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CREATOR: Interview Bruno Pica

A good while back I met up with the girls from the clothing label, Bruno Pica.  Both creatives behind the label, Kathrin and Sabrina work together to produce quality, handmade knitted items.  Below they share their processes and inspiration.

"...we realized how energetic and inspiring a collaboration can be. So we would say find yourself a companion and experiment, learn by doing and be curious!"

You can find their clothes on their etsy store or if you are in Berlin you can find them at their store Pica Pica in Prenzlauer Berg.

Bruno Pica Shop: Bruno Pica  
Kathrin Niemann: http://www.picapica.de
Sabrina Basten: http://sabrinabasten.com  

Four adjectives which describe your work:
Colorful, cosy, multifunctional and unique
 
Currently residing: Berlin Hometown: Ahaus (DE)
Profession: Sabrina: visual artist
            Kathrin: fashion designer 
 

How did you start creating?
We grew up together in the same city and finished at the same art school. Kathrin opened her own shop Pica Pica in Berlin, making her own designs. Sabrina worked on her carear as an installation artist, always making little things aside from that (with the knitting machine / label called: Bruno).
We always had the idea to work together one day and since Sabrina moved fully to Berlin we took the opportunity to dive into that.
   
Inspired by?
In the first place its the material which inspires us. Which means in this case the fiber and its colors. We focus mainly on jackets, scarfs and skirts. The knitting machine is a manual one and plays its tricks on us from time to time. There is a lot of counting involved which we sometimes take as a conceptual starting point, see our 'exponential pollöverken'. That we started to work together is an experiment for us and thats exactly how we work on each unique piece.  

Do you make/create anything else? Kathrin:
I get my inspiration from nature and therefore I create unique pieces from high quality bio and fair trade fabrics. Every piece is handmade and dyed with natural materials such as roots, flowers and seeds. I develop my own patterns which are straight, minimalistic and elegant and can often be worn in multiple ways.
Sabrina:
My work is about the explorations of underlying patterns and connections between scientific paradigms and seemingly random aspects of humanity and its relationships. Sometimes the work takes the form of physical investigation into materiality (room filling installations), at other times the questioning is more intellectual or philosophical. I create a stage in which the boundaries between viewer, author and the installation itself starts to blur.  

Any encouraging words?
Even though we both have our own project next to Bruno Pica, we realized how energetic and inspiring a collaboration can be. So we would say find yourself a companion and experiment, learn by doing and be curious!

Ethical Fashion Show Berlin: July

The other week was another Ethical Fashion Show Berlin. There is always a great vibe around this event with a heap of passionate designers and sustainable fashion enthusiasts.

 Below is a selection of designers who caught my eye!

1. Aluc is the driving force behind upcycling fashion in Berlin! Their shirts are produced from upcycled material. They are currently running a crowd funding campaign (see their video below) and support sustainable fashion labels
2. Berlin based label Ben weide creates som great menswear
3. Oat shoes create biodegradable shoes. 
4.  Tu and Tu are an Italian label who produce ethical clothing. Love this yellow number.

Support sustainable fashion by supporting aluc in their crowd funding campaign

Today is Fashion Revolution Day!

Today is Fashion Revolution Day! 

The campaign encourages everyone to educate themselves regarding where their clothes came from and today we all need to wear our clothes inside out. 

So, Be Curious, Find Out and Do Something!

The Greenpeace Little Monster Detox. Get on board!

Greenpeace have released a report highlighting the health risks associated with a number of kids clothing brands. Brands include Primark, Disney & adidas. 

Burberry WAS one of the brands on this list, however on the 28th of January Burberry committed to cleaning up their manufacturing processes to omit hazardous toxins from their clothes. 10 000 disgruntled tweeters from all over the world voiced their concerns through twitter to Burberry and the company was forced to make changes.     

The cartoons below display the hazardous toxins which can be found within clothes.

The detox campaign has been a 2 year long campaign

"The Detox campaign has united millions of people across the globe around a shared belief that the clothes we wear should not contain hazardous chemicals or cause toxic pollution. 

