-Amy Mohlenhoff, Born and raised in New York
a.mohledesigns@gmail.com
Her interest in fashion began at an early age and seemed the natural pursuit for a career. At the age of sixteen she began an internship for Garan, a NY children’s wear company and eventually worked her way up to assistant designer for the woman’s wear division.
Mohlenhoff later went on to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and continued working in the industry for several different women’s wear companies that sold to major department stores across the U.S.
Having developed a significant amount of experience as a fashion designer, including all the necessary aspects of a technical designer, Mohlenhoff decided to hone her skills and creativity to create her own line of women’s wear and accessories. Her style embodies a vintage esthetic with a flair for feminine silhouettes.
-Anja Hynynen, Born in Köping, Sweden
www.anjah.se
The art of handcrafts are of much importance to Hynynen. She has paired her crafty knowledge with her experience as a tailor’s apprentice followed by studying at The Textile and Design School in Boras in Sweden. Currently living in Stockholm, she creates clothes that are free of toxins and chemicals.
Her clothes carry an elegance from times gone by and are made with special attention to detail and finish. They are well-tailored garments in woven fabric and crocheted knit and embroidery. The collection contains ready-to-wear garments and unique pieces, all from organic materials, made to last for generations.
-Jodi Busby, Born in Lima, Peru
At a young age, Busby was drawn to the beauty and talent of the local Peruvian artisans and their innate love of design. She journeyed to Parsons School of Design in NYC to further her understanding of art and design and later she ventured to Tokyo to work with textile designers NUNO, designing clothing with their world-renowned fabrics.
It was in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico that she began to work in jewelry and various accessories, utilizing natural materials and locally found stones. Ms. Busby moved back to NYC and founded her own line as well as collaborating with other designers and artists, with shows at PS.1 and the Royal Academy of Art in London.
Jodi currently lives in the Hudson Valley, where she uses locally found objects for the inspiration in her work as well as growing heirloom tomatoes in her garden.
-Johanna Hofring, Born in Stockholm, Sweden
www.johannahofring.com
A Swedish crochet-oholic that is not afraid of spending weeks on each garment. Prefers working in hemp, linen and wool, always organic. She is a firm believer that we are very affected by what we wear and that there can never be too much love put into one dress.
Hofring moved to NYC to pursue a dream of making music out of the lyrics she wrote. Once there, she ended up being the front-runner of the Lower East Side band The Muse Mob. She created The Art Fiend Foundation, a very original artist co-op/ store/ gallery and gained the applause of the media for being a haven for the LES art/ fashion and crafts community. In 2004, Hofring went on to open Ekovaruhuset “House of Organic Products” in Stockholm, Sweden and helped put Stockholm on the path to becoming more green. Following the huge success of the Stockholm location, Hofring opened the second Ekovaruhuset in NYC.
“There is absolutely no need for us to take from nature’s resources the way that we do today. It makes so much more sense to buy less clothes but of higher quality and then to repair and recycle. Learning to make everything without creating any waste and learning how to give back to nature are necessary objectives we as a people are responsible for. The knowledge is all there; all it takes is the interest. Creating “Eco-awareness” is our goal, to set an example of how things can be done” - Johanna Hofring
-Kaori Yamazaki, Born in Nagano, Japan
kaorry@gmail.com
Much of Yamazaki's influence came from her mother who was always working with fabric. As a child she scoured the mountains behind her house, helping her mother gather plants and flowers to create pigments. Later she would watch her mother spin the beautifully bright red-orange dyed yarn into textiles.
Yamazaki went onto studying textile design at The Fashion Institute of Technology. Although she never formally studied fashion design, she unintentionally became involved with the fashion industry. Having met many interesting people, she has realized that there is a way to collaborate her love of textiles and appreciation of fashion.
Today Yamazaki creates fashion with a free spirit, using natural methods of dye coloring and construction.
“The experience of working in fashion industry makes me feel less creative and I get depressed thinking about how much waste is created by trendy-ness and fast fashion. I love to make clothes; for me clothes are precious. They should not harm anything with their creation.” -Kaori Yamazaki
-Meiling Chen, Born in Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.meilingchen.com
medesigninc@gmail.com
Meiling's early introduction to fashion was watching her father transform traditional suits and shirts into the latest contemporary styles.
She has studied many forms of visual expression, from fine arts and sculpture at Taiwan's National Academy of Arts to Graphic Design at New York's School of Visual Arts. She has worked for several prestigious companies within the design world.
