If it's good enough for Issey Miyake...

Just a short post today, as it's been a busy one.  But good!  I sold one of the rugs out of my shop today (hurrah!) and got that shipped out.  The second one will be going to a good home as a prize for a Flash Mob prize, and with that, I'll be out of the rug business.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to try to focus my work (something I am definitely not naturally good at), and getting rid of the rugs is part of that.  I've also been trying to build a cohesive look to the fashion items I make and planning a photo shoot and look book.  Part of all this thinking and planning has been re-examining the idea of upcycling and looking for ways to make it not just responsible, but drool worthy.

At any rate, I stumbled across this quote from Issey Miyake: "The purpose-- where I start-- is the idea of use.  It's not recycling, it's reuse."  And that actually clarified things for me a good bit.  I don't need to focus on the why of recycling or upcycling.  I just need to collect materials that speak to me and happen to also fall in line with my thinking on consumption and recycling.  Once I have the materials, it's just a matter of determining their best use.  I don't need to bend over backwards trying to find ways to integrate recycling into an overarching collection or theme.  I can work from a collection of fabrics and findings that have a few things in common: ethnic accents, rich jewel tones, vintage detailing, great drape.  Identifying those things that I love most in my materials will create cohesion in my collection, and let me do it in the most responsible way I can.

And by the way, if you don't know who Issey Miyake is, he's (arguably) one of the most innovative fashion designers around.  He did this: