Lawrence artists turn the old into the new. by Lindsey St. Clair
As the world becomes more eco-conscious, it's no surprise that some Lawrence artists and designers have turned to the old adage "reduce, reuse, recycle." It's not a new concept, but it is growing in popularity. At Ecoboutiquo, a boutique that features garments and accessories made out of mostly recycled materials, reopening March 6 at 13 E. Eighth St., local artists have another outlet in which to sell their creations.
"Renewable resources are the way to go," says Andrea Moreau, an Ecoboutiquo shopper. "It's not just the way of the future, it's the way of now." As for the creations of Ecoboutiquo owner and designer Loni Hosking, "It's rock n' roll couture as far as I'm concerned," Moreau says.
Loni Hosking
She's been a thrift-store shopper ever since she was allowed to make her own decisions about what to wear, Hosking says. Since then, she's been rethinking clothing.
Now, under the designer name
Lonibonbny she creates one-of-a-kind
skirts, dresses, shirts and handbags, ranging in price from $15 to$ 100. She makes her skirts, dresses and shirts out of clothing she finds while shopping at thrift stores and yard sales. Friends also supply her with new materials when they clean out their
closets. Hosking reconstructs three or four old garments to make one new garment. She especially loves to use fabrics that stretch and hug curves, as well as cool prints, she says.
A line of formal gowns Hosking created for Planet Fashion, a fashion show sponsored by Ecoboutiquo last November at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St., exemplifies her style. She made a dress entirely out of old slips ($150) that nobody had thought
of wearing since the early '90s. She can't wait for a hip high-schooler to scoop up one of her Eco-couture dresses to wear to prom, Hosking says.
Hosking's mother, also a clothing designer, taught her how to sew. However, unlike her mother, a patient seamstress, Hosking prefers to "bunch it together and cram it through the machine."
Hosking also created a line of handbags made out of restructured tube rubber from recycled tires. The handbags come in all shapes and sizes with embellishments such as studs, fringe and oversized clothespins.
GUEST SPEAKER
KU alum Bob Ebendorf, an artist internationally renowned for his work with found objects and recyclables, will give a public lecture on Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Big 12 Room of the Kansas Union.
Hosking isn't the only one breathing new life into the obsolete. She sells work from about 30 other local artists in her boutique.
Lindsey Owen
She now makes and sells bans
Lindsey Owen, Wichita senior, worked with Hosking at Waxman Candles, 609 Massachusetts St. When Hosking saw Owen's first bag, made entirely out of discarded neckties sewn together, it was love at first sight. So Owen made more.
makes and sells bags made from ties in all shapes and sizes, from clutches to knitting tags that range in price from $15 to$ 75. For extra flair, Owen adds stitching and decorative handles to the bags. She also makes belts, bracelets that snap and headbands out of ties.
Owen says she usually buys her ties at the Disabled American Veterans thrift store in Wichta (they cheap there), or gets them from people she knows, like her brother, who just gave her a whole trash bag full of ties from an estate sale in Qallas. She likes to add lace and other feminine touches to her pieces to contradict the notion that ties come from old men.
Owen also has friends collecting pop tabs, because she has been designing a
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10→ JAYPLAY 03.01.2007