Her work explores the relationship between fashion, visual design and art. She believes a person's clothes represent an artistic means of personal expression.
The clothes she creates are beautiful,but also deeply expressive of the lives of the people that wear them.
Meiling works on fashion and graphic design projects at Me Studio Inc in New York.
-Mika Machida, Born in Aichi, Japan
http://www.mikamachida.net
After studying art for a year in the UK, she moved to New York City to earn a BFA in Graphic Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Many of Machida's art works were inspired by her life experiences and utilization of silkscreen print as her main medium. Her artwork has been exhibited in various shows and publications internationally: Remastered (Diesel Denim Gallery, San Francisco), Chinel (Mavi, NYC), Rocket Magazine (Japan), Lucky Magazine, etc. Her clothing line 'MIKA' began as an extension of her screen-printing from paper and canvas to fabric and garments.
"Long ago, everything on Earth was organic, and the word 'organic' didn't even exist. In this mass-production society it is rather hard to find items that are purely organic and produced in sustainable way. Fortunately, we are in a generation that is aware of these mistakes and we are starting to change their ways. Let us use this as motivation to learn from our mistakes and make better choices for the future. I am doing this in my work today; using materials that do not harm the soil, water, and nature that they came from." ~ MIKA MACHIDA
-nevis- Melissa Kirgan, Born in Philly
nevis.design@gmail.com
“Once I met a group of Byelorussians. They gasped when they heard my last name. Told me it meant something to the equivalent of: “mountain of dead bodies in war time, to which one will eventually climb over and conquer the enemy victoriously.” Then they gave me a trinket they said was the “teapot of hope.”
Creative by nature but destructive by nurture, I strive to create works that reflect the balance of opposites. Organic lines supported by a firm structure, freehand draping techniques coupled with strict pattern making. In this I find beauty and a certain silent peacefulness.
I receive great pleasure from using organic, fair-made materials to create my pieces and believe strongly that clothes are not just devices worn to shield us from the elements but also are tools to express ourselves as individuals. What better choice of positive expression then to wear an item that gives back to the environment and helps sustain the happy employment of countless workers? These are more than just clothes. They are a way of life and I enjoy making life look good!”
-Ron Jean Gilles, Born in Gonaives, Haiti
www.ronjean-gilles.com
“As a child, my siblings and I had to make the most of the toys we played with so imagination combined with “artsy-crafty-ness” was installed early on. We recycled cans into cars, wire into jewelry, cardboard into puppets, old news print into soccer balls, sticks, twine and plastic into kites and so on. I came to America in 1979 at the age of 10, and soon after started break dancing and doing graff. NYC was like riding an electric wave of creativity and we all felt it. Now in my late 30’s, that “artsy-crafty-ness” do-it-yourself attitude I learned in Haiti and my experiences as a youth in the NYC 1980’s are keeping me active in my art as tools of self-expression. They’ve become my motivation to live a creative life as an artist…
-Susan Cianciolo, Born in Rhode Island
Susan Cianciolo studied fashion design at Parsons in New York City and in Paris. She started her career working with Badgley Mischka then with Kim Gordon, bass player of Sonic Youth on her X-Girl line. In 1995, Susan went out on her own and over the next 10 years brought together many New York artists and musicians to create a line of handmade clothing, films and performances under the name RUN collection. As she moves between the fashion and art worlds Susan provokes debate and pushes the boundaries of contemporary design.
'I leave the result to chance, fate, destiny, my passion and my need to create'. When designing Susan does not concern herself with fashion in itself, but rather to translate her thoughts, findings and comments into extremely personal works. Her designs are completely manual. Everything is done by hand in her studio, from dyeing the fabrics to sewing the intricate stitching – always a pure labor of love.
Since the mid 90’s Susan has seen the benefits of using eco-friendly materials in her designs. She uses recycled and repurposed fabrics wherever possible. Over the years she has produced several lines that were exclusively made from organic materials, including the Diamond Line, her recently designed Habitual Jeans line. (Photo by Selina Parr)
-THREEAsFOUR,
www.threeasfour.com
Adi, Ange, and Gabi is an international fashion design collective based in New York City’s Chinatown. Adi and Ange, respectively of Israeli and Russian origin, and Gabi originally of Palestinian decent have been collaborating since the late 1990’s, broadening the boundaries of fashion as art. Primarily known for their multimedia fashion shows and curvilinear design interpretation, they have established and defined an individual style unique to their environment. With their signature three-dimensional approach to cut and construction, the collective continues to redefine classical tailoring.
In 2001, THREEAsFOUR won the Eco Domani Fashion Grant, and have since been included in some of the world’s most prestigious Museums including the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute in New York, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
THREEAsFOUR has been collaborating with Ekovaruhuset to make exclusive pieces from their collection completely organic! These pieces are available only at Ekovaruhuset while supplies last! We are so very excited about this latest fashion venture!
-Tor Soderin, Born in Ostersund, Sweden
A “Jack of All Trades” Tor is an experienced artist and craftsman making innovative furniture with intricate carved details as well as shields, drums and masks from wood and rawhide. Also for many years he made grandiose necklaces and tiaras from silver and gold. Today Tor is mainly working in organic textile materials, crocheting accessories with a very delicate yet structural style. Tor currently is collaborating with Johanna Hofring to create illustrations for her garments and for Ekovaruhuset. With his rich background in woodworking Tor utilizes his skills to create the Ekovaruhuset interiors as well.
-Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard (AKA: XZ),
Born in Yang-Mei, Taiwan
xzchung@gmail.com
After 19 years of uniforms and military-style upbringing in Taiwan, XZ found solace in expressing herself though art and dance. She escaped to NYC, enrolled in The Pratt Institute, and became a student of Ba-Gua an internal martial art. Here she began to re-educate herself about design and how she saw the world.
XZ's garments and accessories are deeply emotional. A montage of illustration, graphics and free hand crochet, each element is compiled to create wondrous works of wearable art. Every piece is an original and unique expression of creative chaos crafted from the finest organic materials.
Using organic materials has transcended XZ to a higher level of design. It has become a way to be in touch with the earth while being responsible to the people whom love her work. It is a personal achievement and a privilege to make exciting pieces for an artistic and ecological minded community.
a.mohledesigns@gmail.com
Her interest in fashion began at an early age and seemed the natural pursuit for a career. At the age of sixteen she began an internship for Garan, a NY children’s wear company and eventually worked her way up to assistant designer for the woman’s wear division.
Mohlenhoff later went on to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and continued working in the industry for several different women’s wear companies that sold to major department stores across the U.S.
Having developed a significant amount of experience as a fashion designer, including all the necessary aspects of a technical designer, Mohlenhoff decided to hone her skills and creativity to create her own line of women’s wear and accessories. Her style embodies a vintage esthetic with a flair for feminine silhouettes.
-Anja Hynynen, Born in Köping, Sweden
www.anjah.se
The art of handcrafts are of much importance to Hynynen. She has paired her crafty knowledge with her experience as a tailor’s apprentice followed by studying at The Textile and Design School in Boras in Sweden. Currently living in Stockholm, she creates clothes that are free of toxins and chemicals.
Her clothes carry an elegance from times gone by and are made with special attention to detail and finish. They are well-tailored garments in woven fabric and crocheted knit and embroidery. The collection contains ready-to-wear garments and unique pieces, all from organic materials, made to last for generations.
-Jodi Busby, Born in Lima, Peru
At a young age, Busby was drawn to the beauty and talent of the local Peruvian artisans and their innate love of design. She journeyed to Parsons School of Design in NYC to further her understanding of art and design and later she ventured to Tokyo to work with textile designers NUNO, designing clothing with their world-renowned fabrics.
It was in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico that she began to work in jewelry and various accessories, utilizing natural materials and locally found stones. Ms. Busby moved back to NYC and founded her own line as well as collaborating with other designers and artists, with shows at PS.1 and the Royal Academy of Art in London.
Jodi currently lives in the Hudson Valley, where she uses locally found objects for the inspiration in her work as well as growing heirloom tomatoes in her garden.
-Johanna Hofring, Born in Stockholm, Sweden
www.johannahofring.com
A Swedish crochet-oholic that is not afraid of spending weeks on each garment. Prefers working in hemp, linen and wool, always organic. She is a firm believer that we are very affected by what we wear and that there can never be too much love put into one dress.
