Artists for a Livable Planet

Panel discussion with a diverse group of artists and creative professionals on how they  contribute to a livable future on earth.

Mara G. Haseltine is an international artist, a pioneer in the field of SciArt, and an environmental activist and educator. Haseltine frequently collaborates with scientists and engineers to create work that addresses the link to between our cultural and biological evolution.

Stepher Dofrio is the CEO of Greenpoint Innovations, a company with a team of multi-disciplined specialists serving as a creative hub of passionate consultants, academics, storytellers, and directors, focused on building a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future.

Lisa Russell, MPH is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, UN/NGO Storyteller and Artist Curator, 2x TEDx Speaker, Fulbright Specialist and Founder whose work lies at the intersection of arts, social justice and global development.

Wesley Boccardo is a graphic artist, former farmer and current member of the Extinction Rebellion. He had the intention of making his graphic designs into a clothing line but realized that it is not easy to do without depending on a wasteful and toxic supply chain. His new goal is to find a way to produce this clothing ethically and then donate all profits from his sales to the extinction rebellion

FUTURE FASHION/DUMBO AND XOOMBA host a magical evening May 29th 7-9 pm

 THE WAY TO BLISS: MUSIC AND MEDITATION

Meditation along with chanting opens the channels to

receptivity and effortlessly helps center awareness and consciousness.

Speaker:  Andrew Vidich, Ph.D.

Musicians:  MaKirtan with Satya Franche and Friends

Automatic Studios

52 Bridge Street

Brooklyn, NY  (Dumbo area)  take F to York Street stop

Suggested donation - $20  (only going to artists not speaker)

 Science of Spirituality is a worldwide organization dedicated to transforming lives through meditation under the guidance of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

May 22, 2019.

Esther Apituley is an acclaimed violist from Amsterdam. Her concerts are always intimate and boisterous with works by Bach, Brahms, Schumann and Dohnany. "My mission is making classical music more accessible to a wider audience. I want to bring a fresh, new approach to perform classical music."

Come see her play in Future Fashion's beautiful space in DUMBO, amidst sustainable fashion and decor.

52 Bridge st, Brooklyn, NY.

On Thursday the 16th of May at 6pm there will be a screening of Uprooted, (duration 30 minutes) a film made by Wittika Chaplet about the community gardens in Bolomakote, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. 

“In Burkina Faso, a country that struggles with unemployment and emigration, two neighbourhoods in the center of Burkina's second capital have been providing for their city for over a century with urban farming. Today, in the midst of rising insecurity, their gardens are threatened.”

The film will be accompanied by a discussion and Wittika will be present to answer questions. It will take place at Future Fashion DUMBO, which is a sustainable retail gallery featuring four incredible designers.

This event is free and open to the public.

52 Bridge st, Brooklyn, NY

SUPER SLOW Fashion Culture Soirée

Xoomba proudly makes it's apparel in Burkina Faso from field to finished piece. Through film, music and fashion - discover the ambiance of a country with an astounding culture of progressive activism. Burkina Faso, which translates to “Land of People of Integrity” was named by the revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara. 30 years after his assassination, the people of Burkina still strive and struggle through economic hardship to live up to their name with extraordinarily good humor. Enjoy 3 poignant and poetic documentaries, followed by live afro-contemporary music with Nils NuSens and friends and as the Xoomba collection is modeled on stage.

Join us May 30th, 6-8 pm, at the Shrine, 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, bt 133 & 134 streets

Becca Fox-

actor

singer

and dancer

will breathe life into the

Xoomba collection

Year 27

Plastic bags permeate the atmosphere, creeping like an ominous, uncontrollable force through Ouagadougou while children work and play - Wabinlé Nabié's film illustrates this like a visual poem.

Rage of the People

In 2014, the people across Burkina Faso refused to allow the president of 27 years to change the constitution to run for president again. This film documents the preparations in Bobo Dioulasso, the cultural center of Burkina, that led up to the insurrection that sent Blaise Campaore out of office. Frederique Lagny captures the behind the scenes discussions and eloquent debates that organized a people to stand up for their rights.

Eau Secour

The title plays on the words water and help. Water and electricity is scarce in Burkina Faso, and the shortages are far worse for the poorest neighborhoods, often obliging people to wait in line all night to get their rations for the day. In this touching film, Wabinlé Nabié, shows how the people in these neighborhoods cope with such injustice with surprisingly good humor and resilience.

