This is just a sneak peek at the thank you video we’re going to make when this is all over, but…
Our IndieGoGo campaign isn’t over yet! We’ve been working on the wall poster to thank everyone who helped fund our dream of making this school a reality, and we thought you’d want to see it. We’re in the last 48 hours, so if you want your friends to join you on our wall, let them know now!
More information on the campaign and what we’re doing here.
Now that you’ve added the finishing touches to your business, there’s only one thing left to do: getting the word out. Learn how to create compelling press packages to target online journalists, bloggers, and other new-media professionals. Discover how to identify the appropriate outlets for your business, the do’s and don’ts of successful pitching, and how to deepen customer relationships through social-media networks like Twitter and Facebook.
This Seminar will be presented to you at GUILDED by Ecouterre:
Ecouterre is the leading online website devoted to the future of fashion. We’re dedicated to showcasing and supporting designers who not only contemplate cut, form, and drape, but also a garment’s social and environmental impact, from the cultivation of its fibers to its use and disposal. Our ethos: To follow the evolution of the apparel industry toward a more environmentally sound future, as well as facilitate a conversation about why sustainable fashion matters.
Do you want to attend? You know you do! Just buy a seminar through our IndieGoGo page and we’ll update you when the class has been scheduled. It will be a Tuesday evening in August.
In the past few years many different strategies have developed concerning becoming sustainable in the fashion fashion industry. Sustainable strategy is a position and a process by which ones final product is shaped. It is a defining framework of ones creative choice, life style and also place, in the progress of the civilization.
We will be teaching this seminar at GUILDED on August 2nd from 7-9pm you can find more information and register here.
A Brief Course Description
Students learn about the different paths towards sustainable design and practice. This class will examine the following: -use of sustainable materials -slow fashion -local production -minimizing production -reducing waste and excess -avoiding fast fashion and trends -communicating your brand’s message
Students will leave with a deeper understanding of different business models and paths towards sustainability and the ability to make these choices when developing their collections.
*This workshop will be a prerequisite to the Collection Editing Class that will be taught by Lika later this summer.
Meet Our Teachers
GUILDED is the brainchild of fashion designers Bahar Shahpar and Tara St James. During their years of research and consulting on ethical design and production, they repeatedly encountered misconceptions about the definitions and scope of sustainability. What they saw was a huge void in resources and understanding about how to approach sustainability in business and design. In order to provide a source of reliable and accessible information, they merged their accumulated wealth of knowledge and network of industry experts to create a new breed of agency.
Developing one’s brand online is crucial to any company’s messaging, but even more so for design professionals. For most of the public, their first holistic introduction to your product is going to be a combination of visual and editorial content via your website. And it’s the only venue in which you have complete control of your messaging. A quality product is the first imperative, but if you don’t communicate your points of difference and your aesthetic simply and seamlessly, you’ll be bypassed by those who do.
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Starre will be teaching a workshop at GUILDED on July 19th entitled “Media & Messaging Your Brand Online”.
This class will cover topics such as:
For more information in regards to this class and others GUILDED will be hosting check out our Eventbrite listings here.
Meet Starre
Starre Vartan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick (www.eco-chick.com) and author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life (St. Martin’s Press). A problogger with a decade of experience and oft-quoted green fashion/living and natural beauty expert who has been featured in the New York Times, Elle, Glamour and Self, she is a contributor to The Huffington Post, Inhabitat, and Hearst’s The Daily Green, and is currently editor-at-large for Coco Eco magazine and a contributor-at-large for Whole Living magazine. She has consulted on branding, online outreach and lifestyle for independent fashion and natural beauty brands as well as American Express and
other corporations.
An active ecofashionista, Starre has style edited for Plenty magazine and coordinated runway shows. She splits her time between Connecticut and NYC and calls Sydney, Australia her second home as that’s her birthplace and where her family resides. Fittingly then, Starre has most recently launched the ethical travel and style blog Eco Chick Escapes (www.escapes.eco-chick.com).
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Trinity, Dr. Karuna Sabnani, and Nina Picon, will be teaching a workshop at GUILDED on July 13th entitled “Beauty in a NY Minute”.
This class will cover topics such as:
For more information in regards to this class and others GUILDED will be hosting check out our Eventbrite listings here.
