That's right! A while ago I have registered the domain RecycledTshirt.com and I am pretty sure that that was a very, very good move as I will soon add another online business to my repertoire... and the name says it: T-shirt Recycling!
The idea is to finally, officially offer my customers to take the chance and hand over their old collection of fabulous T-Shirts and let my design team work them into some pretty amazing "new" pieces. There will be a bunch of styles to choose from, so get ready for some really exiting One-Of-A-Kind fashion!
I started taking this process (recycling) to a complete new level, when in the early 1990's (the age of the Tank Girl and girly fashion) I was searching for tight fitting t-shirts - without success (really, there weren't any fitting t-shirts for woman at all and if you were a trend setter in those same shoes, you know what I am talking about) - and whilst shopping in the children's departments, I decided to just make the XXL t-shirt which I adored, but which looked ridiculously hideous on me, into a fitted garment. Over the years I have become very professional at this craft of patchworking!
I am also taking full credit for inventing the t-skirt, a skirt made from a t-shirt.
This is a recent dress I made for one of my private clients (who saw my surf t-shirt dress, which I published here a while ago) who is currently putting together her collection of old Grateful Dead shirts for an up coming new recycling project.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
recycled t-shirts
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
patch trader
Hey - hopefully you are having a wonderful Summer so far :-)
I am just setting my mind to what's going to be in the shops this Fall and wanted to give a bit of a heads up of what's coming... it's hard, because I am also working on Spring Summer '09 and keeping track of late productions of this Fall's stuff - sounds crazy? Well, IT IS! - which should be available late August, beginning of September, is close to nuts! But, I've been here before and I should know what it takes, which gives me hope.
O.K. so, I have been talking to you previously about how I get all focused on collecting things that strike me at one time or another. You can't acquire everything - you don't want to be called a hoarder or a person out of touch, someone that is ignorant about the fact that one day he has got to depart this wonderful earth and therefore should be mindful not leave a whole lotta crap behind for the family to clean up and dispose of! The excuse that you are stacking up, invest in your family's future and that they will sell this stuff for 100 x more than what you've paid for, is poor...
So there is very little, only specific storing to be done and I suggest it be temporary too. By this I mean that, at one point, one should take the leap into the ice cold water and use the collection for something meaningful... there are many ways to do that and - yeap - it depends what your line consist of, dummsy!
Do not pave your front yard with your old 45's and see them crashed within a couple of days and it has not served any purpose and it was not even fun! Nooo! And don't just sell off your carefully selected porcelaine groupings of salt and pepper shakers that one faithful day when you decided to have a garage sale!! ----- No!
Do something useful with your lines and save yourself from the harsh reality that this long and careful accumulation process did not serve any purpose except that you felt compelled and maybe insired by it, o.k. I admit, there is such a thing. But still, I stress that it would be more resourceful to write a book about your gatherings of original Punk history. Make it serve the next generations for many years to come or have an exhibition of your postcard line together with your fellow collectors... wouldn't that be a swell event for the general public? Once that's done you can happily get rid of it all! Free-your-self.
Don't just sit on your special stuff in your dark chambers where no light will ever hit it. Put it in the spotlight, for X-sake!
Heeeyy! Yes, and so I will tell you what I've been doing with my beloved embroidered patch collection (there are other collections I will come up with a way to ge rid of in a cool way :-O, so we will talk later).
Indeed, I have been a very enthusiastic patch collector and trader (my absolute favorite are the girls scout and boy scout patches) for years now and you'd want to know some of these, they are great!
They will be put on a limited edition of garments and sold starting this Fall. All will be one of a kinds due to the various one of a kind patches, yes, so see I found a way to use my collection in a nice way as I share it with the world again!
... as you see, I like to mix new with old, rare with generic, again, just like with the prints I use on clothing, I care about the graphics, colors shapes and context in the big picture.
... here is another jacket...
... there will be more, no sweat! But that another time ladies... have a great night!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
idil vice vintage
Hi! I was thinking about how great it is to have the opportunity to have a blog and upload whatever we want and write about what inspires us - or not - and basically in a few years have this great archive of thoughts and images about what is our passion!
And, most importantly: The whole wide world can access it and indulge, which is a far cry from the old paperback diary we used fill back in the day.
I have been in the fashion business for more than a decade now and was just reminiscing about what my blog would look like today, if I'd started it in 1994....
Well, therefore I though it was necessary to have a look back, especially since I do see many of the early 1990's trends come back with a vengeance. The whole 80's thing, (as put together by stylist Richard Shoyemi or worn by Rapper NiYi) with all the deglo colors and the "technoy" accessories? Been there done that - but I don't mean this to sound cocky or bitter - not at all - as life goes on, we realize: everything always, all the time, rotates and, although reinvented and hopefully updated, it all comes right back around, every time!
It's just like history, it repeats itself, and sometimes even the saying: "We will never learn" resonates factual in fashion... and another thing is true: Never throw away a good piece of vintage. It will be back in fashion.
Anyway, enough preaching! I won't bother you with everything at once, but will throw a few pieces in here and there and date them. After all I need to catch up with my lost years in blogging!
Disney's Aladdin spandex gold printed strap dress Idil Vice 1995.
It's me rapping (New York, NY big city of my dreams/The MessageGrandmaster Flash & The Furious Five) on stage at
Kaufleuten in Zurich, 1995.
....and here some more outfits from this show dated 1995...
...o.k. 'nough said!
about IDILVICE
- IDILVICE
- New York, NY, United States
- Just like the rare Swiss mountain flower Edelweiss - a symbol of prestige and distinction - the clothing brand IDILVICE (pronouced "Edel-vice") was born in the mountains of Switzerland and since then it's flourishing on the concrete of Manhattan and recently even in the rolling hills of the San Francisco Bay Area. However as the spelling indicates, the label is not meant to be associated with too much folkloric alpine tradition, but rather and probably in the contrary, with unconventionality. The IDILVICE label was founded in 1995 by Swiss Native fashion designer Idil from the city of Saint Gallen, Switzerland, who's foundation dates back to the 7th Century and which became famous for their quality textile products, especially embroidery textiles, which are still popular with Parisian Haute Couture designers today. In search for something less traditional, Master Graphic Designer Idil ventured out to New York City where she fell in love with American Pop Culture.
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