‘Eco PET Chaise‘  by Pawel Grunert

Pawel Grunert was born in 1965 in Warsaw. He graduated from the Facility of Interior Architecture at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in 1990 with his first ‘eco furniture collection’ called ‘My Private Chairs’. He then went on to take part in several design exhibitions in Poland and internationally, featuring his ever expanding repertoire of furniture objects, sculptures and interior design schemes.

His latest work ‘the ‘ Eco Chaise’ produced for the ‘Eco Trans Pop’ exhibition of ecological design at the Colombari Gallery in Milan, Italy. The  chair is made from PET bottles with a stainless steel frame. The bottles can be easily changed if they show signs of damage.The rhythm of hundreds of PET bottles creates an organic  undulating structure. For those of us still drinking water from plastic bottles Pawel has taken the transforming of the ordinary plastic bottle into an art form ,creating an extraordinary iconic  and unique form ,giving the ubiquitous water bottle a second life to be proud of.

www.grunert.art.pl

Iconic Award winning collection by Titania Inglis

Titania Inglis , has just been announced as the winner of the 2012 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for Sustainable Design, The award, which comes with a $25,000 grant, is a major achievement  for any designer, particularly one as young as Inglis, who only  launched her now eponymous label  in early 2010. Since her breakthrough collection, Inglis has come into her own, creating fresh, , immaculately tailored looks that are as sustainable as they are covetable.

Titania Inglis was born and raised in Ithaca, New York, the daughter of a Chinese mother and an American father, and first became aware of her interest in design during a year abroad in Denmark. Much like her life, her iconic womenswear line is a study in contrasts: minimal, yet luxurious,; architectonic yet feminine; modern, yet rooted in traditional hand finishing.

A strong believer in craftsmanship, Titania drapes each piece by hand in her Brooklyn atelier, and has them sewn in a small factory in New York’s garment district. The line’s materials are selected with thought to their environmental impact as well as their quality, and include organic cottons from Japan, vegetable-tanned leather, and dead stock fabrics from the local garment industry.

Sustainability is at the core of Brooklyn-based designer Titania Inglis’ eco-friendly, experimental,collection. she explains’ ‘The concept of sustainability is a dichotomy in itself. It’s about nature and about the future, and so is my line,’ These contradictions are evident in her spring 2012 separates, featuring asymmetrical  diaphanous  ,organic cotton creations, playing on ideas of  lightness and darkness.

Finding Eco rarely features the same designer twice….but in Titania Inglis’s case – her latest collection is worthy of the accolade of achieving ‘Eco Icon’ status.

www.titaniainglis.com

‘Living tree chair‘ by DSquared2.

Canadian Design duo Dean and Dan Caten of DSQUARED²  designed this decontructed tree as a chair as part of the ‘ Kartell y Milano project’ . featuring  a selection of Kartell pieces that  were redesigned by 45 different designers, architects, celebrated fashion brands, and other creatives spanning dj’s to writers, including a piece created by the oncologist, Umberto Veronesi, all developed for an auction held at Sotheby’s in October  in aid of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation . The foundation  was established in 2003 to support the scientific research, through the assignment of research Grant for doctors and researchers, and also to sustain some high profile projects.

The pieces up for auction were created by fashion houses (Aspesi, Dolce&Gabbana, DSquared2, Etro, Antonio Marras, Missoni, Moschino and normaluisa), by the jeweller Vhernier, by photographers Fabrizio Ferri, Maurizio Galimberti, Gabriele Basilico and Paolo Spadacini, by the star-chefs Carlo Cracco and Davide Oldani, by a goodly crowd of designers and international architects (Mario Bellini, Andrea Branzi, Rodolfo Dordoni, Ferruccio Laviani, Piero Lissoni, Alberto Meda, Alessandro Mendini, Fabio Novembre, Italo Rota for the Museo del Novecento, Philippe Starck, Giotto Stoppino, Patricia Urquiola and Tokujin Yoshioka). And again – the Milan e Inter teams, the dee-jays Linus and Fabio Volo, the director, Bob Wilson, the critics Francesco Bonami and Gianni Canova, the illustrator, Rebecca Moses, the artists, Vedovamazzei, the civic institutions such as the Triennale Design Museum with Silvana Annicchiarico, Milanesiana with Elisabetta Sgarbi and the Accademia di Brera; the galleries Cardi Black Box and Giò Marconi, and the writers, Michele Mari and Laura Pariani.

