Sundance Channel

Mother-daughter team launches recycled vintage jewelry business

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:00:32 +0000

When William McDonough and Michael Braungart popularized the term "upcycling" in their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle, they were referring to industrial-scale recycling and production. The term, however, has really captured the imagination of the crafty community: you don't need to browse Etsy for long before coming across handmade products crafted out of used materials of some kind. And St. Louis' own Upcycle Exchange is just one example of an organization that's popped up to serve this niche though collecting and distributing materials that the more creative among us see as the basis of something new, useful, and likely even beautiful.

Can green fashion save our oceans?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:00:17 +0000

From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the Gulf oil spill, you don't have to look far for evidence of how heavily we pollute our oceans. The effects of this pollution are both environmental and economic: harming ocean life diminishes our capacity to make use of the many resources on which we rely provided by the planet's ample blue spaces. Just take a look at some of the numbers from NOAA, National Geographic, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute:

Michigan siblings upcycling aluminum cans into jewelry

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:17:57 +0000

Most of your aluminum can likely go into the recycling bin (because we're certain you don't just throw them in the trash!). Scott Bertelsmeyer, along with his sisters Sue, Sherry, and Shannon, thought something even more valuable could be done with those recyclables: they could serve as the drivers for economic redevelopment in their hometown of Vassar, Michigan (which, like the rest of the state, suffers from high unemployment: currently 13.7%), while still keeping them out of the landfill. Their company Cangles makes jewelry from the cans... which is now sported by celebs ranging from Paris Hilton to Kelly Rowland to Ian Somerhalder.

FULL FRONTAL FASHION highlights

Sundance Channel — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:37:23 +0000

SUNO Resort 2011 collection Prepare to be wowed by SUNO’s stunning prints, check out Oscar de la Renta’s tweed dresses and silk caftans, and preview other inspiring new collections featured in the Resort 2011 Lookbook gallery. Resort lines will be hitting stores this October, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start dreaming of that perfect [...]

Bio-accessories

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:58:15 +0000

Australian duo Ben Landau and Brittany Veitch created a series of “bio-accessories” or wearable jewelry and adornments injects a bit of nature into an urban experience and lifestyle. The artists explain: Each piece of Bio-accessories incorporates a living organism to accompany the wearer throughout their day, creating a symbiotic relationship. The human tends to the [...]

Madeleine Albright: Read her pins

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:08:12 +0000

Madeleine Albright, the US’s first ever female Secretary of State, wrote a book about her pins. Yes, her pins. She used pins to subtly convey her mood, and the nation’s intentions, via costume jewelry. At one point Saddam Hussein called her a serpent; from then on she wore a serpent pin whenever Iraq was the [...]

The “Vulva Love Lovely” Etsy store

Em and Lo — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:59 +0000

If the news we reported recently about Betty Dodson’s Genital Art Gallery being forced offline really got you down, here’s something to brighten your day: There’s an Etsy retailer called Vulva Love Lovely dedicated exclusively to women’s genital and reproductive artsy craftsy thingies. We’re fans of the more lighthearted, graphical stuff: the little cartoon uterus [...]

Jewelry moves downstairs

Lux Alptraum — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:20:39 +0000

You wear rings on your fingers, bracelets on your arms, and weigh your neck down with all sorts of jewels--but are you really as blinged out as you could be? Perhaps you should consider purchasing some anal jewelry, just to make sure you've covered all your bling bases.

Rock solid

Perrin Drumm — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:05:14 +0000

Can’t manage a designer overhaul on your wardrobe this season? How about just one piece that will add spark to even the simplest of ensembles? Cue Christine J. Brandt, whose creations are more wearable art than they are jewelry. Brandt’s necklaces, rings, and cuffs have been featured in more than sixty magazines and were chosen [...]