For years now, YEARS, I’ve been thinking about going to Burning Man. Everyone who’s ever been tells me it’s right up my alley. An artistic community and earth-friendly week where people walk around in crazy costumes all day and night? AMAZING. Camping in the desert and no requirement to shower? YES. Sports and arts events every second of every day? SIGN ME UP. I loved the sound of it. I even lived at what was a sort of haven for Burners, it was called “Boring Incorporated” and was an art collective/work space/party place/apartment/basement in Crown Heights, which has become the NYTimes-famous and wikipedia-official “House of Yes.” I was constantly surrounded by Burners, artists and performers raving about it all the time, making me want to go SO BADLY, but I couldn’t fathom actually doing it. I couldn’t close my store for 7 days, I couldn’t afford the $300 ticket price and $300 flight to San Francisco, and I had too many responsibilities and too many commitments. So I never went.
But now? To hell with responsibilities and commitments. I just received a check from a little company called Nike since I did a soccer commercial, so I’m going to Burning Man.
Though I’ve never been, I hear it’s a very sharing-is-caring type of community where everyone hands out food, water, costumes, bikes, tattoos, massages, and whatever you’re into, either for free or for trade. Since I want to have something to give/trade, but I can’t pack too too much, I decided I would make these little scrap fabric cuffs:
They’re made from scraps of fabric, vintage trim, and secure with snaps on the end. Hopefully people on the Playa will like them! And for guys I’m going to make some dust masks or something. Stay tuned for a post with photos of those, as well as the outfits I’m making myself to wear. They’re going to be pretty crazy!
As for my agenda, I’ve been receiving emails with the activities and events taking place and I already know which ones I want to do. The number one thing I want to do is:
Earth Guardian’s “Eco-Friendly Re-Fashion Runway Show” A fashion show full of clothes made out of old clothes! I already contacted the organizers and am definitely participating!
Also, I want to:
Do a Big Blue Marble interview: From their website: “Big Blue Marble is an environmental non-profit going to Burning Man to film interviews with artists looking at the connection between environmental awareness and creativity. BBM seeks to educate others on environmental issues through art and creative mediums.” I’m all about that!
Third most importantly:
PLAY BURNING MAN 2010 WORLD CUP SOCCER
The Burning Man World Cup “is an interactive art project that represents a colorful and psychedelic miniature version of the FIFA soccer World Cup, with games played mainly at night. A small soccer field will be set up, delineated with EL wire. The format will be 3 vs 3 players, wearing glow-in-the-dark uniforms and using a lighted soccer ball.” Glow in the dark uniforms to play soccer in every night! I can’t possibly contain myself.
And other than those main MUSTs, I have a list of more things I want to do. If I can remember/am not asleep/can find these camps, I want to see improv comedy on Tuesday, do “dust yoga” on Thursday, watch the “Mutant Vehicle” art car parade on Friday, and Wednesday’s looking very busy:
Wednesday, Sept 1
*8am- Black Rock City 5K Run - Get a little exercise in as I do an incredibly early desert run
*11am-2pm- Black Rock City Naked Bicycle Pub Crawl - I won’t be participating, but I want to make it to one of the pub crawl spots to observe!
*4pm, Miss Black Rock City 2010, a pageant! But not the type of beauty pageant I protest. From their website, “All women and men of any (or no) sexual preference and/or identity are welcome. Plastic surgery, an eating disorder, Vaselined teeth and double-sided tape are not required.” Sounds amazing.
And finally, the other ongoing camps/art I must see:
The “Got Sticker Camp”: They have “1000s of stickers. Feel free to dig through our boxes and find just that one sticker you have been looking for.”
See the Pigeonopolis: Tons and tons of paper mache pigeons made by multiple artists, so I’ll sort of feel like I’m home in New York.
See the Illuminatrix: Not totally sure what it is, but the makers describe it as “a 2D array of 256 (16×16) ping pong balls each of which has an RGB LED that allows it to be illuminated with any colour of the rainbow.” Sounds good to me.
Happy Earth Day from AuH2O! I have a very busy day today, I’m speaking at Gallatin’s Dean’s Council meeting about what I do and my participation with Gallatin’s Eco-Fashion Week to Gallatin alums, friends, donors and parents from 10-12 and then from 12-2 I’m participating in NYU’s Earth Week Street Fair. But that’s not it!