Findingeco  adores the  use of branches with the leaves still in place reminding us that nature is ever changing ….a veritable ‘tree of life’ as a chair.

www.kartell.com

The inspiration for these striking images for New York fashion  photographer Tomaas was ‘plastic’ in all its forms and formats. He used plastic cutlery, cling film, sheer plastic sheets, plastic bottles, straws and all manner of discarded plastic materials to create these iconic images.

Never ones to encourage the use of plastic…we at findingeco LOVE the  upcycling of plastic to create this series of  ’plastic fantastic’ photo art. Far better for plastic to be preserved on a wall than in a landfill !

‘You are what you tweet‘ The ‘printing’ dress by Microsoft Research

Asta Roseway, a senior designer at Microsoft Research , and Sheridan Martin Small from Xbox developed the’ Printing’ dress, as a visual representation of the integral role that tweeting and texting now plays in our lives. The idea behind this exploration of the use  impact of tweets in our social communication illustrates how far our communication methods have evolved.

The’ printing’ dress is a  high-tech creation designed to explore the impact of wearable text on fashion and social identity. Built almost entirely of paper ( hopefully recycled!) the dress via its interactive technology allows you to tweet your innermost thoughts in ‘text bite’ form and wear them as public art.

The concept that drove the development of the dress is a  homage to the printing press-  invention that started it all. “Almost overnight, printing transformed longhand into an assembly of glyphs comprised of letters and numbers,” say Roseway and Small. “This streamlined the sharing of ideas and made replication of the printed word accessible worldwide.”To showcase the flexibility of texting on the go, the designers integrated a custom keyboard that allows the wearer to send messages to a display.

Composed of a bodice, corset, and skirt—all machine-stitched from paper ( comforting that there remains a low tech element within this hi-tech experiment)—presumably to echo the past while acknowledging the role digital ink has on our present.  The designers integrated a custom keyboard in the form of a vintage typewriter that allows the wearer to send messages to a display—in this case, the skirt.

Technology-wise, the dress comprises four  LilyPad Arduino boards,one USB hub, a laptop, a capacitive keyboard, solid and stranded wire, and a short-throw projector. Hitting a key sends it to the laptop, which then displays the character as animated text. The ‘out there wow factor’ was intentional according  to designers Roseway and Small who wanted  their piece to be anything but subtle.

“Some may be repelled by its ostentatious presentation, while others might dare to imagine a more transparent and open world,” they say. “It is our hope that this piece will inspire conversations that go beyond fashion or technology to topics such as awareness, accountability, privacy, and identity.”

“tweet dreams are made of this………”

www.research.microsoft.com/en-us/

Peter Hogeboom’s iconic porcelain piece ‘ Spanish Collar ‘

Dutch designer, Peter Hogeboom’s iconic porcelain piece ‘ Spanish Collar ‘ takes centre stage as part of the ‘A Bit Of Clay On The Skin’ exhibition currently showing at the Museum of Art + Design in New York.

New Ceramic Jewelry explores the manifold appeal of ceramics, especially porcelain, in jewelry. Organized by the Fondation d’Entreprise Bernardaud and curated by the renowned German-born goldsmith and jewelry artist Monika Brugger, the exhibition showcases the versatility and allure of the medium, which can be modeled or cast, used alone or with metal, wood, and stone, and vary in color and texture. Best known as the stuff of the luxurious and the mundane, of fine tableware and technical equipment, when used in jewelry, porcelain sparks the visual and physical sensations to become an object of desire.

The exhibition showcases the scope and ingenuity of the more than one hundred works on view and features the work of 18 cutting-edge jewelry artists, including creations by such notables as Peter Hoogeboom, ( whose work is pictured above)

“Ceramic jewelry embodies the creative transformation of a humble Earth material by art and industry into a wearable object of great refinement and sensuality,” comments MAD’s Jewelry Curator Ursula Ilse-Neuman

Peter Hogeboom’s hand crafted ,one -off necklace piece is spectacular in its concept and its boldness of vision. Using such a delicate material as 100% natural porcelain  to make such a dramatic statement piece, is clearly inspired.

