Eco-Chic Exhibit at Scandinavia House, NYC

The “Eco Chic | Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion” exhibit runs through August 21st, and is a lovely showcase of sustainable fashion coming out of Sweden. I had never entered the Swedish Embassy (aka Nordic House) before, so this was a pleasant surprise. The exhibit is on the second floor, but on the ground floor they have a Swedish restaurant and gift shop that put IKEA to shame! The exhibit was beautifully presented and introduced me to quite a few designers I haven’t heard of before. The only downside of this is that unless they made a strong effort to get American retailers interested in the show, we might never see these clothes in American stores.

The pamphlet includes a brief questionnaire to get people thinking about the choices they make around clothing, with points scored based on how sustainable their response was. It also explains the reason why, with a simple snapshot of major issues such as textile recycling, laundering options, paying the fair trade premium, etc.

The piece photographed is by Anja Hynynen, made from organic wool. I liked her pieces best because of the craftsmanship and attention to detail. This exhibit proves that eco-fashion is indeed moving out of yoga class and into the real fashion world. I am looking forward to being able to find some of these gorgeous creations at Barneys and other major American retailers some day. After all, Julie Gilhart has repeatedly expressed her interest in stocking eco fashion, as long as it’s up to the high design standards of Barney’s NY.