About

About

Welcome to Umbrella Inside Out, a project of the Sustainable Style Foundation in collaboration with TreeHugger.com and I.D. Magazine! Kyeann Sayer serves as Creative Director and Coordinator and can be reached at kyeann(at)treehugger(dot)com.

Many contemporary products quickly become obsolescent. We're using the umbrella as a focal point for innovation and problem-solving. Of the 33 million sold annually in the U.S. alone, hundreds of thousands break down, facing abandonment and landfills.

One aspect of the Cradle to Cradle approach sees current products as future food for biological or technical systems. Designers must consider the sustainability and safety of procured materials, and, once no longer useful as the intended item, their next lives as nutrients for those systems.

Great! This process could give us a thoughtful, earth-friendly umbrella. But what do we do with the continuing effects of old school, landfill-bound design? How do we efficiently and profitably create desirable, functional pieces from refuse?

The Umbrella Inside Out competitions asked for either an innovative umbrella with a Cradle to Cradle sensibility, or a women's couture garment fashioned from abandoned or discarded umbrellas. Finalists were chosen from among more than 150 international entrants by our amazing panel of judges, before TreeHugger readers voted on the winners.

The winning couture garment walked the runway at Paris's Ethical Fashion Show on October 13, 2006. Finalists and winners of both competitions were featured in I.D. Magazine's December 2006 New and Notable issue!