Findingeco loves artists  such as Peter who push the boundaries of the capabilities of the materials they use in the creation of directional avant garde works to challenge our existing perceptions and forever pushing us forward to view things from a new perspective.

www.peterhoogeboom.nl

 ’Avantgarde architectonic capsule collection‘ by Titania Inglis

Titania Inglis  designs clothing for the contemporary woman: directional, effortless and essential and ethical!

Experimental construction and functional details elevate these signature pieces into the realm of high design working for daily life. The underlying element of sustainability is a given for a designer who looks towards minimalism as a matter of taste, as well as a method to avoid waste.Each piece is sewn in New York’s garment district from organic cotton fabric woven by Japan’s legendary denim mills.

Her collection ,with echoes of Thierry Mugler in her Boxy T-shaped minidress in black Japanese organic twill with oversized sleeves, princess seams, and black metal zipper at center back. ( large pic) and the muted Zen colour palette of her architectonic yet softly sensual pieces, illustrates to perfection how to put ‘the design back into eco’ .

Now based in Brooklyn, Titania studied at the ultra-conceptual Design Academy Eindhoven and apprenticed at Stærk, ThreeAsFour, and Jean Yu before launching her solo line.

www.titaniainglis.com

‘Verdi, Vans + Hermès‘...inspirational custom recycling.

Finding a stash of vintage Hermès, scarves in the back of his closet-  celebrity stylist and TV style guru Robert Verdi decided that he wanted to re purpose them into something he could wear (other than around his neck) so  Verdi called upon skate-shoe label Vans to up cycle several of his vintage Hermès, scarves into instantly iconic and acutely covetable unique custom made  sneakers, taking eco-luxe to another level.Since they’re made to order however, Verdi is the only person who will be wearing them anytime soon…..much to the chagrin and big-time envy of the rest of us!! Vans needs to harness this refashion project and push it into production NOW!

Vans is no stranger to sustainable footwear  Its latest attempt is the animal-free 106SF , a classic après-surf sneaker that features uppers made from hemp or recycled PET, treated with with water-based dyes and glues that are kinder to the environment.

By contrast as we know Hermès  isn’t about to win any ‘ethical design” just yet, but at least they are taking some tenetative steps towards sustainability with the launch of their Petit H’ collection. , a series of “unidentified poetic objects” created from defective inventory and factory-floor leftovers. Under the direction of Pascale Mussard, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Thierry Hermès,  a series of eclectic one off pieces were created from ceramic, fabric and leather offcuts.

In the interim….let’s push for ‘walking the talk in style’ in vintage Hermes Vans!

www.robertverdi.com

Natalie Smith’s ‘good enough to eat‘ sugar coated jewellery

British designer Natalie Smith has created a collection of jewellery pieces that ARE literally good enough to eat. The perfect choice for any one with a sweet tooth- you can now wear your next sugar fix. Beyond the obvious novelty value of edible adornment …..Natalie explores  the concept of interactive, wearable art and takes it to a whole new level with her sugar-encrusted jewellery. Taking her  inspiration from dark doom laden fiction and themes of impermanence and disintegration, Smith forms  coloured sugar crystals into unique one-off creations.

Upon completion, each jewellery piece begins a life of transition  determined by the environment in which it’s worn and the ambient temperature of its surroundings- the more humid the conditions, the faster the sugar crystals melt,  gradually changing colour, and revealing the mix of metals and textures beneath their sugar coated exterior.

A real  multi functional, interactive and edible experience…turning your next sugar fix into a happening!!!

www.natalielsmith.blogspot.com

Upcycled ‘fast furniture‘ by GODSPEED

UK Designer Nick Fraser creates unique furniture, lighting and interior products that bring a playfulness and a touch of humour to product design.

His distinctive designs celebrate everyday objects by transforming their inherent qualities into new products that are both witty and practical.

Subtly subversive yet fully functional, these products are instantly memorable ….a perfect example of the marrying of design and functiom is his now iconic’ Fork Light’.

