Slow Fashion Moment of Pause...

Adie+George AW11 Collection photo by Chloe Aftel

We've been working really hard this season on our Adie+George AW11 Collection... We've been innovating with local fibers and dyes, from the source of our natural plant-based color, to the farmers and fibers we've grown to know so well. We've just completed our first full collection of Northern California artisan spun (as fair trade) local and seasonal naturally-dyed knits. No easy feat to bring slow textiles with quality and beauty to market in all but dormant domestic industry...

The above image was shot by the gifted and talented photographer Chloe Aftel, at our friends verdant Gospel Flat Farm in Bolinas, California. Styled by Shawn Burke, Jillian is wearing our Northern California milled and spun Alpaca knits in natural white and natural black alpaca, artisan dyed with our seasonal yellow (RE: whichever invasive California weed is currently in season...oxalis in winter and wild fennel in summer).
Our "seasonal" yellow.

The "Deedee" skirt knitted with our natural black and natural white west coast fiber and triple dip-dyed.



The base of the skirt is dyed with avocado pits to create deep pinks and saturated mauve-grays when iron is added to the bath.




Avocado pit dye turns a rich deep pink with no mordant neccesary but the tannin already in the seed.  A natural waste and agriculural bi-product of California, avocados have many amazing uses... Our dyes for AW11 will be sourced from San Francisco Mission Mexican Restaurants before they hit the compost piles.

Our "natural white" alpaca.  Our darling of fiber-Stevie Wonder- is front in center! Alpaca, containing no lanolin in its fiber,  loses little to no waste in the washing and scouring process, unlike wool which can loose up to 50 percent of its original poundage.


Believe it or not, most "natural black" yarn is actually dyed. Creating this Northern California artisan spun "truly" natural black alpaca was our big accomplishment of the season.

Our Autumn/Winter 2011 Collection entitled "The Shift" was inspired by ingots of natural alpaca fiber and plant color, as well as transitional shapes, shifting patterns,  and the ecological musings of John Muir.

I have felt especially inspired by Muir this season,  as in this moment I am lucky enough to be living in a home that was built by the original ranger of Muir Woods for the year with my husband, ten year-old stepson, and one year-old baby girl.

In a time of earthquakes, tsunamis, and radiation, in moments of stillness and movement- I feel a reminder of joy present in the fruit trees-pears, quince, plums, and traces of running creeks. I am grateful for being able to experience the beauty of slowly dropping petals from brambles of third generation wild roses. I am reminded of  the benefits of true stewardship for the land from so many years ago, and it does nothing less than plant me in the present.

80 year old pear trees still blooming...



-Sasha

One hand in the air for Alpaca in the big city...

We presented our AW11 collection "The Shift" of 100% Alpaca in NYC this past weekend at the NOW Showcase...We will write about our wonderful experience there and some of the amazingly innovative and inspiring talents we were surrounded by next week, but for 'now' we have to boast about our own little collection! We worked very hard this season and feel very proud of how much it paid off. Please enjoy a few of our favorites from our AW11 Collection...xx A+G

ADDY
She's the sexiest tomboy around..with her sleeves dip-dyed in Avocado Pit natural dye..she takes gray to an entire new level of cool. We cant wait to wear her with our clog ankle boots all Fall!

DARBY
Our Midi Skirt staple for Fall! We've been wary of this 70s trend because we find it gives us...dare we say it...cankles. To avoid this dreadful thought, we designed the top skirt sheer with a mini underskirt so the silhouette of the leg is not lost...leaving a subtle sexiness to this sometimes intimidating style.


DOTTIE
She's a dream...(or a Rorschach inkblot test..we were told of the knit design!) Hitting right below the knee, this skirt is our Sweedish Hasbeens new best friend!

MAYA
We can't even talk about how much we love this girl! With the poncho being all over the runway for AW11, she may be our new winter coat...she's certainly warm enough!

TEE
Another one Casey had a hard time leaving in NYC! Sasha really worked her natural dyeing magic here! First, she hand dyed it in avocado pit and iron natural dye, she then used lemon as a natural form of bleach to create our take on the 70s rocker tee.

UMA...had to save the best for last. 

AW 2011 Showcase

So many thanks to our lovely team of such creative women...
xx A+G
Photography by Chloe Aftel
Styling/Hair +Make-up by Shawn Burke