Together, we have been able to convince big brands including Zara, H&M and Valentino to commit to clean up their products and work with their suppliers to ensure that no more hazardous chemicals are used to make the clothes we wear.


"Nineteen global fashion leaders have committed to Detox in response to the growing international campaign (Nike, Adidas, Puma, H&N, M&S, C&A, Li-Ning, Zara, Mnago, Esprit, Levi's, Uniglo, Benetton, Victoria's Secret, G-Star Raw, Valentino, Coop, Canepa, Burberry). However, other clothing companies, like GAP, Primark and Disney still need to respond to the urgency of the situation, Detox their brands and help Detox our future." Greenpeace

More information about the toxins in the clothes you can find here

Sign the petition for toxic free clothing here 

Protest directly to brands through twitter here 

Back in exciting 2014!

 We are back! 

After a tumultuous 2013, we are back on the "i give 2 hoots" band wagon.

I am currently busy working away on the blog and we will have some exciting content for this year. 

If you are a 'CREATOR', a 'MINIMALIST', an 'ENTHUSIAST' or a 'NOSTALGIC' .... or even a mixture? Contact me and we can add you to the group, with the possibility of being featured. 

(you can find the explanation for different categories here)

NOSTALGIC: Restyle! Perth's Op shopping challenge

Perth Fashion week is featuring a very exciting event, Photo-a-day Opshop Challenge. A group of 7 Perth Fashion bloggers have been challenged to a month of styling items from selected op shops (secondhand stores).Each day a different theme is selected and the bloggers must style an outfit around this theme. The selected Op shops include Australian Red Cross, Salvation Army, Vinnies, RSPCA, Anglicare, Good Sammy and Save the Children.
  

You may recognise Claire (left) from Harbour Master, she is one of 'i give 2 hoots' enthusiasts and was featured on Fickle Sense!

Monique - Little Miss Mon Bon ;  Brighita - The kids are in trouble ; Adelle - Where the styled things are ; Angeline - The Love Thread ; Emily - Vintage Chic ; Nadine - Modern Girls in Vintage Pearls; Claire - Harbour Master 

 The themes ínclude..............

Here is a selection of my favourite pieces thus far!

Claire - Challenge 2, POLKA DOTS

Monique . Challenge 1,PINK

Adelle . Challenge 5 SEQUINS

Brighita - challenge 13, TYING THE KNOT

Angeline - challenge 4, MIXING PRINTS

Nadine - Challenge 13, TYING THE KNOT

Emily - Challenge 15, LEATHER

So excited to see the next half of styled secondhand items!

Has anyone else taken part in this challenge or something similar? 

Ethical Fashion Show Berlin: If you do it right, it will last forever

In early July the Ethical Fashion Show came to Berlin! Embarrassingly enough, I have on occasions forgotten about fashion week in Berlin, and only realised when I thought 'There seems to be more trendy people on the streets. Oh it must be fashion week!'. Luckily enough Berlin Fashion week now features eco labels in the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin, so I did manage to make it to some public events.

Here are a selection of notable ethical designers who showcased their products at Ethical Fashion Show Berlin ewerk 2-4th July. 

 Fitness Wear by Prancing Leopard-

I have been searching for ethical sports wear for a while. Prancing Leopard have some great pieces. Loving these 3/4 leggings. Great for yoga and perhaps our marathon run in September. 

Recycled fashion from Mud Jeans - The Netherlands

After meeting the wonderful Christine from Very nice threads, she referred me onto this brand, Mud Jeans. They have developed a great concept where you rent their jeans and then after a period send the jeans back to them. They then recycle the thread to make a new pair of jeans. Genius!

Upcycled clothing from Aluc - Berlin
These guys are wonderfully passionate sustainable fashion designers! They design upcycled shirts (for guys and gals) and have some new items in their store. You can find their shop in Mitte Berlin or online here.

Sustainable underwear from AIKYOU - Germany

Aikyou produce some lovely organic/fair trade pieces and specialise in underwear. They produce quality items and also donate proceeds to the Global Volunteer Network. A win win purchase!
 