Meet Our Teachers
Trinity Rose
I have been in the middle of the fashion madness in New York City for many years. NYC is where I accumulated diverse experience ranging from style consulting, production, assistant buying, studio services, to celebrity outfitting and commercial styling. It is with this background that I founded illume.
I style for who you are as an individual, what you want to express, as well as what suits your lifestyle, while taking in acccount your body type and natural features. I educate as I go, giving you the tools and tricks you need to transform your personal style. i emphasize quality not quantity. i don’t believe in excess consumerism. this is why i am big on closet overhauls and really being particular about purchasing the right pieces that you can love and keep for a long time. owning a ton of clothes won’t make you feel beautiful. knowing what to wear, and how to say something about yourself, will.
Dr. Karuna Sabnani, N.M.D.
My favorite outfit is a healthy body. My father was a fashion designer and he would always say “clothes make the person”. While I recognized the power of couture, I found his words to be only half the truth. My intrinsic sense told me that it is essential to shine from inside, and that a wardrobe should be an expression of inner radiant beauty.
This experience led me to my true calling in natural medicine. After receiving my B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, I graduated from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine: an accredited four-year medical college. Once I established a successful naturopathic practice in New York City, I moved to northern california to immerse myself in the innovative medical community and I established my second practice as member of the california association of naturopathic doctors.
As I deepened my appreciation for nature’s ability to provide perfect medicine, Irealized the interplay between inner and outer beauty as a reflective dance; your brilliance and luster increases with each gesture of self-care and expresses through your personal sense of style.
I work closely with my clients so that they may feel and exude the dynamic stability of health and beauty in their world. I provide them with techniques that will balance their entire being, illuminate their skin, replenish their hair and tone their body. I teach my clients how to cleanse themselves of impurities so that they may glow with ever-present youth.
Nina Luz Picon
Being a part of the Cosmetology industry for over a decade, I have worked with many types of clients; women in the workforce, moms, models, actors, people looking to alter their look without altering their personality. Under my guidance clients have truly learned to understand what works best for them.
Recently, the simple remedy of eliminating eyeliner and adding mascara to open a client’s beautiful eyes gave her the “yes” moment. She had been so fixated on using eyeliner because someone at a makeup counter 14 years ago suggested it. Getting trapped in a routine gets the best of us, but as time moves on, we must be aware and open to change. With the right tools, and a few more makeup tips and tricks, she is now feeling younger, fresher and wiser.
The slightest shift in your makeup color palette or the proper hair product can get you noticed and draw compliments. We all know how rejuvenating it feels to have a new cut, but once you’re home how do recreate the style? With my consultation and tutoring, I will walk you through taming that messy air-dried hair and turn your tresses into a beach-waved goddess.
I believe in enhancing your natural assets and staying true to yourself. With a hair and makeup routine that organically fits into your lifestyle, we can bring the woman peering from the edge into the spotlight; glowing, confident and prepared.
We’re really excited to announce the launch of our IndieGoGo fundraising campaign. After months (and years) of preparation, we’re raising the money we need to launch our first core program: Sustainable Design Fundamentals.
This education for designers and creative professionals is the whole reason we started this business – and it’s what this industry most desperately needs.
Our video explains everything you need to know, so check it out, become a backer if you can (there’s a ton of amazing perks), and help us spread the word to everyone you know by writing about it on your blogs, connecting through Facebook and Twitter, and by coming to our seminars and workshops right here at the studio.
For far too long, the mainstream fashion world has lived in the contradiction of embracing counter-culture and rebel aesthetics while investing in the most mainstream and problematic environmental and ethical practices. It is imperative for designers, stylists and fashion professionals in general to learn about cruelty-free fashion because it is intrinsically tied, physically and psychologically, to creating a sustainable, ethical future that is alluring and desirable. It is up to us as taste-makers to envision a people of the future who embody the values most of us already share. The legacy of fashion is that it is a powerful form of visual communication, but many modern designers have lost touch with the potential to articulate an evolution that showcases compassion, defiance, dissent, and mercy in the face of reality. There are so many exciting innovations in the world of cruelty-fee and sustainable textiles – from kombucha-grown cellulose “leather”, to closed-loop faux furs and recycled-bottle poly linings, buttons and suedes. Livestock used for their skins and hairs, especially cows and sheep, take a huge toll on the environment. Alternatives to leather, wool, silk and fur are gaining momentum and even provide superior performance in many cases. Lastly, cruelty-free fashion confronts the dangerous assumption that animals are simply here to be harvested as “resources”, when science has proven that they lead complex social and emotional lives and are capable of enormous suffering. Cruelty-free fashion is a commitment to validate the lives of non-human animals, their habitats, and showcase that design and innovation can be in its highest form when it doesn’t just look good, but it doesgood.
