Eco Fashion Network Meeting in Berlin

Last weekend during the Berlin Fashion Week we organized a network meeting with Karmakonsum for the German eko fashion scene. 35 designers, shop owners and bloggers got together in Bio Restaurant Diwan and had an inspiring and fruitful evening. It was fun, next time we'll be probably more again... the scene is growing...

On the pictures: Magdalena Schaffrin, 500Godz, Bransparent, Jovoo, Armedangels, Karmakonsum, Slowmo. More pics of the meeting at Karmakonsum's Flickr

The Premium exhibition was rather disappointing. Less green brands than last time, and less international. The Green Area does not have a policy on which brands are "green", so everyone can buy a green spot. And is a bamboo floor really the right thing? If the Premium wants to keep the green thing going, they have to invest in it big time. Otherwise they might miss the boat.

Korrekte Klamotten: Meeting the German Eco-Fashion Scene

Under the name Korekte Klamotten a group of German eco-fashion labels have started a collective blog to share their news about new collections and upcoming events. The blog is started by the shirtlabel Fairliebt and until now Slowmo, B-Green and Gluecksstoff have contributed to the blog.

It shows that currently the ecofashion scene in Germany is developing dynamically. This weekend it's Berlin Fashion Week and this Saturday we organize a Network-meeting for the eco-fashion scene together with Karmakonsum. In a few days all forty chairs were booked, and we realize how much is going on at the moment.

We have Noel and Christoph from Karmakonsum and Sjörn from Konsumguerilla over for a little Konsumcamp and will hit the Fashion Week with a green guerilla all together. Be aware!

Image: new collection by Gluecksstoff

Berlin Citizens Discover Direct Democracy

Mediaspree Versenken from Pappsatt

A group of activists against privatisation and gentrification gathered the highest amount of signatures so far for a public voting in Berlin for their call to have the Berlin river Spree for everyone. While the local government is selling out the whole river area in the district Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain in favor of a "Media Spree" filled with glass house offices and hypermarkets, the public has the change to vote against the sell out of their living area.

All political parties, including the greens and the socialists, oppose the initiatives wishes for a publicly accessible riverbank and ignore the call for protection of the very lively scene culture around the riverside.

Relatively new forms of public voting allow Berlin citizens to bring up topics for a public voting, and different initiatives to bring up a public issue saw the light. We have had a public voting over brilliant issues, such as the rename of a street to give it the name of the '68 student leader Rudi Dutchske (result: pro Dutschke), a voting over the closing of the famous Berlin airport Tempelhof (result: pro closing).

In the case of the Mediaspree voting, it can become a case example of new forms of public involvement and grassroots organization against a too commercial sell out of public space. A relatively small group of activists get's the chance to oppose such a hundreds of millions megaproject. And rule over their politicians. Let's see what the people will vote.

Day of vote: 13 July 2008
More info: ms-versenken.org and Mediaspree eV

My Encounter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Brandenburger Tor

Today me and my daughter Gaya went to see his Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. We were not the only ones, about twenty-five thousand people had the same idea, and so we stood pressed together, waiting for the leader of the Tibetan people in exile to arrive.

There were also people who were not there, such as most of Germany's politicians. For all the social democrats created a scam around the visit. After an under-minsiter announced she would meet the Dalai Lama, the top of the socialists got furious. SPD-leader Beck stated: "Unfortunately we can't stop this shit anymore." Well, shit happened, but it had a very friendly face.

Mao's promise
Considering all the political tensions around his visit, the Dalai Lama seemed to be fairly untouched. He smiled as usual and held a very calm, China-friendly speech. After his speech ended and his goodbye, he turned back to the audience to say something about all the Tibetan flags around. He said, Mao had asked him back in the fifties, if Tibet also had a flag, and promised him that he would allow the Tibetans to hang the Tibetan flag next to the Chinese communist flag. The Dalai Lama quoted this to make clear, that he does not aim to replace the flags, but to have the two in peaceful coexistence.

Dialog or boycott?
It is stunning, that with so much willingness for dialog from the Tibetan side, so little politicians dare to take a clear stand in the matter. The only party where the whole top supported a meeting was the German Green Party. The Silence of the International Olympic Committee and world leaders is tacit endorsement of abuse, says Amnesty.Regarding the brutal and dehumanizing way the Tibetans are treated, it is only because of the strong economic power of China that there is no boycott or other forms of official, international protest. But the Dalai Lama is the one being boycotted here. Even today, even in Germany.