At the moment I am searching for inspiring sustainable labels to list under designers.

 

Any recommendations?

MINIMALIST: How to get through a shopping ban with heylilahey

I feel very excited about this post! It is our first 'feature' on i give 2 hoots! and it showcases some Berlin local talent. Mia is a fantastic fashion blogger from heylilahey who has successfully self imposed a 6 month shopping ban on herself. She is nearing to the end of the ban and she is still going strong with less then a month to go! We caught up with her here in Berlin a few months back to get some tips and advice with regards to her shopping restrictions.

Mia www.heylilahey.com                                                                                                     Photos: Michael Dooney

Mia's shopping rules

images from www.heylilahey.com

 
What  inspired your clothing ban?

For a while already I was trying to buy less and shop more consciously and save some money to buy high quality pieces instead of many pieces by H&M & Zara. But it never worked and I wasn't happy at all with my shopping behavior.
I thought this ban could be good for my soul, my style, my creativity and of course for my wallet. And I have to be honest, the whole sustainability and environment friendly thought about this whole project came later, but now I am proud that I am not buying non-recycable plastic handbags and shoes every week. 


How is the ban going so far?
I am now over 3 months already and the 4th month will be over soon, too, as I am super busy lately. It is going pretty well actually. I have not been shopping at all. The only items that I had to buy were new sport shoes (my old ones were just too worn out) and business pants and a business handbag for a job interview, that I won't wear in my private life until July though.

Is it more or less difficult then you had initially intended?

It has been pretty succesful so far and not too hard as I just had more time, money and thought for more important things in life, like thinking about my career, meeting with friends, eating out, working out regularly, travel, etc. However I think it will get really really hard now in May and June when it gets warmer, as I LOVE shopping for summer clothes.

What have your learnt about yourself & the fashion industry through the experience?

It sounds cheezy but I learned that there are better things that can make you happy than new clothes. Before I was an emotional shopper, as I often purchased new items to feel better after a stressful day. Now I just do sport, meet with friends or cook myself a really yummy dinner.
I am also being more creative at putting together my outfits lately and stepping out of my comfort zone.
But I also realize even more now how people in fashion want to see and have new items, new things, new clothes, new shoes every day, and please for a cheap price and a great design! It is also crazy to hear when people say that they could not do something like that even for a month. 

Any encouraging words for those who also want to slow down on their purchasing?

Doing this will only do you good. Just stay away from it for a while like me, give yourself a month or so of no shopping at all, like going cold turkey. I tried to do the 1 item per week rule, but it just didn't work for me and other friends had problems with that, too. In that time of no shopping really assess your wardrobe and wear everything that you haven't worn yet or only once, even if you have to create completely new outfits out of your comfort zone. Stepping out of your comfort zone is always a great experience.
Also during this ban you will realize what you really need and afterwards you will have saved up some money and buy your most craved for item, let's say a pink handbag, in higher quality. These are just my tips. I would be happy if you tried it and shared your experience with me.

Mia www.heylilahey.com                                                                                                     Photos: Michael Dooney

 Track Mia's last few weeks of the ban on heylilahey

Would you be able to buy no clothes for 6 months? 

MINIMALIST: Wise words from Viviene Westwood

These wise words from Viviene Westwood define the mentality of the Minimalist! I found this quote on pinterest (Pinned by  Sass Brown, author of the book Eco Fashion) and just had to share it on the blog. 
 
EXCESSIVE BUYING
One of the first things that I noticed when I came to Europe was that there are plenty of affordable clothing options.  Shops like H&M and Zara make it easy for girls and guys to be fashionable on a budget. Another thing that I noticed were the mountains of clothing that girls were taking to the register. Perhaps affordability has motivated 'excessive buying'. The culture of online shopping and fashion blogging have unequivocally contributed to this fast fashion theme. I just hope that people do start to curve their spending and take on Viviene's wise words.

Watch this space for TIPS regarding being a minimalist!