Nils & Friends Afrofunk

When Nils ads his funky juices to the mix the sound is inevitably groovy as he plays with excellent musicians from the intersecting worlds of afro, jazz and funk.

super slow

Xoomba is opting out of the usual way to sell apparel in stores all ready to wear because business as usual inevitably demands excess production that is a waste payed for by the customer in higher prices.

This is how you can buy Xoomba clothes:

Come to a fun and interesting night presenting the line accompanied by live music and beautiful documentary films that give you a more profound understanding of where we're coming from. There, if you're inspired, we can take your measurements to apply to whatever you order. If you can't come, well you can always order on our site of course! Then you will wait, sometimes for a really long time to receive the beautifully made organic pieces. It's worth the wait! Check out the films we want to show you below and sign up for news if you'd want to know when and where this will happen.

Alishia takes over the vandalized presidential palace in Bobo Dioulasso with 100% made in Burkina Faso organic style. Power to the people!

Year 27

Plastic bags permeate the atmosphere, creeping like an ominous, uncontrollable force through Ouagadougou while children work and play - Wabinlé Nabié's film illustrates this like a visual poem.

Rage of the People

In 2014, the people across Burkina Faso refused to allow the president of 27 years to change the constitution to run for president again. This film documents the preparations in Bobo Dioulasso, the cultural center of Burkina, that led up to the insurrection that sent Blaise Campaore out of office. Frederique Lagny captures the behind the scenes discussions and eloquent debates that organized a people to stand up for their rights.

Eau Secour

The title plays on the words water and help. Water and electricity is scarce in Burkina Faso, and the shortages are far worse for the poorest neighborhoods, often obliging people to wait in line all night to get their rations for the day. In this touching film, Wabinlé Nabié, shows how the people in these neighborhoods cope with such injustice with surprisingly good humor and resilience.

Nils Nusens & friends

When Nils ads his funky juices to the mix the sound is inevitably groovy as he plays with excellent musicians from the intersecting worlds of afro, jazz and funk.

Becca Fox, singer, actor and dancer will breathe life into the Xoomba collection

Jump around in Xoomba organic cotton!  What a photo catch of this model in the NYC fashion week of September 2017

One of our most recent clients or shall we say dance partners- is the burgeoning label Studio 189. Founding partners , Abrima Sims-Erwiah and Rosario Dawson have a vision on a par with Xoomba to make fashion harmless. While the two founders grew up in New York and have a loving attachment to the multicultural dynamic of that city, Abrima is half Ghanaian and the company’s production is based in Ghana. There, they are building a thriving activity of fashion making inspired by local textile traditions and color. Their mission goes far beyond fashion to creating dignified livelihoods in a difficult economy.

Waiting for the show to begin. Studio 189 at New York fashion week.

Studio 189 discovers Xoomba Textiles 

While West Africa is exploding with color and style, the bulk of the textiles we consider “African” are not made in Africa. The best wax fabrics come from Holland. The base of Bazin was often Austrian. And now China floods the market with African style fabrics. Textiles made locally are often rather bulky and not suitable for shirting. They are traditionally made in narrow strips that must be sewn together, adding more bulk. None of the fabrics, locally made or from abroad, available in the African market place are made from locally sourced, organic cotton. And then Studio 189 found us just over the border, in Burkina Faso, making handloomed textiles, light enough for shirts and summer dresses, wide enough for patterns of all sorts, and made of Burkina grown, organic cotton where farmers restore the battered eco-system, the delicate soil structure and protect their own health: one of the few truly African textiles available in Africa!

Rosario Dawson learns her skirt is made from our fabric! 

 Made in Africa 

What a pleasure to supply a company that is making their goods on this great continent, getting the full value of the local resources. We begin production for the next Studio 189 order this coming week and look forward to packing it up and sending it on a southern bound bus, the real postal system here.  (We tried the post office but it never arrived) And the dance of design begins!