Made in China
It is in this light brave of the Dalai Lama to be against a boycott of the olympics or any boycott at all. From an ethical consume perspective, I think it is better to look at the origin of your product before you buy. And to realize that "Made in China" does not really guarantee workers rights, if any rights at all. Well, make your scan. To be honest, I'm writing this on a China made Apple. I'm not promoting a boycott here, but just be aware of your consume choices!

First image (c) by Frans Prins
Second image: circulating on Facebook
Sources: Taz, N-TV
More to the Tibet case: Tibet Online, Avaaz, Wikipedia, Amnesty International

NB: This article is written on personal title. Not all blog articles on this blog are representing the standing point of the Grass Routes Foundation.

Sounds of Sirens: How to Link Consumerism and Holistic Principles?

For some time I met Lars Schmidt, together with his partner Steffa Roth running their project Art & Ecology Education. Because of the name I guessed there was a connection with Grass Routes, as we work with creativity and sustainability as key values. We have been exchanging ideas and vision a few times, and for me it is interesting to confront our projects with ideas deriving from deep ecology and permaculture. It forces to think more precice about consumption again: can we really consume just better? Is that the whole solution? LOHAS or simple living? Organic cotton from Africa or locally sourced textiles? We will continue this dialogue and plan to make some workshop or event out of it.

Lars is also running a nice blog in English and a bit of German: Sound Of Sirens. The blog deals with topics from the areas of sustainable living and management, Corporate Social Responsibility, De-Branding, the environment and culture: "one of the main questions being if, and if yes: how, modern lifestyle and consumerism can be linked to holistic principles." A few nice interviews such as with the people behind the Sustainable Dance Club.

Treches by JBR: New Organic Streetwear Label from Berlin

It's getting a hot spring for eco-fashion in Berlin. We choose a good time to kickstart our own label Pamoyo. Yesterday we where on the show of the new organic streetwear label Treches, a label by designerin "JBR", Jeanette Bruneau Rossow. Cecilia had contact with Jeanette since the Berlin Fair Fashion Affair, and now she launched her first organic collection on the Lido Kreativmesse.

Clothing and models where on the activist side of style, but since Nike is advertising with "Riot" on it's logo, that's business as usual. For all in Berlin. I always wonder how LOHAS* can be cool in a young, urban setting, as a real party lifestyle does not fit with Healthy stuff. The trend here is more LOPAS: Lifestyle of Parties and Sustainability.

*LOHAS: Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability

Pamoyo: New Green Fashion Styled With Heart

We launched the new Pamoyo site and Pamoyo collection during a short trip to The Netherlands, making it a truly nomadic clothing label. And it took a few days before I noticed I did not even announced it here on the blog. Well, here we are. You are warmly invited to spread the word about this new born green fashion label!

Pamoyo was founded by Frans Prins and Cecilia Palmer to design a fashion label with green vision and creative edge. Prins & Palmer are known as the initiators of the Berlin Fair Fashion Affair and the Grass Routes Foundation.

The label works community based, the collections derive from a growing, creative collective of young designers. Pamoyo is the first Open Source Fashion Label under a Creative Commons license. Patterns and designs of Pamoyo clothing are published online for non-commercial use. The Pamoyo blog reports on green fashion and sustainable lifestyle.

One-of-a-kind collection "Styled with heart"
All items of the “STYLED WITH HEART” collection are unique, one-of-a-kind pieces made from high quality organic cotton and vintage elements. Every piece is hand made and unique. Integrated recycled materials and a rough sewing style make them feel authentic and exclusive. The collection is inspired by samples of street style and an ironic re-use of retro images and sub-cultural identities. Actually the most fun is the Pamoyo Webshop, where you can order your own one-of a-kind vintage element with your shirt.

Pamoyo supports sustainable development and creative competences in local communities. From the online sales, two Euro per sold item goes to social-environmental projects.

Find out more on www.pamoyo.com and read the interviews with the designers

Grass Routes at the SelfHub in Berlin

The SelfHub is a 'club for people with ideas'. It fuses the best of grounders centre, library, cafe and office lounge. The SelfHub is part of an international network of Hubs around the world and the first one in Germany.

We found this an excellent place to present our vision and create an inspiring evening for everyone in Berlin interested in our projects. Be there! Spread the word! Change the world with style!

Notification: the event is moved to the 15th of May!

Click here for more info

"Change the World with Style": Presentation by the Grass Routes Foundation

Dear friends and all interested,

We invite you to a special evening on Thursday the 15th of May in the SelfHub in Berlin, where we will present you the projects and ideas of Grass Routes in a creative way, to inspire you and to provoke you to think and act yourself. Central topic of the evening is “How to Change the World with Style?”

We invite you to a special evening, where we will present you the projects and ideas of Grass Routes in a creative way, to inspire you and to provoke you to think and act yourself. Central topic of the evening is “How to Change the World with Style?”

Grass Routes is a young, international NGO based in Berlin that combines creative thought and social pioneering with sustainable development and lifestyle.

We will present you our vision and projects, and in an active workshop brainstorm and explore with you the potentials of combining creativity and sustainability as core values. For Grass Routes, using art and style is more than a good marketing strategy or working method. Creativity is the soil for creating change from the grassroots.

About a year ago we started Grass Routes with the wish and urge to create new, innovative projects that combine creative vision and sustainability. In January 2008 the Grass Routes Foundation was created and we are preparing to make Grass Routes a spinning centre of projects, ideas and vision.

We will present you upcoming projects such as the upcoming Berlin Fair Fashion Affair, the new, community based Green Fashion Label Pamoyo, a Sustainable Fashion Agency, an online database project and international trainings for young designers.

All visitors are welcome to participate in the celebration of this new organization.

Looking forward seeing you,

Frans Prins & Cecilia Palmer
Grass Routes Foundation

Thursday 15. May 2008 19.30 hour
Adress: SelfHub, Erkelenzdam 59-61, Berlin Kreuzberg, www.selfhub.de
Price: voluntary donation
Open for: everyone
More info: www.grass-routes.org

Programm:
19.30 Welcome
20.00 Fashion Performance by Pamoyo
20.15 Vision Statement & Presentation of Projects by Grass Routes
21.00 Workshop “How to Change the World with Style”
21.45 Afterparty

Please note that the event has been moved to the 15th of May!

Images by SelfHub and Pamoyo

500 Godz: Berlin Streetart Shirt Label with Organic Prints

The new Berlin based ecological shirtlabel 500 Godz has a close connection to the street art scene. Their first collection of organic shirts are printed with works by the British graffiti artist AME72.A new collection will include prints of works by the German streetartists WOW and Ame 72.

Organic Screen Printing
The printing on the shirts of 500 Godz is certified organic, printed by the British T Shirt & Sons, with clients such as Katharine Hamnett and Greenpeace. T Shirt and Sons claims to be the only textile printer able to offer certified organic printed garments in Europe to global organic textile standards (GOTS).

Where a lot of screen printers promise some kind of sustainable approach, still most screen printers use polluting methods. In Berlin there has been a boom of small semi-ethical shirt labels using American Apparel or Continental Clothing shirts for their funky prints. I like the movement and the shirts are cool, but I think they could go for a bit higher ecological standards here. If you want to create an ethical shirt label, you better choose organic, and also take care of a sustainable screen printing method. 500 Godz proove it's all possible, also for a small Berliner shirt label.

new home for ID22, institute for creative sustainability

As a symbolic new start, Berlin's institute for creative sustainability celebrated it's new home in Prenzlauer Berg on Chinese New Year, introducing the year of the rat. Moving from it's former base in the cultural community UfaFabrik, the institute now found it's place within an innovative living community (WG) in Prenzlauerberg. It looked like an inspiring place to continue, and I hope the institute will keep the network of alternative communities in Berlin alive from their new home.

ID22, institute for creative sustainability, is in Berlin for all know for it's project Experimentcity, a model project for Berlin's local Agenda 21. They are supporting and developing alternative build and living concepts, thereby balancing between a network of subcultural, creative and often anarchist communities, housing companies and politics. Goal is to support participative and sustainable use of Berlins many empty spaces and buildings. Experimentcity offers innovative housing- and cultural projects a platform for exchange and cooperation.

Until recently the ID22 was based in the UfaFabrik, a cooperative residential community of about 30 to manage a large range of cultural, social and ecological projects: international culture center, children’s circus, cogeneration systems & renewable energy production, including one of Berlin's largest solar energy systems, local re-use of rainwater, greening of buildings, a natural foods store & organic bakery, guest house, alternative school, children's farm, one of Berlin's most successful internet communications initiatives, and a neighborhood & self-help center. It must be quite a change to leave such a place to go living on yourself...

Image: experimentdays 07

Premium Fall/Winter 2008/09: a bit of green and a lot of grey

With the Premium slogan "Save the future!", a green area, "green living" statements on the PR material and it's central symposium with the title "eco is not a trend" the Premium Exhibitions during the Berlin Fashion Week dared to profile themselves as green. But did the event make this green promise true?

The exhibition took place in huge old postal depot halls near Potsdammer Platz, and once you enter you feel in a labyrinth of fashion worlds. Somewhere at the very end, behind all black and grey, one could find the green area. With neon green flours and pillars, it was visible were to go for the green fashion consumer. But for the mainstream fashion buyers it might just have been one bridge too far.

Eco-Fashion professionals versus LOHAS Light
I missed out on the symposium "eco is not a trend", but from others I heard it was a hot, passionate discussion between LOHAS-light and Eco fashion-professionals. Speakers included the designer Katherine Hamnett, Renate Künast from Alliance 90/The Greens and Michalis Pantelouris, editor-in-chief of IVY WORLD. The event was moderated by Melissa Drier, correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily in Germany. While green is growing as a lifestyle movement, it also has the tendency to be more about lifestyle communication than about the actual subject to protect the environment and create human working conditions. Something we all have to find a balance in! Too much of environmentalism doesn't make it anywhere, too much happy glossy lifestyle doesn't work either.

Eco2.0
Actually I was a bit suprised that so much central quotes from the Fair Fashion Affair, the ethical fashion event Grass Routes organized last Autumn, were reflected in the Premium PR. Christoph Harrach's statement on the new movement of "Eco2.0", a central focus on LOHAS, check it out on the Premium website! And the speech of Alexandra Perschau from the Pesticide Action Network was built upon the idea that eco should be more than a trend, and that that's the real responsibility for the fashion world. Without claiming any direct connections, I just realized we somehow hit the right thing there.

Meanwhile it stays a question for the fashion professionals and fashion events how to continue with the topic and make the promise true. In Germany there is still a long way to go! During the Premium Exhibition, the green fashion area stayed a small green spot between all grey, like a flower of hope between smoking factories. The real challenge is still to turn the grey into the green. In the end, green is not about style or trend, but just about a responsible production process. A positive note and prediction to end with: green is growing... no doubt.

Picture: ethical fashion by Camilla Norrback, a Swedish label present in the Premium Exhibition's green area.

Berlin Fashion Week reports: Federal Office for Garment

The streets of Berlin are crowded from German and international fashionistas, as the Berlin Fashion Week is hitting the city. Some small reports from your Grass Routes agents...

Bundesamt für Bekleidung
At the Premium fair visitors were invited to analyze their clothing in the laboratory of the Federal Office for Garment, a Swiss institution. With a newly developed laboratorial computer system the "beamter" (officers) could analyze all the steps in the production chain of a garment: where it was made, the age of the producer, the environmental impact of the materials, etc.

After such an analyze, this brilliant invention "greening machine" would take care of all eventual negative social environmental scores. 2 seconds of "greening" was enough for the organic t-shirt I had tested, but also tougher cases could be handled with this machine, neutralizing any damage being caused in the production process.

Green washing
Frans tested his Italian jacket, with the outcome: made from wool & poliester, origin of materials: Thailand and Pakistan, 312 travel hours, 4 sewers, the dyes causing a small risk of cancer, and all kinds of technical details I did not understand. Anyway this jacket had to be green washed for almost a minute.

Because of their innovative approach, the Bundesamt für Bekleidung is travelling all around the world with their laboratory. They might visit your town as well to give you the chance to test the production process of your wardrobe...

Self Hub Berlin and the Supermarket 2.0

Last days I kind of literally stumbled over two interesting project spaces in my living area in Berlin Kreuzberg. The first one was a project called "supermarkt2.0". In an old supermarket space, they created a common work place for all kinds of creatives, without walls, so you could walk around and "shop" around. Architects, fashion photographers, pottery makers, painters, city planners, web designers all working criss cross through each other, without separating walls. I just passed by, were invited inside and had some talks on interesting topics such as whether there are blob like buildings in Berlin or not.

Self HUB
Yesterday I was at the opening of a project called Self HUB. It's a flexible working and common space for "social pioneers". The idea of the Hub flew over from London, and already developed itself in several cities across the world, from Rotterdam to Johannesburg. They organize all kinds of coaching and network projects for people who work on social innovation. That includes sustainable development but also psychology. Cultural creatives in the wider sense.