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Joshua will be teaching a course at GUILDED on July 27th entitled “Cruelty Free Fashion: Decoding and Harnessing the Dialect of Fashion Culture to Help Animals”.
For more information in regards to this class and others GUILDED will be hosting check out our Eventbrite listings here.
Meet Joshua
Joshua Katcher launched The Discerning Brute in 2008 as a resource for ”Fashion, Food & Etiquette for the Ethically Handsome Man”. With a focus on sustainability, social justice and animal rights, Katcher deconstructs the mainstream understanding of masculinity and offers a vision of men that are protectors, defenders, and heroes for animals and the environment. His lecture “Fashion & Animals: Decoding and Harnessing the Dialect of Fashion Culture to Help Animals” has taken Katcher to Paris, Boston, Parsons University in New York, and in June, Washington DC. He will be teaching a course on the subject here in NYC this spring with GUILDED, and at the American University of Paris in Spring of 2012.
How can organics change the industry?
When customers purchase certified organic products they are investing their money in companies and people passionate about improving our planet. Spending their dollars on organic products instead of synthetic sends a message to the giant corporations that they actually listen to. Unfortunately, the old saying ‘Money talks’ is the still status quo. I used to think I was just “sensitive” to fragrance. When I started researching all the synthetic chemicals being used in modern perfumery I realized it wasn’t my problem, it was the side effects of the chemicals.
Why do you think it’s important to use organic ingredients in skincare and beauty products?
I’m a huge supporter of correct labeling on consumer products and giving the regulating agency appropriate power to enforce the rules. I love using the short film ‘Story of Cosmetics’ as an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq000AF1i8
I’ve cut back on most of my ‘product’ use. I won’t regularly use anything on my skin or hair that is synthetic or contains fragrance as it usually causes skin irritation or gives me headaches.
Amanda will be teaching a Workshop at GUILDED on June 22nd from 7-10pm you can find more information HERE.
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A Brief Course Description
Part 1: 2 hours (7PM-9PM)
An introduction to rare natural materials, blending techniques, fragrance families, odor classification, extraction methods, equipment, vocabulary and ratios. This workshop is a hands on way to experience basic techniques needed to develop your own products and learn more about the incredible world of perfume. Each student will design their own 12ml perfume they can take home with them (all supplies provided). No prior experience necessary, although intermediate and advanced topics will be discussed.
Part 2: 1 hour (9PM-10PM)
An in depth session on branding, packaging, sourcing and marketing natural products. Students will be given the opportunity to compare similar brand samples, have access to resource lists and industry contacts needed to launch a new brand or jumpstart an established brand. This is a rare opportunity to meet with an experienced industry innovator, these consultation sessions can cost hundreds of dollars!
Meet Our Teacher
Perfume became an obsession for Amanda Walker while working for Manhattan based, multi-billion dollar beauty corporations. While studying with Master Perfumers and Distillers, she was reminded perfume was originally produced from flowers, fruit, herbs and spices. As chemicals are a cheaper alternative today, most perfumes are now formulated entirely with chemicals. February of 2010 she decided to launch A Perfume Organic – a new line of USDA certified organic perfumes sold in specialty and luxury boutiques, spas, and hotels
She has been responsible for brand development from inception to market placement, scent design, manufacturing, all original packaging concepts, and all collateral sales and promotional materials. Her products are sold at Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, The Standard Hotels, ABC Home & Carpet, and several additional locations and online retailers. www.aperfumeorganic.com
Amanda has gained acclaim for creating 100% organic blends and sharing her knowledge with her peers through presentations and meetings with her local group NYC Natural Perfumers (+300 members). www.nycnaturalperfumers.com
Why is it important for designers to communicate with their clients?
