News
UCRF Connecticut Chapter Local Assembly: Soil Health and Natural Fibers
March 7, 2020
Our first Local Assembly will be held at The Studio Fairfield on March 7, 2020, 6-8pm.
We are pleased to convene a diverse panel representing ranch, farm, and city; policy makers, practitioners, and economic development. The conversation will range freely around the theme of soil and natural fibers, with a special focus on American and Northeastern American wools, toward building community awareness of our reviving domestic textile and apparel economies.
The evening highlights the opportunity our heritage of land stewardship and design innovation offers Connecticut communities to lead in the global challenge for planetary well-being.
The Business and Sustainability of the Fashion Industry
January 29, 2020
Spend an evening with us as we explore the impact of fashion, the changing perspectives of end consumers, the people looking for sustainable solutions in an industry with the same manufacturing practices in place since the early 1900s, and the undiscovered opportunities for investors, manufacturers, retailers, and the end consumer. This event will feature Jane Philbrick (founder of TILL bioFASHIONtech, committed to promoting biomaterials for manufacturing), Julie Tong (commerce editor at Vogue), and Sharon Lungrin (Co-Founder, @aeternallovers, a Bronx music and clothing brand committed to upcycling and creating original designs and music inspired by NYC). The event will be moderated by Randy Ramirez.
Inaugural bioFASHIONtech Summit 2019
June 24, 2019
bioFASHIONtech is the inaugural Summit for ecological fashion natives — the new generation of designers making planetary well-being not just a goal of our design (i.e., "do less harm") but the defining impulse of our creative work and framework for its production.
The Summit brings together makers and thought leaders, scientists and entrepreneurs, investors and retailers working at the forefront of emerging technologies for experimental textiles, new systems of community-based manufacturing, and business model innovation.
Our quest for products and processes that heal and restore ecological balance goes beyond mere sustainability. We are inspired, and compelled, by the pragmatic recognition that our lives depend on it.
Workshops | TILL: bioFASHIONtech LAB @Stamford Town Center
May to September 2019
35 Workshops free and open to the public: from basic sewing to hand spinning wool yarns, your introduction to building a closer relationship with your clothes.
Artist Evenings | TILL: bioFASHIONtech LAB @Stamford Town Center
May to June 2019
Jingruo Cheng (MFA Fine Arts, Parsons School of Design): Rhea presents recent work teasing subtle yet provocative poetries from mundane found materials. Discussing her practice, Rhea compares her experience of the world to a kaleidoscopic lens of visual poetry, where shifting vantages reveal the intricate, often hidden networks that thwart and compel our daily lives.
Shuyi Cao (MFA Fine Arts, Parsons School of Deisgn): Shuyi discusses how her work integrates biology and technology to challenge conventions of knowledge production.
Luisa Valderrama (MFA Sculpture, Pratt Institute; BFA Painting and Drawing, University of Los Andes; BA Art History, University of Los Andes): NYC-based artist Luisa Valderrama grew up moving between a ranch in a rural region of Colombia and the city of Bogota. Her work reflects an exploration of how her urban life coexists with her rural customs.
Jenifer Wightman (MS Environmental Toxicology, Cornell University; BS Cell Biology, Carnegie Mellon University): NYC-based artist Jenifer Wightman is a working scientist and conceptual artist. Her work engages the intersections of climate change and the carbon economy.
Inside Out | TILL: bioFASHIONtech LAB @Stamford Town Center
June 9, 2019
“Inside Out” introduces fashion professionals who offer their inside take on the industry. FIT curator Melissa Marra and conservationist Javier Alvarez present on curating the celebrated 2017 exhibition “Force of Nature,” exploring the history of fashion and the environment from 18th-century garments to 21st-century bio-engineered textiles.