Hofring moved to NYC to pursue a dream of making music out of the lyrics she wrote. Once there, she ended up being the front-runner of the Lower East Side band The Muse Mob. She created The Art Fiend Foundation, a very original artist co-op/ store/ gallery and gained the applause of the media for being a haven for the LES art/ fashion and crafts community. In 2004, Hofring went on to open Ekovaruhuset “House of Organic Products” in Stockholm, Sweden and helped put Stockholm on the path to becoming more green. Following the huge success of the Stockholm location, Hofring opened the second Ekovaruhuset in NYC.
“There is absolutely no need for us to take from nature’s resources the way that we do today. It makes so much more sense to buy less clothes but of higher quality and then to repair and recycle. Learning to make everything without creating any waste and learning how to give back to nature are necessary objectives we as a people are responsible for. The knowledge is all there; all it takes is the interest. Creating “Eco-awareness” is our goal, to set an example of how things can be done” - Johanna Hofring
-Kaori Yamazaki, Born in Nagano, Japan
kaorry@gmail.com
Much of Yamazaki's influence came from her mother who was always working with fabric. As a child she scoured the mountains behind her house, helping her mother gather plants and flowers to create pigments. Later she would watch her mother spin the beautifully bright red-orange dyed yarn into textiles.
Yamazaki went onto studying textile design at The Fashion Institute of Technology. Although she never formally studied fashion design, she unintentionally became involved with the fashion industry. Having met many interesting people, she has realized that there is a way to collaborate her love of textiles and appreciation of fashion.
Today Yamazaki creates fashion with a free spirit, using natural methods of dye coloring and construction.
“The experience of working in fashion industry makes me feel less creative and I get depressed thinking about how much waste is created by trendy-ness and fast fashion. I love to make clothes; for me clothes are precious. They should not harm anything with their creation.” -Kaori Yamazaki
-Meiling Chen, Born in Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.meilingchen.com
medesigninc@gmail.com
Meiling's early introduction to fashion was watching her father transform traditional suits and shirts into the latest contemporary styles.
She has studied many forms of visual expression, from fine arts and sculpture at Taiwan's National Academy of Arts to Graphic Design at New York's School of Visual Arts. She has worked for several prestigious companies within the design world.
Her work explores the relationship between fashion, visual design and art. She believes a person's clothes represent an artistic means of personal expression.
The clothes she creates are beautiful,but also deeply expressive of the lives of the people that wear them.
Meiling works on fashion and graphic design projects at Me Studio Inc in New York.
-Mika Machida, Born in Aichi, Japan
http://www.mikamachida.net
After studying art for a year in the UK, she moved to New York City to earn a BFA in Graphic Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Many of Machida's art works were inspired by her life experiences and utilization of silkscreen print as her main medium. Her artwork has been exhibited in various shows and publications internationally: Remastered (Diesel Denim Gallery, San Francisco), Chinel (Mavi, NYC), Rocket Magazine (Japan), Lucky Magazine, etc. Her clothing line 'MIKA' began as an extension of her screen-printing from paper and canvas to fabric and garments.
"Long ago, everything on Earth was organic, and the word 'organic' didn't even exist. In this mass-production society it is rather hard to find items that are purely organic and produced in sustainable way. Fortunately, we are in a generation that is aware of these mistakes and we are starting to change their ways. Let us use this as motivation to learn from our mistakes and make better choices for the future. I am doing this in my work today; using materials that do not harm the soil, water, and nature that they came from." ~ MIKA MACHIDA
-nevis- Melissa Kirgan, Born in Philly
nevis.design@gmail.com
“Once I met a group of Byelorussians. They gasped when they heard my last name. Told me it meant something to the equivalent of: “mountain of dead bodies in war time, to which one will eventually climb over and conquer the enemy victoriously.” Then they gave me a trinket they said was the “teapot of hope.”
Creative by nature but destructive by nurture, I strive to create works that reflect the balance of opposites. Organic lines supported by a firm structure, freehand draping techniques coupled with strict pattern making. In this I find beauty and a certain silent peacefulness.
I receive great pleasure from using organic, fair-made materials to create my pieces and believe strongly that clothes are not just devices worn to shield us from the elements but also are tools to express ourselves as individuals. What better choice of positive expression then to wear an item that gives back to the environment and helps sustain the happy employment of countless workers? These are more than just clothes. They are a way of life and I enjoy making life look good!”
