BySympany x Kuyichi Jeans with Upcycled Textiles

Posted on 07/12/2018 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

BySympany Upcycling by Sympany

Sympany is a textile recycling social enterprise from The Netherlands, it collects and re-purposes used clothing in order to fund charitable projects. The gathered second-hand clothes are being sold a.o. in African countries. (specifically to Zambia, Malawi, DR Congo and Angola) The used clothes are also being recycled into cleaning cloths and insulation material and they are upcycled into ‘new fabrics’ as well.

BySympany x Kyuchi Jeans with Upcycled Textiles

The launch at Magazijn in Amsterdam, behind the sewing machine: Vita Stasiukynaite, student at the fashion dept at the Rietveld Academy.

Embroidery-artist Victoria Villasana’s embelishment of the black and white photography by JW Kaldenbach. imagecredits: mimi berlin blogger team

Invite for the launch. imagecredits: bysympany.nl

The Jeans

BySympany

BySympany is a new initiative in which funds are generated by collaborating with (sustainable) fashion brands. The collab with Dutch jeanslabel Kyuchi is the first in line: ‘By Sympany By Kuyichi created jeans with upcycled rags. (20% of the jeans consist of recovered fibres)
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Plagiarism in Fashion

Posted on 27/11/2015 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

Mixa vs Isabel Marant

(Kieran Oudshoorn/CBC (from book Northern Voices) /Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

In the News these days; the ongoing story on copying traditional costumes by fashion designers (read; fashion industry). Nothing new about that news we hear you say, this has been done for decades and decades. True! Copying, or being inspired, anything from anywhere is pretty standard in the fashion (and in any other design) industry. (We, at Mimi Berlin file this under; Where Abraham got the mustard; which is a literally translated Dutch proverb meaning that “someone is aware of something”; In our case Mimi Berlin knows and shows. But that’s an other story…..) Continue reading →

Silk Satin Bomber Jacket

Posted on 08/07/2015 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

Silk Satin Bomber Jacket

Louis Vuitton Spring 2016 RTW Men

Marc Jacobs Spring 2016 RTW Men

Pringle of Scotland Spring 2016 RTW Men

christopher shannon Spring 2016 RTW Men

Valentino Spring 2016 RTW Men

Dries van Noten Spring 2016 RTW Men

Versace

Gucci, Resort 2016

stella-mccartney resort 2016

Chloé Resort 2016

Sonia Rykiel Resort 2016

Louis Vuitton Resort 2016

The Resort 2016 shows for women came before the men’s pret-a-porter Spring 2016 fashion shows. What these “seasons” have in common is the (Chinese) Silk Satin Bomber Jacket. For men it is Louis Vuitton who really embraced this jacket the most: The Bomber’s were full force shiny, bright colored or in pastels and heavily embroidered. As you can see in the images above, LV was certainly not the only fashion house to show this garment. The jackets for women are more demure, and with a little less frequency seen. Also the fit is more retro eighties: Cropped to the waist. Maybe we’ll see them more and embelleshed at the women’s pret-a-porter shows for Spring 2016? We think so! For sure!

(all images via style.com)

El Barrio Bodega by Nicoletta Darita de la Brown

Posted on 15/05/2015 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

El Barrio Bodega by Nicoletta Darita de la Brown

(series), 2013, embroidered plastic bags, various sizes.

“Embroidered corner-store grocery bags. Rescued from the gutter; blowing down the street like city tumbleweed. I reclaim and elevate what once was discarded by creating embellished art objects. Growing up in Brooklyn and Harlem I’d visit my block’s bodega daily, with pennies in hand, and leave with priceless treasures. More than just bags, they reflect a sense of pride for my neighborhood and are a symbol of my cultural identity.” –nicolettadelabrown.com