California Apparel News

The White House Historical Association has announced its first-ever virtual fashion exhibit, which showcases overlooked designers and seamstresses for first ladies of the United States. Entitled “Glamour and Innovation: The Women Behind the Seams of Fashion and the White House,” the exhibit is the result of an inaugural academic partnership with New York University. “People are always interested in what the first lady is wearing and what kind of message it conveys,” said exhibit creator Maegan Jenkins. “I wanted to move beyond the major fashion houses to tell the lesser-known stories of the women behind some of those dresses and the incredible contributions they’ve made to American history.” The project is part of the association’s Tastemakers & Trendsetters theme, which showcases the people, fashion, cuisine and social traditions associated with the White House. To view the exhibit, visit www.whitehousehistory.org.

Elevate Textiles has announced its membership with the Textile Exchange organization, a global nonprofit driving positive impact on climate change across the textile and fashion industries. Elevate and its distinguished brands—including American & Efird, Burlington, Cone Denim, Gütermann and Safety Components—will utilize this membership to accelerate and further expand its adoption of preferred fibers. The Textile Exchange guides brands, manufacturers and farmers toward more purposeful production starting with raw materials and fibers. By 2030, it hopes to help the industry achieve a 45 percent reduction in the emissions that come from producing fibers and raw materials and speeding up the adoption of practices that improve the positive impact on water, soil health and biodiversity. To learn more, visit elevatetextiles.com/sustainability.

PANGAIA has announced the launch of its Re-color Capsule, featuring its iconic 365 sweatshirts and sweat pants dyed with Recycrom. The capsule builds on PANGAIA’s research to create dyes that are less water intensive and require no harmful chemicals and will help close the loop on PANGAIA material off-cut waste with a step toward a more circular system. Recycrom technology, from Italian textile chemical company Officina+39, is a patented dye-stuff range made from PANGAIA textile waste that transforms recycled textile fibers into a full range of colored powders that can be used as a pigment dye for fabrics and garments made of cotton, wool, nylon or any natural and most artificial fibers and blends. For more information, visit pangaia.com.

Vegan Fashion Week and Ukrainian Fashion Week will be joining forces in Los Angeles Oct. 10–12 at the California Market Center. The two organizations share the same values of creativity within the context of sustainability. “While fashion week is about the clothes on the runway,” said the new partnership in a release, “it’s also a creative medium of expression, an insight into the environmental, socioeconomic and political situation in the world. This year’s event comes with a strong message inviting all people to reflect on the importance of compassion as a pillar of world peace and to highlight the connections between humans, biodiversity and the pressing need to stop our negative impact on the planet.” For more information, visit veganfashionweek.org.