Last week, AuH2O and TEICH had a fashion show and clothing swap to kick off Earth Week, Sunday, April 18, 2010. Models wore AuH2O, Ryann, TEICH handbags, the Andean Collection jewelry and Charmone shoes down the sidewalk runway. Then we had a free clothing swap- everyone went home with “new” clothes. See photos below, or check my flickr set, Earth Week Kick Off ‘10, or facebook album for more.
Marie Asinovski in AuH2O
Jill Filipovic in AuH2O, dress made from a “Grease” baseball jersey
Leanne Linsky in AuH2O, dress made from an old CBGB’s tank
Note: That’s me in the background, I finally got to watch a show! It was so fun! Andrej Platoni, husband to model Rachel Kay-Platoni stepped up as not only a star photographer, but also made a video:
See the videos of the Ryann show here and the TEICH show here.
And finally, people swapping clothes and finding “new” stuff!
That’s it! Hope you have a great Earth Day!
And check back in the next day or so for a post about “East Fifth Bliss” and one of my dresses bought and worn by Lucy Liu in the film! (Sneak preview, see my twitter: twitter.com/kategoldwater)
March 5, 2010 | Filed Under Environment | Comments Off
One of my best friends, Daniel Klein, who you may have seen on this blog from when we went campaigning for Obama, left the city last year and moved to Minnesota to start up his own local food project. Though I was super sad he left, I was really excited for him to do what he loves. Just like I combined my love for fashion, sustainability and feminism through this store, Danny’s combining his activism and ability to make things delicious in his new documentary series about eating local, sustainable food: The Perennial Plate. I’ll let him explain it, but I can’t stress enough: watch the trailer, you’ll see him kill his own turkey for Thanksgiving.
In Danny’s words:
“I’m very excited to announce my new project: The Perennial Plate, a weekly documentary series about sustainable and adventurous eating in Minnesota. Imagine if Michael Pollan, that guy from Man vs. Wild, and Mario Batalli teamed up to make a show — they would create something like The Perennial Plate.
What we eat is becoming more and more important and The Perennial Plate offers a free and entertaining source of alternatives to the factory farm.
The project combines my three passions… food, film and creating positive change in this world, and as I now live in the Midwest, I’ve decided to make a show about the way I would like to eat here. The episodes follow the culinary, agricultural and hunting explorations that I embark on weekly. Taking place over a calendar year in Minnesota, as well as the surrounding food source destinations, this show explores where good food comes from and how to enjoy it.
There’s a lot going on in Central Time Land — great people doing great things, carrots waiting to be planted, deer hoping not to get shot, and miles and miles of corn. So check out the site, become a friend, or twittererer, forward this to anyone who might be interested… but most importantly, come back every week to watch a new short documentary about real food.
In addition to my website, check out KICKSTARTER to hear more about the project.”
I’m incredibly happy for him and excited to follow this project, and I hope you will too. Eating and living as sustainably as possible is really important to me, especially when it comes to meat. I rarely eat meat since it’s so hard on the environment. Some statistics you’ve probably heard:
-Of all raw materials and fossil fuels currently used in the U.S., more than one-third goes to raising animals for food.
-The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire human population on Earth.
-It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons. A totally vegetarian diet requires only 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day. You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year.
Though eating meat that was locally raised and killed is a different story. I can get on board with that. And I AM. You should be too! Check out Danny’s site and watch the trailer, and check back for new episodes every week.
And donate to his KICKSTARTER if you can, it’s a free series and needs funding somehow!
Press update! Agence France Press did a segment on eco-fashion and featured AuH2O and Samathan Pleet. Info from their YouTube video:
“Start-up designers like Kate Goldwater are taking recycling to the extreme by reusing old clothes to make new fashionable garments. High-end designers are also getting in on the green kick, too. Samantha Pleet is using sustainable fabrics to make green the new black during New York’s Fashion Week.”
Also, a friend/customer/model, Maya Macdonald, shown in the AFP video, wrote a very complimentary blog post about the shop on her blog, Have you heard that we’re already there? She says:
“I love the way her clothing always feels like different parts of a person glued together. How sexiness can also be casual and represent something really important all at the same time.”