Me and Abrima, the thoughtful designer pushing the label to fruition

 Promise and Recognition

CFDA + LEXUS FASHION INITIATIVE

It’s delightful to see this earnest and funky company grow and flourish, and nourish the economy around them. The company was selected as a finalist for the Council of Fashion Designrs of America initiative and with an award of $20,000, is embarking on a nine-month sustainable business development program that runs through June 2018. By the conclusion of the program in June 2018, each of the finalists will present a final strategic blueprint, framing their goals within a key area for continued commitment to sustainability. One brand will be selected as the winner and will be awarded $80,000. We are honored to be a part of this process. 

 https://studiooneeightynine.com/blogs/magazine

A handsome red and white stripe and a black twill, organic, hand loomed

The scrap shirt is available while we have scraps! ($55- email or message to order in any size)

When you are a part of the process and see the hours of effort that go into every inch of our textiles from the sunny fields to the hand skein dyeing, to the rhythmic looming -  it seems unimaginable to waste a single scrap. So we don’t! We are always making our scraps into all sorts of useful and charming pieces.

Scrap bags are made in all sorts of configurations  

Eco-designers are tackling fashion pollution from many angles and one that is often proposed is to use waste, be it vintage clothing, refashioning the heaps of thrift, using larger factory textile waste- This is all good of course. Transforming this monumental production of waste, can help reduce land fills and stop flooding third world markets killing local tailor jobs. But depending on this waste can also justify it’s existence in the first place. In a perfect world, this source of waste is made with integrity. Xoomba envisions that perfect world of clothing made with the lowest possible impact on nature as and a positive impact on the people involved, no waste of materials, sourced in proximity to production, sold at affordable but not throw away prices - wouldn’t it be wonderful if this was the quality filling our thrift stores of the future?

Precious Xoomba scraps

To be made into so many things! 

Mai’s week’s work making cushions stuffed with our ever so soft, locally harvested kapok

Going to the source -

This is the beginning of a story that might get very long- Christophe Kaboré, a documentarist/activist approached me to make a documentary of my work. I said it might be a bigger story than he thought but let’s start at the beginning

In the cotton field. . . 

We hopped on a motorbike passing puffy piles of cotton along the road waiting to be weighed and trucked off to the gin. But that’s not the cotton we’re looking for-

Christophe mid journey at the Palaise, Pa, Burkina Faso

Fafo, our destination: a market village, a dozen kilometers off the tar road. 

We were generously hosted and fed by my friend’s parents. The day’s activity is making food. The girl in background is pouring the locally grown rice to separate it from the husks. Everything we eat comes from within walking distance of the village. Someone scrambled up a tree to collect leaves for the leaf sauce. The scrawny, boney fish were scooped out of the damn we passed and rice grown alongside it. The oil was prepared from Shea butter nuts locally harvested. The peanuts were yanked out the ground and grilled in the fire before our eyes. I can’t say it was the most delicious cuisine but it certainly seems to make strong, handsome people! 

The day’s water is fetched from the shared well by bike. . .

or by head. . .

Far away from so much and yet thoroughly infiltrated by layers of plastic. 

We drink some water from plastic packages, a little cautious of the local well water. Christophe, without a second thought, tosses his water packet off to waft down on the years of accumulated plastic. I sheepishly squish mine down into my bag. But what will I do with it? Keep it as a souvenir? Burn it into green flames and send it’s fumes into the air? 

On the way to the organic cotton field.

And here we are plopped in a pile of organic cotton after a day discussing and filming. 

I’m so charmed by the eloquence of these farmers as they explain their reasoning and observation after ten years of organic cotton farming, seeing nature respond to their efforts. Sadly, only one percent of Burkina’s cotton is organic. The rest is a natural genocide.  

I’m not sure if others will find this material quite so riveting but our survival on earth comes down to the techniques we employ to coordinate with our environment and it’s a pretty dry and gritty operation.  

The revolution is in the technical details! 

This is just the warmup. We danced to the beat of the Balafons orchestra till four in the morning.  “If she dies old, we dance”.

The night of my arrival in Bolomakoté, my neighbor passed away. Since then my courtyard has become the women’s central command, full of cauldrons of rice and sauce. 

Cooking continues into the night while the Christian ceremony continues nextdoor, with sermons and singing.

Riz Gras ready for service

We lay the sleeping children in my room before the dancing begins

View from my cafe kiosk this morning of the coffin on its way to the cemetery, followed by a parade of people by foot and every other mode of transport.

Needless to say, getting work done these last few days has not been easy!