Sustainable Fashion Symposium & Opening Party In Conjunction with Eco Chic Exhibition

Eco Chic - Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion
May 5 - August 21, 2010 @ Scandinavia House

Symposium - Towards Sustainable Fashion
Directly followed by the Opening Party for Eco Chic in Volvo Hall
Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 6:30 pm, Victor Borge Hall
RSVP required. Please respond by Thursday, April 29 to malin@amscan.org

Eco Chic - Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion opens at Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America, May 5, 2010 and showcases Swedish fashion designers who take an environmentally-friendly and ethical approach to their work, without sacrificing style. On view through August 21, this exhibition illuminates high-fashion alternatives to much of today's environmentally harmful clothing.

Proving that "going green" is more than a feel-good fad, Swedish designers collaborated to establish a culture of sustainable fashion. The fashion industry faces major challenges in both resources and labor, but designers featured in the Eco Chic exhibition strive to change the general attitude of fashion and consumption. They believe that sustainable development is not simply an empty phrase, and fashion is not just about appearance. This touring exhibition from The Swedish Institute (SI), which premiered in Belgrade in the winter of 2008, has visited major international cities including Minsk, Kiev, Riga, Istanbul, and most recently Berlin. The installation at Scandinavia House in New York marks the first American stop on this tour.

Eco Chic - Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion presents garments and footwear by various Swedish fashion designers. Designers featured in this exhibition include: Anja Hynynen, Bergman's, Camilla Norrback, Dem Collective, Johanna Hofring, Julian Red, Nudie, Pia Anjou, Reflective Circle, Righteous Fashion, Swedish Hasbeens, and Zion. These designers aspire to create a culture of principled design and production. Through this touring exhibition, they hope to inform consumers that fashion can be simultaneously stylish and sustainable.

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Symposium - Towards Sustainable Fashion
Tuesday, May 4, 6:30 pm, Victor Borge Hall

A symposium, in conjunction with the opening of the exhibit Eco Chic - Towards Sustainable Fashion, with fashion designers who take an environmentally-friendly and ethical approach to their work, without sacrificing style. The panel of speakers includes designers and fashion experts from Sweden and The United States - Marcus Bergman, Karin Stenmar, Sass Brown and Eviana Hartman, and is moderated by Dr. Hazel Clark, Dean of the School of Art and Design and Theory, Parsons: The New School for Design.

The symposium is followed by a party celebrating the opening of the exhibit Eco Chic - Towards Sustainable Fashion at Scandinavia House. The exhibit will be open until 9:30 pm.

Marcus Bergman is one of the partners of Bergman's (a part of the exhibition). Bergman is a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg and lecturer at University College of Borås. For more information, please visit www.ecocotton.com/

Karin Stenmar - One of the two founders of Dem Collective (a part of the exhibition). Since 2004 Karin and Annika Axelsson has ensured that Sweden receives a steady supply of fair produced and organic clothes from Dem Collective's own factories in Sri Lanka. For more information, please visit www.demcollective.com/

Sass Brown is a full time professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, now resident in Florence, Italy, where she is the Resident Director for FIT's study abroad program. Originally from London, England, Sass established herself as a designer with her own signature collection selling across Canada, and as VP of Merchandising for Perry Ellis Kids. As an academic, Sass's area of research is in the area of community outreach and ethical design practices in fashion based businesses. Sass has published papers and spoken around the world on the topic of sustainable design. She has also worked and volunteered in women's cooperatives in Latin America, and in particular in Brazil's largest favela - Rocinha, as well as taught workshops to manufacturers and fashion enterprises in Peru.

Eviana Hartman, founder and designer of Bodkin. Hartman was the fashion features editor at NYLON, fashion writer at Vogue and Teen Vogue, and the founding columnist of EcoWise in The Washington Post. She collaborated with designer Wendy Mullin on the Sew U series of books for Little, Brown and Potter Craft, and has written about music, style, architecture, and design for such publications as Dwell, I.D., Purple Fashion, VMan, Domino, and Wired. Her interest in sustainability began while studying under architect William McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle. She is also a modern dancer and plays drums in the band Open Ocean.

Dr. Hazel Clark is Dean of the School of Art and Design History at Parsons the New School for Design. She is a design historian and theorist who has taught internationally and has a particular interest in design and culture, and fashion and textiles including ethical practices. Her most recent publications include co-editing Old Clothes, New Looks: Second Hand Fashion (Berg, 2005), The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity and Globalization (Routledge, 2009) and Design Studies: A Reader (Berg, 2009). Her articles include: 'SLOW + FASHION - An Oxymoron or a Promise for the Future..?', Fashion Theory, 12: 4, December 2008.

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This exhibition is commissioned and produced by The Swedish Institute. The curator and exhibition architect is Karin Gräns.

The Swedish Institute is a public agency that promotes interest in Sweden abroad. SI seeks to establish cooperation and lasting relations with other countries through strategic communication and cultural, educational, and scientific exchanges. SI works closely with Swedish embassies and consulates around the world. Please visit www.si.se/English/ for more information.

Scandinavia House is a public forum presenting a wide range of exhibitions, films, concerts, lectures, symposia, and family programs that illuminate the contemporary vitality of the Nordic countries. It also houses the headquarters of The American-Scandinavian Foundation. Please visit www.scandinaviahouse.org for more information.

The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is the leading cultural and educational link between the U.S. and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. It works to build international understanding with an extensive program of fellowships, grants, intern/trainee sponsorship, publishing, and membership offerings.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12 - 6 pm
Due to a generous grant from The Barbro Pro Suecia Foundation, admission is FREE.


Scandinavia House
The Nordic Center in America
58 Park Avenue (@ 38th Street)
New York, NY 10016
General Information: 212.979.9779 & www.scandinaviahouse.org