Your consumers or clients as I would call them are the heart of your business. Without them, you don’t exist. With that in mind it is vital to have a two-way conversation with them, where you are both telling them what you are up to and listening to their feedback like what they love about your work, or what hasn’t been right for them. There are so many fashion brands out there and what can really set you apart is your story. Why do you do what you do? How do you want your customers to feel? Why do you use the materials that you do? It means that your customers can be part of your story, and can understand the journey that the dress or the necklace goes on before it becomes theirs. When it comes to sustainable fashion, it’s all about the story behind what you are doing. You are making great products that people want, but the way you do it is that bit more special because of the positive impact it is having in the world and the change in standards it is creating.
A Brief Course Description
This workshop will focus on how you tell the story of your brand. There will be four parts to this workshop:
There will be a questionnaire that all participants will fill in before the attending the workshop, ensuring that everyone gets some personal feedback on their brand story.
Meet Our Teacher
Amisha Ghadiali
Amisha has worked within the Ethical Fashion Movement for the past five years. After working in politics and international development, she was curious about how fashion could change lives. In 2006 she set up amisha.elegance.rebellion, a socially minded jewellery label. Naturally interested in the bigger picture, Amisha worked for the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) where she was Associate Director until July 2010. She started work there as production manager for the RE:Fashion Awards 2008, the world’s first award ceremony celebrating ethical fashion. At the EFF she played a key role on strategy of the organisation and worked on various projects. This included co-ordinating the Spotlight on Sourcing event series and launching the Ethical Fashion Forum’s international online network, which now has over 5000 active members from all over the world.
Amisha is the founder of Think Act Vote, which is a digital campaign to inspire and educate about sustainability and citizenship, with eco-fashion as one of the main tools. Amisha works as a consultant with fashion brands helping them understand the complete picture when it comes to bringing sustainability into their businesses, and advising them on how to increase their presence on-line.
Ghana is the ideal country for ethical sourcing and production. There is a wealth of artisinal textiles, an abundance of skilled production talent in need of work, and a legal framework that will support the export of your product. The combination of the inspiration of the culture and textiles with the impact of your venture on the economic growth of individuals is the perfect climate for your social business.
Batik, kente, adinkra, batakari, and fugu are the main indigenous Ghanaian textiles. Everyday wear consists of cotton wax printed textiles made by five main Ghanaian producers. The colors, patterns, and motifs in these textiles are visual representations of history, proverbs, moral values, and social codes.
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A Brief Course Description
Everything you need to know about sourcing in Ghana:
*This is Part 1 of the 2-class series and it will focus on sourcing in Ghana. Find more information HERE.
Everything you need to know about apparel production in Ghana:
*This is Part 2 of the 2-class series and it will focus on production in Ghana. Find more information HERE.
Meet our Teachers
Meghan Sebold
Meghan is the president and designer of Afia, a women’s sustainable fashion line sourced and sewn in Ghana, West Africa. She was drawn to study abroad in Ghana in 2006 because of the vibrant textiles and the complexity that comes with working in developing economies. During a research project studying the local textile industry, Meghan saw both the talent and ambitions of the seamstresses and textiles vendors as well as the growth limitations their businesses faced. By translating the textiles into trends that resonate with American pop culture, Afia opens up a much larger consumer market for Ghanaian textile vendors and seamstresses.
Meghan graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BA in International Relations and Economics. She learned to communicate her design ideas through courses at the FIT.
Elizabeth Cloyd
Elizabeth is a member of the Source4Style team, the first online sustainable textile sourcing platform. She has been with Source4Style from the very beginning – helping design and build the website and facilitating the arrival of the first textiles samples from India, Peru and Uganda. Since then she has sourced fabric and developed relationships with textile suppliers around the world. A recent trip to Ghana to source textiles and clothing has given her an even greater understanding of the global linkages in sustainable fashion. In addition to her work at Sourc4Style, she is the Partnership Director for the socially conscience fashion line Afia.
Elizabeth graduated with a business degree from the University of Colorado – Boulder and has worked with such major brands as Oscar de la Renta and RODO.