A fashion show that celebrates sustainable fashion in Lewisburg, West Virginia
Is West Virginia becoming an epicenter of the sustainable farm to fashion movement in the U.S.?
Last weekend I showed two outfits from my apparel line, Reid Miller, at the Earth Day Fashion Forward fashion show and fundraiser for Blue Skies Ahead Get-Out-The-Vote in Lewisburg, West Virginia. We regularly make the drive to this sweet town about an hour from Princeton in southern West Virginia for high culture activities like nice restaurants, boutiques, coffee, and art all nestled into a walkable, picturesque little town framed by lovely old houses with perfect gardens.
I had no idea what to expect with the Earth Day fashion show- both since I have never put my work in a show, and I had not attended the Earth Day fashion shows in previous years. And man did it deliver. I found myself blown away by the talent and energy packed into the old Lewis Theater in the heart of Lewisburg, that has recently been purchased and renovated by new owners.
I was surrounded by designers, sewing enthusiasts, local business owners and community members passionate about the environment and the arts. The venue was this fabulous old theater, updated with all the bells and whistles - lighting, sound, while maintaining the charm and coziness of it’s old bones. And I found myself distractedly following models around who were wearing works of art - Who made that? How about that one?
And then the lead organizer - Thomas Ruggiero - who is my inspiration when I think about innovative, original, top notch design coming from small town, West Virginia was busying around with a full plate of work prepping for the event in his original blouse design, with wild, perfectly draped fringe and incredible pants, repurposing textiles and just oozing with style. Perfect, wild shoes.
It was to be a marathon event for me since I was sharing two outfits - the Cap Sleeve Blouse with the Work Trousers and my Gathered Blouse and Wrap Pants - walking in them - and then presenting to the audience on the statewide textile redevelopment work I’ve been doing in collaboration with Coalfield Development.
But beyond all the details of this event, there was a real surge of energy and excitement around seeing this little town embodying the dream a growing number of designers, textile entrepreneurs, artists and educators have that West Virginia become the center of a sustainable fashion and textile arts movement in the U.S. Yes - you heard me - West Virginia. I enjoy the whiplash on this - the fact that it causes people to stop and do a double take - not New York, not Los Angeles, no - West Virginia - an epicenter of sustainable textiles and fashion.
Why is this rural, often derided state almost entirely in the mountains emerging as an epicenter of green fashion? I will share a few of the reasons I see for this unfolding phenomena in our state.
A growing number of independent designers are inspired to create from small towns across West Virginia. While most of the remarkable talent that comes out of the WVU School of Art & Design moves out of state after graduation, a small but growing list of independent designers are doubling down on small towns, inspired by the magnificent Appalachian Mountains, and the elbow room to work and create that a small community provides, not to mention low housing and studio space costs which support creative exploration without intense financial pressures. We are free to experiment with new materials and concepts that may or may not bear financial fruit. There is something fascinating to me about designs created outside the New York or Los Angeles fashion machine, isolated as we are from these influences.
I mentioned Thomas Ruggiero early on, and would also like to mention Nellie Rose in Thomas, West Virginia. There are plenty more. You have to hear about these designers to know about them - but they are gems and help us see the absurdity of the belief that high fashion, beautiful original designs - must come from cities.
We are at the center of the Central Appalachian Fibershed led by Professor Beth Shorrock at WVU, Morgantown. For those of you not familiar with the Fibershed - it is a network of 67 and counting regions globally that are working to bring a green textile industry back to our communities. This allows us to share research and strategies on how to pull off the very challenging work of bringing the growing, processing, weaving, natural dyeing and sewing of textile products back to our communities in the face of an enormous, entrenched, super polluting and super cheap international textile industry (98% of the apparel we consume is produced overseas). At the heart of this work is a desire to reduce fashion’s environmental impact while creating jobs and opportunity in our communities.
98% of our farms in West Virginia are family run farms. West Virginia has one of the highest percentages of small family farms in the country. And these roughly 22,000 farms are eager to find new sources of income to diversify and expand their profits. This includes a growing interest in natural dyes such as indigo, which is regenerative, sequesters carbon and leaves the soil better off than it found it. It can also be profitable on relatively few acres - important for a state with relatively small acreage farms entirely in the mountains.
Our Universities are uniquely able to support efforts to return the textile work to the region. West Virginia University Fashion, Dress and Merchandising program has one of the few fashion schools in the country with a specific initiative devoted to Farm to Fashion, started by Professor Beth Shorrock. In addition to research on how to increase the profitability of wool farming, WVU is developing out its capacity to be able to test the concentration of natural dyes - an indispensable service for developing the natural dye industry. Professor Shorrock is also building a sewing manufacturing training program to train sewers and instructors throughout the state so we can bring industrial sewing expertise back to the state.
Marshall University adds additional capacity to this work with its specialty composting facility capable of processing indigo (the most feasible method for transforming smaller quantities of indigo into dyestuff), and a dye lab at their school of Art & Design where we can experiment with natural dyes grown in the state.
Quilters have been repurposing textiles since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. I love this one because it is often overlooked. People take quilting for granted out here the way we take our grandma’s cooking for granted. Sure grandma can quilt - sure my neighbor quilts - is our response to spectacular, original works of repurposed textiles. While it is hard to pin down exactly when this art began in the region - we can be confident that it is more than 200 years old. The quilting tradition is still alive and well and has a lot to teach the rest of us about upcycling and creating original works of art out of textiles. Celebrating this work, sharing it and leveraging textiles flowing through our new Reuse Corridor will only amplify this work.
So consider joining us next year - entering an original design or two as a novice or professional, or come on out to be inspired by this burgeoning movement of sustainable fashion bursting to life in small town West Virginia.
More information on the Earth Day Fashion Forward event here:
https://www.edfashionforward.com/