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.

Whats up WKNC-ers! This is my first ever blog post, so don’t crack on me for not being too blog-savvy… but here it goes:
Tuesday night (Well technically Wednesday morning) on Underground 88, I invited a group of three very intelligent and beautiful ladies, Lilu, Danielle, and Julie, as well as an equally awesome and talented young man, Troy Jaques, onto my midnight hip hop show to discuss their charity event being held on the 12th of September. Before I go any further,  here are the details for the event:

What: Emerge Fall into Fashion show and afterparty

Where: Mirage Night Club in Raleigh NC

When: September 12, starting at 8:00 p.m.

Why: Charity event, with proceeds going to Haven House Services

This group will be showing fall fashions from Dollface Boutique, Leluna Star, Julkee, and Zac Schell Designs. Not to mention for any of you local hip hop fans… KOOLEY HIGH will be performing right after the fashion show, as well as an after party for 21 and ups. Don’t worry under 21-ers, the fashion show, sushi and Kooley show will be open to you as long as you are 18. These designers (three out of four NC state Alumni) have been working very very hard to provide you with an awesome event and some great fashion design; these people live for their art. They will also be present at First Friday presenting their work.

I’m a social work major, so I get real excited by charity events, especially one for a cause like Haven House. Haven house is a private, non-profit organization headed by a volunteer board and operated by local members of the community who are interested in helping the youth of our community when they are in difficult situations. They are funded mostly by the United Way, government grants and donations. The proceeds from this fashion show go to Haven House, and not to mention Kooley High’s awesomeness will be present after the fashion show. And you get to look at cuties in cute clothes… and sushi. And summa dat bubbly if you’re old enough. All for a good cause. What else could you ask for?

If you’re interested, you can check out more information on www.emergefashionnc.com

It was a great pleasure working with these cats, and I’m real excited right now.