By simple manipulation, the fork creates an effective stand on which sits a bird-shade created using simple folding techniques. All the materials are re=used or repurposed…creating a collection of covetable eco icons.

www.nickfraser.co.uk

‘Plumen 001‘ high on design – low on energy light bulb

British designer  Samuel Wilkinson and  product design company Hulger have launched a revolutionary new  low energy light bulb’ Plumen’  that has taken the design world by storm  and secured them as a the overall winners of this year’s Brit Insurance Design Awards

‘Plumen is the antithesis of low energy light bulbs as we know them. Rather than hiding the to-date rather un- inspiringly designed traditional compact fluorescent light behind boring utility, Plumen 001 is a bulb that will make you want on to ‘shed the shade’ and let the bulb shine in full glory!

The Plumen bulb uses 80% less energy and lasts 8 times longer than incandescent bulbs, giving you the opportunity to buy an ecological product  packed with design and style. It works just like any low energy bulb but it has a lot more presence.

Design critic and chair of the Brit Insurance Design Awards judging panel  Stephen Bayley, who presented the award to the designers at a ceremony at the Design Museum in London last month, said ‘The Plumen light bulb is a good example of the ordinary thing done extraordinarily well, bringing a small measure of delight to an everyday product.’

The name Plumen comes from ‘plume’ – the bird’s decorative feather, designed to attract attention to its’ prowess and beauty. Wilkinson commented We believe our designs do the same for the neglected low energy light bulb….. the phrase ‘Light as a feather’ also springs to mind….’Light is, of course, primary to design,’ he continued, ‘[and] without it there can be very little, if any. The design of light sources is thus an elemental component of a design aesthetic.’

The Design museum’s director, Deyan Sudjic, said the Plumen 001 was ‘a worthy winner that is both beautiful and smart’.

The Plumen 001, along with the other shortlisted designs, will be on show at the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year exhibition at the Design Museum in London until 7 August.

www.hulger.com

‘Gretchen Jones‘ post ‘Project Runway’ eco-collection

Gretchen Jones originally from Portland, OR is now looking to lay down roots in New York post her Project Runway highly controversial shock triumph.Jones had held her own as a designer before the celebrity status winning the show gave her. She had her own eco-fashion label ‘Moth Love ( very Nirvana-esque name).

She said of her win’”There haven’t been many bohemian-minded designers on the show. There are many women living an alternative lifestyle. I happen to be that woman — a Marie Claire woman who goes from work to cocktails in a sustainable but beautiful way.”

Her new label will be launched under her own name and was inspired by a disparate gathering of sources spanning Frida Kahlo, Jean Michele Basquiat, Kurt Cobain, and the “experimental town” of Arcosanti in Arizona.

Her approach is both sustainable and fair trade.For materials, Jones sourced locally produced silk, wool, and organic-cotton suiting, as well as alpaca knits from a women’s co-op in Bolivia. But although she considers herself a conscious designer, the last she she wants to be is pigeon-holed as “green.” “I think that limits you and puts too much pressure on a label,” Jones tells us. “To me, supporting myself and my local economy mean more than the materials…I think our local economies are the key to supporting my industry.”

Each piece  of the new collection  is named after a  tarot card .“It’s important to name the collections and items like I do,” Jones explains, “because i feel I get to download each design with a special intimately connected to me. It’s like giving you a part of me.”

For a ‘part’ of Jones’s new collection :-

www.gretchenjones.com

www.ryanmcelhinney.co.uk

‘Eco Victoriana‘ jewellery collection by Ka/POW/WOW

Central St Martins graduate Mia Morikawa used her personal collection of vintage, discarded and scrapped pieces of fabric to  created her KA/POW/WOW jewellery collection. The dramatic, up scaled statement necklaces are an original melding of recycled unique elemets and references to period costume pieces! A form of organic Victoriana hybrid as jewellery.

Inspired by natural structures and emotional landscapes Mia Morikawa learned the language of organic form while climbing mountains and crossing canyons. a self professed warrior of beauty. She is as she describes “currently living loving & laughing in india.” While continuing to produce  constructed and deconstructed textile pieces which are equisitely organic in both form and essence.

Her collection includes statement pieces made from thick white rope as well as more knitted designs. The looks are boldly designed to make a confident eco-statement, . Eco-poetry in motion….

www.kapowwowobjects.com

Hiroki takada was born in Suzuka Mie in Japan.He studies at the Okinawa Art University and went on to launch his own design practice Takada Design in 1996. His products spanned lighting, decoration and furniture all inspired by natural organic  forms.