Social networking is the new black, the black2.0 off course.

I met a lot of people, not everyone I recognized as a social pioneer, but definitely there was an unusual open and friendly atmosphere, and I felt they were really putting their sweat and tears into this new project. For German social pioneers, you must check them out and will hear from one of their upcoming projects.

Finally some good visuals from the Fair Fashion Affair Performances! Although the TV Berlin did not name the credits, half of the images of this sending are from our Fair Fashion Affair Performances; showing clothing of o.a. Lisa D., Slowmo, Caro E., Epona, Ketchup&Majo and Pamoyo. Ethical fashion in underground style, designed by Grass Routes.

Fair Fashion Affair Berlin 2007

It was like giving birth. For us, organizing this Fair Fashion Affair was the first public project organized by the Grass Routes Agency. Also our unofficial birth as ethical fashion representatives. It was fun, it had a good spirit and creative energy, but a month is definitely too short to organize such an event. If we would do it again, we would prepare at least half a year in advance and also organize more financial means.

Organizing a non-budget event also has it´s charms, and
we have to say the performances where even better because we worked with non-professional models having our first repetition a day before the performances. The tension made it stronger. Off course a lot went wrong, but in the end we had the feeling that the event had a positive resonance.
As we have more experience with starting to prepare an exhibition one day in advance, this might be another record, because we had to fix films, textual expo, clothing, models, discussion forum, equipment, most of the things in the last week. We will take it a bit easy now, work on the more official launch of our ethical fashion label Pamoyo and prepare for future projects. Read more about the Fair Fashion Affair and download our report on www.fairfashion.info.

Berlin street art revisited

Huge monsters, political drawings, metal installations, mysterious signs: some years ago we discovered street art in Berlin was something exciting and attracting. It was everywhere. And it had a glimpse of avant gardism. We liked to play around in the city, finding all kinds of objects, being surprised by all the things made in the many open spaces the city has. Meanwhile street art found its way into galleries and books and most of all in the form of guerilla commercials. Around the launch of the movie Borat, one could find the image of Borat sprayed and glued in cities all over Europe. The street art techniques are used as techniques for commercial usage, branding and marketing. But what is left of all the wonder in the city when even the nice, small drawings of birds could hide a commercial message? When street artists have to fear for police helicopters and imprisonment? And the rest of the street art scene hides in galleries or in projects funded by the Berlin municipality?

Since we got back from our trip, we looked with fresh eyes to our area Kreuzberg. What has changed? What is happening? This summer there are two large street art exhibitions in Kreuzberg: Backjumps and Planet Prozess. Backjumps has been two times before and this is announced to be the last edition. Both exhibitions are accompanied by several workshops and projects taking place on the streets. Legal and illegal pieces are created, and in case of the Planet Prozess, the exhibition is centered around actions made in the city. Although it is really great to see such an attention for street art, both exhibitions are disappointing. Backjumps leans quite on the artistic aspects of ´writing, and the only highlight I find is a project where German, Cuban and Brazilian street artists cooperate. Here one can find the only accurate thematizations of street art as a fore fighter of free speech and expression. But one could make the wrong conclusion: free expression is a struggle for Cuba, not for Germany.

Berlin streets are alive, but if you would compare the same area of Kreuzberg between 1970 and now, one would say: wow, this is getting a chique area. Even the slummy corners of Kreuzberg are preparing for gentrification. And street art is on the run. Most illegal works are ugly tags, as graffiti is more and more criminalized. A lot of great street artists have gone the commercial way. Most free spaces have been occupied by commercials, other places have become shops or bars. So, what is left of street art here anyway?

A lot. Berlin is a crazy city and even in the chique streets of Mitte, one finds a lot of nice pieces of unplanned art or forms of living. Just between two streets, someone built a two floors tree house, put up fences and grows a vegetable garden (see picture). There is still a lot of surprises to be found. The magic of this city is still alive, but it needs a more political approach. What about the declining space for art in the public domain, what about the commercial use of guerilla art? How can commercial companies such as Nokia, using street art as a way to brand themselves as cool, be sponsors of these exhibitions? It is time to invent new urban art tactics and reclaim street art. Come on, creative people of this city, we can do better! Let´s jump forward!

This travel diary will be continued. We will publish reports from Berlin and the rest of the world regularly, focusing on the themes of sustainable and creative forms of working and living, visiting alternative communities and writing reports of subcultural developments we find urgent.