Have you ever heard of the 100-mile diet? It is a product of the eat-local movement (of which I am a fan, albeit a fair-weather fan). The general gist is a couple in Vancouver decided to consume only comestibles from within a 100-mile radius of their residence (vs. the average American diner whose food travels approx. 1,500 miles to reach the plate). Cool, huh?Well, some peeps in Philly decided to apply the 'eat local' sustainable living idea to sartorial consumption, and the 100-Mile Suit was born. The brain-child of Kelly Cobb, this 'fiber-to-finish' project is a "literal examination of the question 'where did you get your outfit'?". Local Philadelphia-area crafters are collaborating, using locally-raised and -processed materials, to create one magnificent 'outfit' using spinning, tanning, weaving, felting, knitting, and crochet techniques. When complete, the curator of LURE Projects will wear the garment produced and do a presentation on the project March 25 at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
I sent out an email to my 3 friends in Philly, and 2 were already involved! They both participated in the production/demo day at the ICA on Jan. 27th, shown here. In the photo, the two in the center are Rachel (striped shirt), spinning yarn for undies, and Mac (beige sweater) who is spinning up sock yarn. Rachel is also known as VillageKnittiot, and she's also part of the Freeform Knitting 365 group I keep going on about. Mac has more photos of the demo day in her flickr set, here.Wish I could be a part of it, but guess I'll have to settle for vicariously watching from afar. (sigh)
Tags:
I am scared to think what a suit made with in 100 miles of Pittsburgh would look like. I would probably have to be made out a sheet metal or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThat would also mean I could not use my beloved Red Heart Yarn.
zeep, you crack me up.
ReplyDeletei believe the project is comprised of nothing but natural products: brain-tanned leather; hand-woven garments from handspun yarn from locally-raised sheep, etc.
nope, no red heart.