Thanks Maya!
And one more thing. Two weeks ago I visited the Holstee headquarters, a company that uses 100% recycled polyester to make tshirts and FINs with pockets- so useful. They’re eco-friendly, local, cool guys and an all around awesome company and I encourage you to check them out: holstee.com. We talked about a future collaboration, so expect that in the future! They wrote a short post about my visit since they were especially interested in my tattoo. See their post and photo of my ruler tattoo. Dots at the inch and half-inch marks. I use it almost every day.
As I’ve noted several times on this blog and on the internet (such as twitter, or facebook) I broke my collarbone almost two months ago playing soccer. Read this post for the full story. I had a LOT of medical bills, so my neighbor Allison at TEICH and I are having a clothing swap tomorrow night at my store! Here’s the details:
Tomorrow! Wednesday, August 12, at the store (84 E. 7th St. b/t 1st and 2nd ave.) Time: 6-8pm
-Bring at least 1 item of clothing that you no longer wear, but would be proud to pass on (no old tees, or stained/damaged clothes, please). Go home with new clothes!
-Accessories welcome
-Refreshments will be served
-$5 suggested donation. Proceeds go to help me pay my medical expenses from breaking my collarbone, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Hope to see you tomorrow night!
Because I couldn’t move my arm at all AT ALL in the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to write about all the things happening in AuH2O land. To start with, right before I broke it (June 21st, 7 weeks and 2 days ago, but who’s counting?) CNN came by to do another shoot on the store. No idea when that will air yet, but I’ll keep you posted! My friend Maria from Sexy Sustainable Style also came by to do a little shoot about the store for her own blog. She’s written some very nice things about AuH2O on her blog, check it out her account of the filming with CNN or her post about the June 11th Fashion Show, which she enjoyed:
“I was thrilled to see that her clothes are designed for women with REAL bodies – curves - or as Fergie says, “lovely lady lumps.” I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that Goldwater’s hand-sewn clothes don’t cost a fortune even though her last name might imply otherwise.”
Also, one of my customer-friends wrote about AuH2O for Dossier Journal, NBD. Well, actually, it’s kind of a BD. Here’s Dana Varon’s piece on AuH2O and Teich: Ponds and Goldwater.
Finally, a fellow Milwaukee native turned New Yorker, Mz. Lady Yvette, stopped into my shop one day last summer. We got along really well and realized we were both from the Ill-Mil (Milwaukee, and alright, no one actually calls it that) like ten minutes away from each other AND she almost went to NYU. Anyway, since then, she’s started a fashion blog and recently wrote a really nice post on AuH2O. Check it out here: Mz. Lady Yvette Presents: Gold + Water.
Also, as Mz. Lady notes in her post’s P.S., I’m participating in an art/fashion exhibit called TRASHION at Gallery 151, 350 Bowery at Bond Street. I wasn’t able to make any new pieces for it, but my classic MetroCard Dress is on display there. It’s open until August 21st, so if you’re in the East Village between 1-6 on Wednesday through Sunday, stop by and see the creative recycled works of the artists and designers. More info at: gallery151.com
And finally, my friend Jesse Ash won a Webby Award (yeah buddy!) and asked me to make him an eco-friendly tie for the ceremony, which is basically the Oscars of the web video world. He won the IADAS judged Webby Award and the People’s Voice Award at the 2009 Webby Awards, the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. He won for his short, “Magical Cure,” that he made for Greener Media. Greener Media is a multimedia production company that has made a commitment to produce environmentally and socially conscious media, and also to begin taking steps to lessen the footprint of our production process. To learn about their greener practices, click here. To learn about their services, click here.
Oh, and Jesse is not only a Webby Award winning filmmaker, he’s also my friend who made the “Fashion for Change” video that was a finalist for CNN’s iReport. He also made my AuH2O Design of the Week videos that I haven’t exactly been posting weekly, but here’s a few, and check my youtube channel for more:
Jill Filipovic modeling an AuH2O Design of the Week:
Shannon Browne:
I feel like I might be all caught up with everything now. Hope to see you tomorrow night at the swap!
