Redress Raleigh, the premier eco-friendly fashion show of the Triangle, featured 13 outstanding designers, three lovely producers, and an inspiring charity Friday, April 20, in the Warehouse Distric at the Contemporary Art Museum. After starstuff and I arrived downtown, we were ushered into the musuem and shown front row seats right next the show’s other prestigious sponsor, “The Raleigh Downtowner.” The four of us received handmade swag bags, chocolate made right here in Raleigh, a cookie, and a handmade wallet by Aban, the featured organization for this year’s show. Aban (A Ban Against Neglect) is a charity fronted by recent college graduates Callie and Becca which looks to provide an income for girls in Ghana. A portion of the proceeds from the show will go toward the charity, providing the funds needed for the girls in Ghana to create beautiful products from recycled materials as well as instill empowerment and leadership in them.

The show started a little after 8 p.m. on an unconvential runway with a stark white backdrop that allowed for lots of posing; a perfect setup to showcase the garments and models. There was no shortage of quality, innovation, and creativity at the event. Locally-based designers drew inspiration from places as far as Costa Rica to create “no fluff” natural wedding gowns (Kenal Leonard), and edible materials, like the orange peels used by Pamor Designs & Zassdesign to create colorful jewlery. As long as designers maintained a conscious mindset when they created their collections, they had free range to take them in any direction they chose. With this in mind, some designers reinvented the norm of eco-fashion and created high fashion garments like jackets and shift dresses made from organic cotton and wool (Belindabilly). Leopold Designs focused on hand-dyed silk and colorful garments flooded the runway with silk screen, Shibori and Batik techniques. One of my favorite collections from the evening came from the final designer, Rocket Betty, who showcased retro alternative wedding apparel made with modern repurposed fabrics.

During a brief intermission, which was much needed to really absorb the fabulous fashions of the five previous designers, co-producers Mor Aframian, Jamie Powell, and Beth Stewart thanked the sponsors (us, yay!), introduced this year’s featured charity, Aban, and reiterated the goals of Redress Raleigh. Mor announced her desire for eco-fashion to be not just a trend but a lifestyle and how they wish for consumers and designers to use Redress Raleigh as a resource for anything eco-fashion related. Beth continued on how the fashion show has become an integral and exciting part of the organization. She also talked about how events throughout the year, like fundraising concerts, continue to spread awareness on our responsibility as designers and consumers to be concious of what we wear and how it impacts the earth and the people creating the clothes.

Redress Raleigh is an incredible eco-conscious movement happening right here in Raleigh and it is inspiring to see the creativity that we can accomplish with repurposed materials or goods made with little impact on the earth. As a radio station that continues to promote local artists and the good of the earth, it is exciting to be a part of this movement!

Check out more about Redress Raleigh and Aban here.

One of the awesome perks of working at 88.1 is all the cool things we are exposed to. Tonight I get the opportunity to see Redress Raleigh from the first row! It’s a sold-out fashion show being held at the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) in downtown Raleigh.

The show isn’t just about skinny women walking down a cat walk, no, this show highlights local designers of both clothing and jewelry who are eco-friendly. Together, the 10 designers are showing that there is such thing as “sustainable fashion” and what the future has in store for it.

The items being showcased range from necklaces made out of driftwood and metal to recycled men’s shirts redesigned for the feminine form. All of the garments and jewelry emphasize eco-friendly or recycled materials. They want mainstream clothing to be more aware of their social and environmental decisions, and prove that eco-fashion isn’t unattainable.

With less that nine hours to go, I’m pumped to see what sustainable fashion is really all about, especially on the local level. The staff of Redress Raleigh should be proud of this awesome event that they are putting on tonight.

Check out their website for more information on Redress Raleigh 2012.

With the success of the previous 8 Double Barrel Benefits, WKNC is broadening its emphasis on all things local. This year, DBB will include a day party and market Saturday, February 4 from NOON to 5 p.m. at Tir na nOg Irish Pub, just two doors down from The Pour House. The event is free and all ages!

Raffles will be held for WKNC merch, concert tickets, and VIP passes to Hopscotch 2012! There is also a fantastic list of Triangle charities, artists, and businesses important to WKNC.  Check out the following artists

The warm weather got you wanting to get out of the house? Spring Break plans fall through?
Let us provide you with some options.

Be the right caller and you could win!

This week at WKNC, we have the following giveaways:

3/1: Marnie Stern @ Kings

Marnie Stern, courtesy of mercurialn

3/2 Leon Russel @ Lincoln Theatre

Check out Leon Russell, 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of fame inductee, photo courtsey of Archman8

3/3 Future Islands @ Kings

3/4 Dance Music for Nerds @ The Pinhook

Superchunk @ Cat’s Cradle

Fintroll @ Volume 11

3/5 Redress Raleigh Benefit featuring I Was Totally Destroying It and Bright Young Things @ Kings

3/6 Justin Robinson @ The Pinhook

Ty Segall @ Kings

Yelawolf @ Cat’s Cradle

Remember, you have to listen win!

Oh, and while you’re winning free tickets to great show, remember to vote WKNC best in College Radio as according to MTVu. Vote often, vote much.

At 3 p.m. Friday, I will be interviewing Once and Future Kings about their show with Embarrassing Fruits on Saturday, April 17 on Lee Field on NCSU campus.  The event is  in celebration of the upcoming Earth Day. Embarrassing Fruits play at 6 p.m. and Once & Future Kings go on at 7 p.m.

Next, I will interview Mor Aframian at 4 p.m. Friday.  We will be discussing the Redress Raleigh event which takes place Saturday, April 17.  Redress Raleigh is an ecologically conscious and forward thinking fashion show that challenges designers to think about impact on the environment in the development of their concept. Redress aims to showcase eco-friendly designers with accessible and innovative collections as well as showing that “green” is in all aspects of life, including fashion. The clothing selected for this show will have a strong emphasis on eco-friendly design. Eco-friendly can be in the form of recycled or remanufactured garments, as well as using eco-friendly fabrics and production processes. The focus of Redress Raleigh is to promote wearable eco-fashion, meaning fabrics and textiles that would be commonly found in clothing articles, rather than non-clothing items such as cardboard, paper, plastic, etc.  This year’s show will be held on Saturday, April 17 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Flander’s Art Gallery, 302 South West Street, Raleigh.

M.C. talks with Jennifer Halweil about the Hillsborough Street Renaissance, an environmentally-friendly effort to revitalize the street that borders N.C. State’s campus. M.C. also spoke with Mor Aframian and Michael Perros about the Redress Raleigh Fashion Show, part of the Renaissance festivities.

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