On Friday, Indigo Handloom was honored to accept Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator's Positive Impact Award Honoring Heritage and Craft. The Positive Impact Awards (PIAs) is an annual gala that has become the ethical fashion equivalent to the Oscars. Of the 500+ attendees, a number of industry pioneers were in the house like Bolt Threads, a tech venture for sustainable material innovation, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and ethical powerhouses EILEEN FISHER and Patagonia.
In addition to recognizing changemakers in the ethical fashion space, the event marked BF+DA's second year anniversary. Since 2014, the Pratt-powered social impact driven incubator, has supported job creation and sustainable business within the realms of fashion, tech and research.
Left: Indigo Handloom founder Smita Paul with Asma Haq of Bazaar28 ; Right: Smita Paul with Amy DuFault, Communications Director at Brooklyn Fashion+Design Accelerator
Video: Indigo Handloom founder Smita Paul's acceptance speech
"Even though Indigo Handloom is accepting the Positive Impact Award for Heritage and Craft for our work in helping this tiny corner of the handloom industry, we have also saved .5 million kilowatts of energy and thousands of gallons of water because of the way we produce our products low impact."
We have to be innovative not only in design but how we make things in fashion.
Left: Indigo Handloom founder Smita Paul with Debera Johnson, Executive Director of Brooklyn Fashion+Design Accelerator ; Right: Smita Paul accepting the Positive Impact award honoring heritage and craft
With election day on the horizon and global warming becoming increasingly apparent, the gala was expanded into an immersive evening of conversations that examined the crossover between fashion and environment. To empower voters, Patagonia (who is closing all operations for election day on November 8th) brought its newest campaign #VoteOurPlanet to provide information about New York’s environmental issues and the candidates that support our planet.
Patagonia's #VoteOurPlanet initiative encourages voters to focus on local and state politicians and propositions that support clean air, water and soil as well as renewable energies. Before you go to the polls, take some tips from Patagonia's voter's guide.
At the Indigo Handloom office, we have all proudly voted.
Photo credit: Patagonia and Lori Sutherland of SoulStyleNYC
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