Fibershed Fosters a Local Culture of Clothing & Textiles
The Fibershed Symposium of 2014 provided great insight into the knowledge of sheep farmers and the diversity of wool in California. The work of fiber artisans was displayed beautifully during the symposium, which further highlighted the wide breadth of fiber types and textile techniques, which included spinning, knitting, weaving, and felting. The range of panel presentations,…
Little York Fiber Festival in NY!
It was great to visit the Little York Fiber Festival at the Cortland Repertory Theatre today. There were a variety of artisan, fiber farm, and mill entrepreneur vendors with a diversity of fibers from sheep, alpacas, llamas, and angora rabbits. Special thanks to Linda Schwab for introducing me to Margaret Flowers, fiber artisan and fiber farmer at Trinity Farm with…
Hand Spun Wool
These are photos of my ongoing hand-spinning work. I did most of the spinning on my drop spindle throughout the summer. It is my first 6-ply wool yarn and I am excited about its texture, and its soft, airy feel. My anticipated project is a cowl scarf to get ready for Winter 2015 in Ithaca….
Injustice for Potential Refugees reaching the Mexican-American Border
My heart goes out to the thousands of minors and families coming to the U.S. from Central America in search of safer livelihoods. My parents escaped the turmoil and violence of El Salvador during the horrific Civil War in the 1980s. Today, they comment that the violence in El Salvador with the influx of MS-13 gang members deported…
Establishment of “Latino Cultural District” SF California
Recently San Francisco’s Mission District was named a “Latino Cultural District” based on the Latino/a melting pot that has historically welcomed people from diverse countries. A SHORT HISTORY Immigration to the Mission District began during the 19th century Gold Rush. The end of the Mexican-American War and Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo forced Mexican residents to leave, and spurred entry of…
Enjoying Ithaca Festival May 2014!
The Ithaca Festival is this weekend! It was exciting to see the creativity variety among the Ithaca community during the Festival Parade on Friday. The festival provides a space for the community to come together and appreciate local talents, creativity, and resources. It builds on human and social capital. Below are photograph of my favorite parts of the parade: Today, Saturday,…
HELEN TREJO 