This latest addition to his collection is new chair called  ”tea ceremony chair 2010″. The chair was launched to much acclaim at the Tokyo Designers Week in 2010.

Made from bamboo the chair’s design is inspired by the form of a traditional tea whisk
used in japanese tea ceremonies. The base is split into thinner slats which forms
the elastic  backrest, being made of Bamboo it has strength and elegance of form and yet is flexible enough to have some  maliability to provide comfort and design..

Takada’s design philosophy resembles a beautiful  Haiku poem rather than a mission statement:-

The ‘less is more’ philosophy is working for Takada…no wastage in production or description….just the perfect marrying of form and function.

www.takadadesign.com

Future forward fashion by ‘Le sang des Betes‘

L.A based Trang Chau’s designs makes seem to have transported us on fast forward to a future planet of iconic sustainable fashion.. Her label, called  Le Sang des Betes  ( Blood of the Beasts) was inspired at least in part by the film of the same name(Le Sang des bêtes) a short french documentary film made in 1949 written and directed by Georges Franju.

The cinematic theme features strongly in her debut collection  called Aborigine. Chau draws inspiration from a multitude of multi media and creative arenas such as sculpture, film, architecture, and costume design, creating an intriguing collection of  darkly modern statement pieces.Chau cites  film directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder and David Cronenberg. She also draws inspiration from both gothic and modern architecture….self evident by the starkly architectonic elements of her collection.

Committed to using only sustainable materials in her work , her debut collection has a confidence and strength of vision that is unusually found in a first collection. Chau’s unique vision has created an iconic collection of collectable and very covetable experimental pieces that are instantly recognisable. Already a firm favourite with Finding Eco.

www.lesangdesbetes.com

“Ultimate bespoke interactive footwear collection” by Cedric Flazinski

According to  Netherlands-based designer  Cedric Flazinski his collection is the antithesis to laborious mass production which in addition to being slow is also inefficient, and inaccurate, and in terms of conserving our planet-wasteful. “Automatization and mass production,”  says Flazinski, “rely on the proactive use of a massive human effort, based on previsions of what ‘possibly’ could suit the need of a maximum of individuals at any given time.”

Flazinski has pioneered a new system based technology which Instead of offering subtle variations of the same product, enables designers to hand over creative control to the consumer. His MyDesigner collection of shoes, (now on display at the  Holon Design Museum  in Israel) takes  the concept of “made-to-order” to an entirely new level, becoming as he describes it “user-based rather than user-generated.

Before a the making process of single shoe is started, would-be customers generate a personal profile based on a visual questionnaire- a form of personal brand mission satement. This data is then translated into a collection of shape variables that ultimately will form the final product, one that expresses the individuality of the user, Flazinski adds, like a “personal flag.” Or as we at ‘finding Eco’ would say like a reading the rings of a tree trunk.

We are all unique and Flazinski has taken our uniqueness and turned it into a tangible covetable product…..easily attaining our Eco Icon status!

www.cedricflazinski.com

‘Just in Case‘ collection of up-cycled furniture by Katie Thompson

South African Designer Katie Thompson is the brains behind RECreate. REcreate specializes in taking old pieces of luggage, and a huge variety of other discarded, lost and found in the attic type of objects, and turns them into unique,witty and very covetable  pieces of furniture. Although clearly not an original concept- recycling, Katie Thompson’s collection has her unique handwriting and vision stamped all over her one-off pieces.

Using pieces of abandoned furniture and home ware items, Katie recreates a unique, recycled range of furniture, lighting and interior accessories, each piece still carrying echoes of its previous incarnation  but with a new image and function. As she says “An object is no longer being used for its original purpose in life! That purpose has expired and I have recreated a beautiful ‘something else.” By blending South African craftsmanship, with high end finishes and her own eclectic perfectionist flair, Katie creates an original end product with a new integrity that epitomizes the very best of South African design.

Katie’s style is always innovative and novel. Her trademark choice of colour, texture and finish give her designs an ever present element of surprise, transforming the ordinary to the extraordinary.