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t .
‘ Beauty in the world, the environment, architecture, cloth
ing. But also I think love, great food and creative work. And
great coffee"
T hese are the things that sustain Sanni Baumgartner, who,
along with Rachel Barnes and Maggie Benoit Heads the Athens
Fashion Collective, a group that has posed the question of "What
sustains you?* in flyers and email requests across town. Their
campaign for a sustainable Athens is the theme for the Athens Fashion
Collective Spring Showcase this Saturday at Jittery Joe's Roaster and
Stan Mullins' Art Studio.
*1 approached Michael tacbowski about having a fashion show a
couple of yean ago/ says Barnes. "It had been a while since I had
worked with him on Young, Foxy & free magazine or with anything
involving fashion, and I.was getting antsy. He loved the idea, and so
I immediately approached Sanni and Maggie. Since then we've worked
with so many great people
to bring four amazing shows. j
I think sustainability means
understanding a vision of w*at |s
I'd like life to look like and 35
recognizing the practical steps
it takes to make that vision a
functional reality/ she adds.
"It's me being aware of my sur
roundings and the role I play
within that landscape. I'm a
product of my environment/
For Baumgartner, a vintage
clothing redesigner whose work
will be featured at the show
case, the issue of sustainability
begins with fashion. Her store,
Community, located above the
downtown Jittery Joe's, features
sustainable fashion: vintage,
contemporary pre-wom, rede
signed or locally made clothing.
The redesigns keep unwanted
clothing out of the landfill.
"That's where I see the
fashion industry going—toward
sustainability and local manu-
factoring/ says Baumgartner.
"It's a fashion movement, like
the local food movement. The
fashion industry uses sweat
shops, and chemicals and dyes
that impact the environment.
People team more about that
and pay more attention to
where their clothes are com
ing from. It's now about using
organic cotton, repurposing
things and reviving the domes
tic garment industry/
Baumgartner opened
Community with the intent not just of selling her redesigns, but also
creating a place to help sustain the Athens community. She sells vari
ous items by local artists and craftspeople, including Emily Newdow
pillows, Andy Cherewick paintings, Laurel Hill jewelry, Cindy Jerrelt pho
tography, Little Cuckoo Chocolates and Songbird Soaps, for prices that
both the artist and customer can comfortably live with. The store also
offers sewing classes from beginning basics to alterations and redesign,
furthering the idea of helping the community sustain itself.
Her line of redesigned vintage clothing, called Community Service, is
made in her store. She describes this spring's show as "the most elabo
rate collection yet/ using different techniques such as dyeing and
screen-printing. As for other details of the spring collection—or the
other featured designer, Claire Buyens—those secrets will be revealed
Saturday. But the Collective's theme of a sustainable Athens goes
beyond the runway. .
"Athens Fashion Collective aims to advocate and foster the culture
of Athens in a creative, positive light/ says Benoit, the event coordi
nator. "Our mission is to unify the community, bringing together local
fashion designers, artists, musicians and entrepreneurs/
"Because Athens is known for having such a great musk scene, we
want to shine some light on the other great aspects of our killer town,
such as art and fashion/ adds Barnes, who's responsible for staging
the runway presentation. "And since musk, fashion and art go so well
together, we wanted an outlet to present them all/
Jittery Joe's Roaster (780 E. Broad St) will host the first half of
the event featuring runway shows by Community Service and Buyens,
and live musk by pactfkUV. There will also be an art show curated by
Barnes and Jen Holt art by Walker Howie and an art installation by
Brooke Davidson and UGA fabric design students.
The second half moves to Stan Mullins' Art Studio (650 Pulaski St)
for a garden party and multimedia collaborative with audience interac
tion. Fashion presentations by Alexandra Parsons and Sarah Lawrence
will be accompanied by additional contributions by Patty Lacrete, Mark
Magnareila, Habitat for Humanity and Stan Mullins. Musk will be pro
vided by powerkompany, Walker Howie (Dead Confederate), Paul Nunn,
and DJ Electrophoria accompa
nied by DJ Free Money.
Even the two locations for
the event support the theme of
sustainability. Stan Mullins' Art
Studio was originally the office
and warehouse for the Southern
Cotton Oil Company, which used
cotton seed to make oiL Jittery
Joe's Roaster was originally a
Budweiser distribution point*
repurposed several times before
settling in as the beloved
coffee roaster location with
character—although its fate is
unknown as the Selig develop
ment discussions continue.
That's one of the reasons it was
chosen as the location for the
fashion show.
"I would like to bring people
to see the Roaster if they
haven't been before, to see
what a magical and beautiful
space it is," says Baumgartner.
"Ideally, I'd like it to be
preserved/
While this is the fourth fash
ion show presented by Athens
Fashion Collective, it's the
first to address the issue of a
sustainable Athens, inspired by
* the increasingly heated debates
regarding the Selig develop
ment. The collective set the
event as a platform to drive
home the concept of sustain
ing Athens culture and why it's
important.
"What does the past, pres
ent and future of this town
look like from the standpoint of the arts, music, business entrepreneur-
ship and education?" asks Benoit. "What kind of Athens do we want
to keep alive and foster for the next generation? Our aim is to steer
away from a stagnant quagmire circling a problem, and highlight the
strengths that we have/ she says. "Focusing on those strengths can be
conversation starters for inventive ways to get creative with productive
solutions/
That's not fad. That's forward-thinking fashion.
Marilyn Estes
STUDIO CERAMICS
COME
TO OUE
SPRING
STUDIO
S A LEI
SATURDAY,
APRIL 21,
9AM-4PM
450 GEORGIA DRIVE
ATHENS, GEORGIA
WWW.RWOODSTUDIO.COM
706.813.8525
APRIL 18, 2012 • FLAGPOLE.COM 9