Just a quick post this Friday evening as the Colorep/Transprint team is behind-the-scenes at the fall 2010 ready-to-wear New York Fashion Week with Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra. And just like the SS2010 show, the boys from Brooklyn have maximized the unique design applications AirDye® technology makes possible and put out a stunning eco-friendly fall collection.

Jeffery took his camera underwater to capture the opalescence from the underside of a stingray and that became the  inspiration for this collection. But the pieces are far from feeling cold–the shimmering images of the sea are contrasted with warm, rich tones of deep rose with shimmering copper, gold, and plum. Each piece, be it a jacket, skirt, or dress is dramatically draped and emphasizes the contrasting colors.

Via Twitter, Faith Cummings said, “Color palette at Costello is so warm and perfect. I almost feel heat radiating from the clothes.”

playing up the contrasts

The collection has contrasting color palettes as well as contrasting fabrics. Costello Tagliapietra alternate between a soft jersey and a heavier more structured fabric. Typically for the bolero jackets, they’d need to be double-faced to achieve the contrasting colors, but with AirDye, Jeffery and Robert are able to achieve just the look they want with a single piece of fabric–much more sustainable. As Bonnie Julian, vice president of design for Transprint, puts it, “Using AirDye you can dye one side of the fabric one color and the other side can be completely different. Thus allowing the beauty of the cut, flow, and drape of the fabric to be completely in the hands of the designers. You lose that control when you have to use two pieces of fabric.”

Speaking of sustainability, the average piece in this fall 2010 ready-to-wear collection uses about four and a half yards of fabric. By using AirDye, each item saves between 350 and 450 gallons of water over traditional dye and decoration methods.

Naturally, we’ll have lots more photos and feedback soon. But here’s a quick tour of some other photos posted via Twitter:

photo credit: jezebeljenna – large photo

The team here at Colorep have a very busy schedule ahead. You can find members of the staff in Brussels, New York City, and Miami. Here’s the run down:

MoOD

Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 8 – 9, at the Meet only Original Designs (MoOD) International Trade Fair for Fabrics and Furnishings in Brussels, Belgium, formerly known as Decosit. You’ll find our own Bonnie Julian inspecting what’s new and green in Europe. She promises to report from the floor. We’ll have photos and commentary right here.

eco360

Thursday, Sept. 10, we’re sponsoring the Institute for Sustainable Communication’s “A Night of Hot Tees and Cool Drinks.” ISC is on a mission to create a new “eco360” service mark to help us all identify eco-friendly products. As a matter of fact, if you attend the benefit, you get to help design the first product it will appear on. Now, how cool is that? For more details and to RSVP for the event visit  Facebook.

new york fashion week

During Fashion Week, and we can’t give details quite yet, one of the designers will be using AirDye technology to give their collection its color. Can’t say who, can’t say when, but watch our Good for Water blog, or better yet, follow us on Twitter and you’ll be the first to know.

hd boutique

Monday and Tuesday, September 13 -14, we’ll have a booth at the HD Boutique in Miami Beach, Florida. Similar to the set up at Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas earlier this year, you’ll find us with Stacy Garcia and the Hunter Douglas exhibits. We’ll also be there supporting many other Transprint and AirDye clients. Stop by booth 910 and say hello. Tell the team you read the blog and we may even have more of those great hobo bags as give aways.

Let us know if you’ll be at any of these events. We’d love to meet you, live and in person.