-Ron Jean Gilles, Born in Gonaives, Haiti
www.ronjean-gilles.com
“As a child, my siblings and I had to make the most of the toys we played with so imagination combined with “artsy-crafty-ness” was installed early on. We recycled cans into cars, wire into jewelry, cardboard into puppets, old news print into soccer balls, sticks, twine and plastic into kites and so on. I came to America in 1979 at the age of 10, and soon after started break dancing and doing graff. NYC was like riding an electric wave of creativity and we all felt it. Now in my late 30’s, that “artsy-crafty-ness” do-it-yourself attitude I learned in Haiti and my experiences as a youth in the NYC 1980’s are keeping me active in my art as tools of self-expression. They’ve become my motivation to live a creative life as an artist…
-Susan Cianciolo, Born in Rhode Island
Susan Cianciolo studied fashion design at Parsons in New York City and in Paris. She started her career working with Badgley Mischka then with Kim Gordon, bass player of Sonic Youth on her X-Girl line. In 1995, Susan went out on her own and over the next 10 years brought together many New York artists and musicians to create a line of handmade clothing, films and performances under the name RUN collection. As she moves between the fashion and art worlds Susan provokes debate and pushes the boundaries of contemporary design.
'I leave the result to chance, fate, destiny, my passion and my need to create'. When designing Susan does not concern herself with fashion in itself, but rather to translate her thoughts, findings and comments into extremely personal works. Her designs are completely manual. Everything is done by hand in her studio, from dyeing the fabrics to sewing the intricate stitching – always a pure labor of love.
Since the mid 90’s Susan has seen the benefits of using eco-friendly materials in her designs. She uses recycled and repurposed fabrics wherever possible. Over the years she has produced several lines that were exclusively made from organic materials, including the Diamond Line, her recently designed Habitual Jeans line. (Photo by Selina Parr)
-THREEAsFOUR,
www.threeasfour.com
Adi, Ange, and Gabi is an international fashion design collective based in New York City’s Chinatown. Adi and Ange, respectively of Israeli and Russian origin, and Gabi originally of Palestinian decent have been collaborating since the late 1990’s, broadening the boundaries of fashion as art. Primarily known for their multimedia fashion shows and curvilinear design interpretation, they have established and defined an individual style unique to their environment. With their signature three-dimensional approach to cut and construction, the collective continues to redefine classical tailoring.
In 2001, THREEAsFOUR won the Eco Domani Fashion Grant, and have since been included in some of the world’s most prestigious Museums including the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute in New York, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
THREEAsFOUR has been collaborating with Ekovaruhuset to make exclusive pieces from their collection completely organic! These pieces are available only at Ekovaruhuset while supplies last! We are so very excited about this latest fashion venture!
-Tor Soderin, Born in Ostersund, Sweden
A “Jack of All Trades” Tor is an experienced artist and craftsman making innovative furniture with intricate carved details as well as shields, drums and masks from wood and rawhide. Also for many years he made grandiose necklaces and tiaras from silver and gold. Today Tor is mainly working in organic textile materials, crocheting accessories with a very delicate yet structural style. Tor currently is collaborating with Johanna Hofring to create illustrations for her garments and for Ekovaruhuset. With his rich background in woodworking Tor utilizes his skills to create the Ekovaruhuset interiors as well.
-Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard (AKA: XZ),
Born in Yang-Mei, Taiwan
xzchung@gmail.com
After 19 years of uniforms and military-style upbringing in Taiwan, XZ found solace in expressing herself though art and dance. She escaped to NYC, enrolled in The Pratt Institute, and became a student of Ba-Gua an internal martial art. Here she began to re-educate herself about design and how she saw the world.
XZ's garments and accessories are deeply emotional. A montage of illustration, graphics and free hand crochet, each element is compiled to create wondrous works of wearable art. Every piece is an original and unique expression of creative chaos crafted from the finest organic materials.
Using organic materials has transcended XZ to a higher level of design. It has become a way to be in touch with the earth while being responsible to the people whom love her work. It is a personal achievement and a privilege to make exciting pieces for an artistic and ecological minded community.
-In addition to all these fabulous Eco-designers, Johanna Hofring has carefully hand selected other organic & fair trade brands to support and carry in the boutique for man, woman, and baby.
These brands available in the New York location are as follows:
Kuyichi, Veja, DEM Collective, Deminwear, Peau-Ethique, Misericordia, Asa & Taneale, Bergmans and Camilla Norrback.
These brands available in the New York location are as follows:
Kuyichi, Veja, DEM Collective, Deminwear, Peau-Ethique, Misericordia, Asa & Taneale, Bergmans and Camilla Norrback.