The annual Project Earth Day runway show is definitely a great way to showcase the latest trends and innovations in eco fashion, but the night’s festivities really take their style cues from the student design competition as future stars of sustainable style give us a preview of their talent. Last year’s standout grand prize winner, Amira Marion, truly epitomized just how knowledgeable and inventive contemporary fashion design students are. We loved the feel-good spirit of Amira’s textile-rich and funked-out knits. Her award-winning ensembles were absolute crowd-pleasers and totally convincing in their wearability and signature appeal. Eco-geeky, super crafty, chic and fun, Amira Marion’s designs captivated every ecofashionista on Project Earth Day’s runway sidelines.
I recently caught up with Amira Marion, a year after her stellar show at Project Earth Day 2008, and I am happy to report that she is thriving and very busy designing, even in the midst of this challenging economic climate. After traveling to Paris and Amsterdam last summer, Amira settled in again here in NYC to design accessories for Madewell 1937, a subsidiary of J.Crew. The talented designer has also interned and worked for John Patrick Organic, another Inhabitat favorite. An outstanding graduate of Parsons School of Design’s fashion program, Amira’s design vocabulary is layered and sustainably crafted – a clever trans-seasonal combination.
We loved Amira’s Project Earth Day mittens, earmuffs, leggings, and anoraks with their bold-accents and striking graphic genius. Her collection was so original, fresh, and accomplished, it was hard to believe that she was just graduating from school last spring. As the grand prize winner of the Project Earth Day Student Design Competition, Amira was awarded with $1500, a profile in Cosmopolitan magazine, and a fabulous Inhabitat gift bag full of goodies. If you’d like to check out a behind-the-scenes look at last year’s event, check out our exclusive video on the Project Earth Day Fashion Competition.
We will be catching up with Amira and some of the other student competition winners from last year at this year’s event, and we look forward to checking out the line-up of new student talent to see what is buzzing on the horizon for eco fashion 2010. Stay tuned for our follow up coverage of Project Earth Day 2009 and our announcement of the competition winners who are sure to rock the runway!
+ Amira Marion Collection
+ Project Earth Day 2008: Student Fashion Competition
+ Project Earth Day 2008 Fashion Competition Video
+ Project Earth Day
