East Coast Runway is a sustainable fashion show debuting at Abundance NC’s event THINK AGAIN: Fashion, Farming & Fiber! The show highlights local designers, models, and fiber artists who use sustainably-sourced materials and challenge our dominant cultural paradigm of fast fashion.
The show will take place on Saturday April 28th, 2018 at 220 Lorax Lane, Pittsboro, NC 27312, US. East Coast Runway will showcase eleven local designers, each with 3-6 looks on the catwalk. The show starts at 8:00 p.m! For more information about THINK AGAIN: Fashion, Farming & Fiber, please visit our event page here.
Made by hand in Greensboro, NC using organic natural fibers and natural dyes, with attention to reduction of water waste. All textile waste is reconfigured or reused creating a closed loop, zero waste system.By creating items that can be worn a myriad of ways and utilizing materials that are ultimately safe for our Earth we hope to change the thought process around purchasing goods. Who made your clothes and what are they made of? We hope that by producing and consuming mindfully, we can focus on craftsmanship, reduce waste, and create truly impeccable clothing for the discerning customer.
Thomas EllerbeMy name is Thomas Ellerbe, and I am a sophomore majoring in Fashion and Textile Management from Charlotte, NC. I became interested in Fashion from a young age, however I wasn’t financially able to buy the name brand products and brands that many of my peers had, so that led me to create my own items. I would get clothing items from thrift stores and then custom design/alter them to my liking, and then would create beautiful and unique pieces that would (in my opinion) be priceless. I have carried this practice on, and I still love redesigning items from thrift stores and have even coined the term “Second-Handled” to describe this process. My dream is to normalize “Second Handling” to create a world where thrifting’s financial and environmental benefits are seen as fashionable for generations to come.
A freshman at NCSU, Celine is enrolled in the fashion and textile design program. Her design style involves intricate details and crochet of some sort. Her love for fashion started early and my interest in environmental sustainability and ethical labor developed with time. She’s hoping to double minor in business and environmental science. Eventually she’d like to create her own company, partnering with men and women in Peru where much of her family is from and work to provide fair labor and wages to workers.
Slade is an Artist, Designer, Curator, Teacher, an advocate for love and culture. She comes from a multicultural, multi-discipline background. sladesign is a line of fashion and accessories designed and fabricated by Slade.
The new sladesign collection is created from her painting rags and recycled paint smeared on recycled cotton. Each piece is handmade one-of-a-kind. They can be adjusted to fit anyone and welcomes special commissions in case adjustments of a garment are impossible.
Arlo Estill is the founder of East Coast Runway, and co-founder of Hempsmith, a pioneer of an ancient fiber. Arlo is a musician, a bright light of his community. He’s studying sustainable textiles at NCSU, loves to climb, ride bikes, tie dye and sing.
Piper HonigmannI love natural fibers and vibrant colors. I love clothes that remind me of the ocean and the outdoors. I think my most formative year in fashion must have been 1982. I was 7. My family was living on a sailboat and staying in Monty Trainer’s Marina in Coconut Grove, Miami, where they filmed a scene in one of the first episodes of Miami Vice. “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins was on the radio. It was eternally summer and color was everywhere. No matter where I go in fashion, I always seem to end up back there.
Pam FleuischerPam Fleischauer is a teacher with an appreciation for design in nature. Birds, flowers, poetry and shadows are a few of her favorite things. She confesses a lifelong love affair with paper and has dabbled in calligraphy, origami, and cutting silhouettes. For the record, Pam doesn’t sew, but in the spirit of loving and protecting our Earth, she has prepared some conceptual looks for the runway using paper and forest finds. In her spare time, you can find her kayaking on the Haw or learning to play her ukulele. Pam lives in the woods with her husband and son.