In honor of Earth Week, AuH2O is hosting the fashion show at NYU’s Swap-a-Palooza on Sunday, April 26th. The swap is being put on by Earth Matters, NYU’s Outreach and Sustainable Issues Club, and will go from 2-6, so come anytime to swap your clothes, but make sure you’re there before 5 to see the Fashion Show:
From NYU’s website: The Swap-a-Palooza is a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops which feature creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing. Bring a bag of old clothing and get ready to swap and alter with the help of local artists. We will feature many do-it-yourself stations run by local artists and a recycled clothing fashion show. The idea of the swap-a-palooza is to celebrate community creativity while allowing the NYU community to put their personal touch on a stand against consumerism.
It’s a great way to get some new clothes for free in this recession! Get rid of clothes you don’t wear and go home with as much as you can carry! Plus, several of my friends, and former roommates from the artist collective Boring, Inc where I used to live in will be there running workshops. Kae Burke and Tara McNamarus of Make Fun! and Tiffany Threadgould of Replayground will be there teaching crafts. Come check it out!
The fashion show will feature AuH2O models:
Abby Phon
Carmen Ongsiako
Erica Swallow
Jean Goto
Jill Filipovic
Kate Perkins
Leanne Linsky
Lindsey Blank
Marie Asinovski
Rachel Kay
Sarah Hyde
and Earth Matters volunteers, DJ’ed by my friend Peter Bornstein. Hope to see you there!
Happy Earth Week! This is obviously a very busy week for AuH2O, being an eco-friendly store and all. I’ve donated my pieces to several eco-fashion shows at various colleges, spoke at NYU’s Green Series about opening up an eco-friendly business, am hosting a fashion show at NYU’s Swap-a-Palooza this Sunday, and am featured in the Earth Week Edition Time Out New York as a “green single.” And I would just like to clarify that I DID NOT say I was humble. They added that in. Also, I’m not thrilled with the picture of me. I don’t know how I’m supposed to pick up guys with that wet-dog hair and strained smile, but I’m not really looking, despite the fact that I’m listed in a personals ad. Any press is good press? Here’s a screen shot of the article, or read it online here: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/dating-in-nyc
Anyway, if that’s not enough to keep me busy, I’m MOVING MY STORE in a week!!! I rarely, if EVER, use more than one exclamation point, so that’s how excited I am. I’m moving right next door to the old Amarcord, which just closed, so I’ll have the exact same address/location and same phone number, but a bigger space. Can’t wait! Good thing I have interns to help me out with all that. Also, a friend of mine and awesome eco-friedly handbag designer Allison Teich McGowan is moving in to the old AuH2O. 7th Street between first and second is going to be the eco-fashion CAPITOL. Anyway, Happy Earth Week, and come to the Swap-a-Palooza on Sunday at 5 if you’d like to trade in your old clothes and go home with a new wardrobe for FREE.
Soooo, Hanukkah* is just a few days away, and for those of you who haven’t gotten your holiday presents yet and don’t like to go out shopping in the cold, you can always check the AuH2O online store: www.auh2odesigns.etsy.com. We’re in a recession, so all of the items at the AuH2O online store are eco-friendly AND reasonably priced. There’s a bunch of vintage jewelry for between $12-$28 (including some pretty awesome pirate figure earrings,) Obama earrings for only $7 and Obama tops for $20, among other AuH2O items. Plus, I can ship it directly to your friends and family so you don’t even have to move.
Also, if you know someone who really likes the store but you don’t trust your own taste, I’m offering gift certificates in whatever amount you’d like. $20, $50, etc. You can either email me the person’s name and address and I’ll paypal you an invoice and ship it out to them, or you can buy one directly on the online store. Here’s a photo so you can see how they’re actually kind of pretty- for a gift certificate. They’re made from vintage/unwanted cards and fabric scraps and trim:
Front (outside of the card)
Inside of the card (I can write your message in the blank space)
*AuH2O (Goldwater) is clearly a Jewish last name- a last name that I gave to myself actually- so I’m obviously celebrating Hanukkah this holiday season. I legally changed my name when I was 18 from my father’s last name to my mother’s, and altered my first name while i was at it: Katherine Crosse to Kate Goldwater. I just didn’t see why society made us have to have our father’s last name over our mother’s and I wasn’t going to abide by any patriarchal traditions. I’ve always been Jewish, but especially since I changed my name to the slightly-more-Jewish-sounding one (what kind of last name is “Crosse” for a Jewish girl, anyway?) I’ve felt a little more connected to Judaism and Jewish holidays. This is not to say I’m religious- the only thing I do religiously is read Feministe every day, but I light the candles and I eat Hanukkah gelt and potato latkes. Though I’ll be honest, I got a little taste of Christmas recently when my friend surprised me at my store with a Christmas tree, and Jesus Christ (no pun intended, okay, totally intended) it’s fun. I was originally opposed to Christmas trees, not because I’m Jewish, but because I think it’s probably bad for the environment to breed trees just to cut them down, use them for a few weeks then throw them out. Well, I got over that because man, hanging lights and ornaments and eating candy canes every day is GREAT. Though I DID add my menorah to the display, of course.
