Ecouterre

Photos by Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

For a slow-fashion practitioner, Julia Ramsey leads life at a breakneck pace. Coming off a one-year residency at the Textile Arts Center, the Brooklyn designer is packing her bags for Philadelphia, where she'll take up the mantle as Anthropologie's new head sweater designer. Somehow, between gasps for air, Ramsey managed to squeeze in a showstopping installation of crocheted wedding gowns at the Hilton New York, produce a series of dramatically oversized knits, and stage an "experiment in material estrangement" in her Park Slope neighborhood. Ecouterre paid a visit to the Textile Arts Center's Artists in Residence show to catch a glimpse of Ramsey's "Pelt" collection, as well as pick the designer's brain on how clothing relates to shelter.

Photo by Astrid Arndt

Laduma Ngxokolo may only be 24 years old but the designer has already drawn critical praise for MaXhosa by Laduma, a burgeoning menswear label that celebrates the Xhosa heritage of South Africa with its vibrant, boldly patterned knits. Crafted in Port Elizabeth from a locally farmed and milled blend of merino wool and kid mohair—all the better to counter the region's soaring unemployment rate—the multihued sweaters and vests feature eye-popping designs based on recurring motifs in Xhosa beadwork, such as the zig-zag, axe, arrow, and diamond.

Clean air regulations may have slashed emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide over the past 30 years, but acid rain remain a very real—and dangerous—public-health phenomenon. To help people visualize air quality at a glance, Dahea Sun, a textiles student at Central Saint Martins in London College of Art and Design, is developing a series of dyes that responds to the changing pH of rainwater. Dubbed "Rain Palette," the project harnesses water-soluble pigments known as anthocyanins—naturally found in red cabbages, blackberries, and eggplant—to provide a haunting representation of our polluted atmosphere.

Ever wished you could burrow inside your mattress and hibernate there all winter? Borre Akkersdijk's line of multidimensional quilted outerwear offers the next best thing. The Dutch designer even uses a circular knitting machine, typically used to crank out mattresses, to churn out tubes of pre-tufted and pre-shaped fabric pieces that are ready to be stitched into voluminous coats, jumpsuits, and capes without additional hemming or finishing. Inspired by the sight of Akkersdjik's nephews in oversized clothing, "The First Cycle" will have you happily tossing your Snuggie for a far more luxurious alternative.

From car parts to couture, Lexus is on a mission to elevate the concept of recycling. Using some of the 2,000-plus components of a dismantled CT hybrid—a vehicle that is itself 90 percent recyclable—the luxury automaker challenged four designers to reengineer everything from crank bearings to armrest upholstery into high-fashion accessories even Anna Wintour would approve of. That's no hyperbole, either: The finished pieces are slated to appear in a six-page advertising campaign in the January 2012 issue Vogue. Above, Moss Lipow's Gaga-esque “Environmental Crown of Virtue,” a dramatic headpiece-cum-eyewear derived from a transmission starter and an exhaust manifold gasket.

Photos by Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

Laura Sansone is a designer, educator, and "student of life" who serves her local community and environment with her holistic approach to design. Her Mobile Textile Lab, a small cart on wheels, is a regular fixture at several New York City farmers' markets where she teaches interested bystanders how to create all-natural dyes using the abundant seasonal produce at hand. Ecouterre paid a visit to Sansone's Plattekill, NY, studio to learn more about the relationship between food and clothing and how nature informs her slow-fashion techniques.

Where most people see trash, Stefanie Nieuwenhuys spies opportunity. After discovering tiny, diamond-shaped wood chips on a workshop floor at Kingston University in London—the leftovers of some architecture student, no doubt—the fashion master's student was reminded of a secondhand snakeskin bag she once purchased. Scooping them up, Nieuwenhuys set to work, layering the wooden scraps onto fabric like reptilian scales. The result is an arresting "biomimetic" collection of corsets, floor-length evening dresses, trousers, and neckpieces that marries modern laser-cutting techniques with a couturier's delicate yet exacting touch.

Photos by Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

Mara Hoffman is known for her bohemian flair, so the presence of a live mariachi band at her Spring/Summer 2012 show wasn't the least incongruous. Presented at the Box at Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week, Hoffman's self-described "Mexican Mamas" featured a bevy of designs inspired by the women of Mexico, particularly legendary painter Frida Kahlo. Using custom-designed silk prints manufactured in-house in the United States, Hoffman interlaced woodcut, tribal, woven, and geometric designs with neon embroidery and seed-beading to create a sultry, tropical-infused lineup of jumpsuits (long and short), sheer skirts, caftans, and tea-length column dresses.

Photos by Jill Fehrenbacher and Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

Against the onslaught of real housewives and Kardashians, Leanne Marshall's brand of youthful elegance fills a precarious but necessary niche. And, at the showing of her Spring/Summer 2012 line at New York Fashion Week on Saturday, the Season 5 Project Runway winner showed us why sophistication will always trump flash. Billowy confections, architecturally sculptured in layers of traditional silk, hemp silk, bamboo jersey, and organic cotton, fluttered down the runway in searing combinations of ivory, lavender, and highlighter yellow. "I was inspired by the feeling of going to the beach or vacationing in the South of France," Marshall tells Ecouterre. "I wanted to capture the way the wind moved through the sand."

Photos by Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

As one of Project Runway's most polarizing contestants, Gretchen Jones can't be blamed for feeling a little, well, persecuted¹. So it's perhaps fitting that her Spring/Summer 2012 show—her first solo presentation at New York Fashion Week—took the form of a police lineup; her way of acknowledging, perhaps, the controversy with a giant wink and nod. Accompanied by the bluesy twangs of the Nouveau Classical Project and the unlikely services of a smoke machine, the 20 models presented a layered array of drapey, color-block separates in desert hues; ankle-grazing prairie skirts in hallucinogenic prints; and pinstripe-denim pageboy shorts, hems angled precipitously to suggest one of Jones's signature motifs, the chevron.

¹Jill's note: And we don't blame her, considering that Project Runway was edited to create drama out of less-than-dramatic circumstances.

Photos by Jill Fehrenbacher for Ecouterre

No one can accuse Organic's John Patrick of being a Johnny-come-lately. Showcasing his Spring/Summer 2012 collection a full day before New York Fashion Week's official launch, the eco-fashion pioneer invited his guests on a journey of exploration and adventure to untouched lands far away. Amidst the eclectic historical decor of the West Village's sailor-shack-turned-hotel The Jane, onlookers reveled in one of Patrick's most streamlined collections yet: classic, timeless, and chic, yet devoid of excessive trendiness. (Like the desert-boot wedges that the models donned, the pieces espouse utility with flair.)

Photos by Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

Marcia Patmos likes to keep things compact. She's speaking about her supply-chain footprint, which favors domestic production, local yarns, and zero-waste techniques, but the term could easily refer to the tidy Spring/Summer 2012 lineup that debuted at New York Fashion Week on Thursday. "I try to do as much as I can, as compactly as I can," she tells Ecouterre from the High Line Room of The Standard. Awash with pale neutrals, punctuated by smatterings of citron, navy, and shimmery metallics, the collection takes a laid-back tack, coupling sleek silhouettes with an open-knit, handworked vibe.

Ever fallen head over heels for a label only to wish it produced its clothes more sustainably? That's how we felt about Orla Kiely; that is, until People Tree welcomed the London-based designer and her print-centric, I-just-stole-this-from-my-grandma-and-all-of-my-friends-are-going-to-be-jealous aesthetic into its fold. The limited-edition collection, available for fall, is chockfull of of preppy cardigans, sweaters, dresses, and trench coats that are as quintessentially Kiely as they are ethically made. Fairly produced in India and Nepal, the collection features '50s silhouettes, teacup motifs, artful hand-embroidery, and an autumnal palette of crimson, teal, and mustard in certified-organic cotton and hand-knit merino wool.

Lacy and lovely, Minna’s new wedding collection is sure to delight any bohemian bride-to-be. The London label's matrimonial lineup, which debuts this month, offers the same vintage romance that Finnish designer Minna Hepburn is noted for. Clad in a dreamy palette of powder, ivory, and cream, the hand-embellished dresses feature British-made laces, chiffons, and silks. To complete the bridal look—and minimize waste—Minna refashions scraps and offcuts into breathtaking veils, turbans, and hair adornments.