Thanks Ann for the ornaments and the “tinsel” (a new word I learned)
This is a shot of my Christmas-ed out store by my photographer friend Ann Sanfedele taken from across the street. See it on her smugmug site as well.
AuH2O is listed in the BEST OF NYC issue of the Village Voice. “Best Way to Look Fashionable and Recycle at the Same Time.” Sweet. Pick up a copy today, or check out the listing online here:
and while I’m already bragging, we were listed #6 in Citysearch’s Best of Vintage section. ONLY number 6, what the hell? Haha, no, it’s pretty exciting:
And come to the AuH2Obama Fashion Show Friday the 24th! (see post below)
I made a few dresses out of old Mets t-shirts for my Fashion Show/Block Party August 3rd. After I put up my show photos on my flickr site, a pretty awesome Mets blog, Brooklyn Met Fan, linked to some of my Mets dresses. Then, the nice people over at SNY, the channel the Mets games are on, saw the photos and asked if I’d put together a little feature and fashion show on the Mets dresses for MetsWeekly. MetsWeekly is the official magazine program for the New York Mets, it airs every Saturday on SNY. Obviously I said of course, they came down to the store, filmed a fashion show and interview, and are airing it this Saturday at 12:30. Watch AuH2O models Alana Corbett, Helen Frank, Sarah Hyde, Lauren Lewis and Annie Soderstrom, and me on Channel SNY, 26, on Saturday August 23 at 12:30pm, right before the Mets game at 1:00. Pretty, pretty, pretty exciting. Here’s some photos for a little preview:
Everyone in the shop before the shoot- Sarah, Annie, me, Alana, Helen, Lauren
explaining Lauren Lewis’s outfit
Annie Soderstrom’s outfit- Carlos Beltram t-shirt
Alana Corbett
Sarah Hyde
Helen Frank and me, doing some serious consideration
Everyone at the end of the shoot: “Let’s go Mets!”
To see ALL the pictures from the shoot, check the flickr site. Or, if you prefer Facebook, check out this album when you’re logged in. And if you’re in New York, be sure to watch Saturday at 12:30pm! Or, even better, DVR it for me since I’m going to be in Vegas, then Denver for the Democratic Convention. I figured that AuH2O for Obama took precedence over AuH2O for the Mets. But I’m still sad I won’t get to see it on TV. Also, here’s pictures from the Block Party of Lindsey Blank and Erica Swallow in AuH2O for the Mets:
Lindsey Blank, Final Season at Shea dress, photography by Martha Burzysnki
Lindsey Blank on the runway in Final Season at Shea dress, photography by Martha Burzysnki
Erica Swallow on the runway in a Carlos Beltram t-shirt dress, photography by Martha Burzysnki
The two dresses from the Block Party have already sold, and the one I’m wearing isn’t for sale yet- I’m holding onto that one for a little while. But the other dresses are between $45 and $60, available at AuH2O. Oh, and a lot of people have asked me about my Adidas Samba heels I’m wearing in these photos. No, I didn’t make them. I designed them and had them made out of my old Sambas and a pair of heels- completely recycled and even pretty comfortable for four inch heels. They’re the most expensive article of clothing (or shoes, whatever) that i own- $120, I love them to death, and they’re not for sale. Sorrrrrry.
UPDATE! My friend uploaded the video to youtube, so you can now watch it! Check it out on my youtube channel or view it below:
![Everyone at the end of the shoot, \](http://blog.auh2odesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dsc00251.jpg "Everyone at the end of the shoot, \")
