Oda: The Beauty in Imperfection

Everytime I look at the fashion designs made by the collective oda, I get excited. So I was delighted when I saw they started up a Facebook fan page where you can see all their latest fashion designs and photoshoots.

(Hand-Beaded Medallion Tank)

Born from a shared vision of creating hip, wearable art, oda's design trio – Angie Kim, Mandalyn Begay, and Maggie Kim – introduced their debut collection at San Francisco Fashion Week, August 2005. With a signature style tinged in Edwardian tradition and incorporating a Tokyo-pop flavor, their clothes feature exquisite, handmade embellishments designed to accentuate the beauty in imperfection. Angie and Maggie first met Mandalyn as undergraduates at Dartmouth College and started their eco-fashion line when they met up again in San Francisco.

oda create's apparel that people can be confident wearing and supporting. The current collection is inspired by Native American and Korean traditional costume. In line with oda's belief in the use of socially and environmentally sound materials and practices, cottons, hemps and wools are organically produced. The other fabrics are made from natural fibers like soy, and colors are hand-dyed or tea-stained. Clothing details are eco-mindful as well; feathers are collected locally from molting chickens and buttons are made from found antlers and bamboo. Maintaining and fostering the skilled crafts of traditional cultures is important to oda's philosophy and inspiration.

Check out the oda Etsy shop and website, or view my previous designer profile on them

More Maori | Hand-woven Tawhiao collection features at NZFW

(Te Whiri is Shona Tawhiao’s debut range of military-inspired apparel)


Hand-woven Tawhiao collection features at NZFW
Fri, 17 Sep 2010
By 3News.co.nz staff


The world’s first hand woven haute couture collection will feature at New Zealand Fashion Week.

Te Whiri is Shona Tawhiao’s debut range of military-inspired apparel, under her eponymous label Tawhiao.

"Samurai, Roman, the Masai, and Maori of course. It's totally military warrior woman meets marching girl."

Tawhiao has introduced the plant to haute couture by literally weaving a groundbreaking mix of high fashion that can be nothing but Maori.

Of Ngaiterangi descent from the Bay of Plenty, Tawhiao was among an initial flock of Unitec graduates who helped revitalize the indigenous art form and then turn it into a contemporary practice. Like a true soldier, there are no short cuts to manifesting Tawhiao's concepts.

Harakeke is a Lilly specimen commonly referred to as native flax because of its resourceful fibres.

Before each individual blade of flax fibre is weaved by Tawhiao's hand with military precision, the flax must be grown, harvested and individually prepared.

Tawhiao's decision to merge harakeke with haute couture has fuelled her passion to construct visionary designs that look beyond these shores.

"Everything Japanese is inspirational to me. How an indigenous culture creates a subculture, I think is really cool. Maori don't have that yet."

Tawhiao is one of seven designers to show at NZFW 2010 thanks this year's Miromoda Fashion Design Awards.

Although Te Whiri is Tawhiao's first-ever haute couture collection to be exhibited at an international trade fair, the designer already has an accomplished portfolio of woven work that adorns art galleries, film and television, family homes, schools, meeting houses and hotel lobbies.

She is also a past winner of the Villa Maria Cult-Couture Award and has a garment in the World of Wearable Arts museum.

Tawhiao brings a cultural component to Fashion Week that she says New Zealand has struggled to muster, making the name of her premiere collection – Te Whiri – most fitting.

"Te Whiri is Maori for plait. It's the joining of everything really. I feel very lucky. This is a culmination of all my work that I love so it's pretty exciting."

Profile | oda fashion

Profile | oda fashion

Born from a shared vision of creating hip, wearable art, oda's design trio – Angie Kim, Mandalyn Begay, and Maggie Kim – introduced their debut collection at San Francisco Fashion Week, August 2005. With a signature style tinged in Edwardian tradition and incorporating a Tokyo-pop flavor, their clothes feature exquisite, handmade embellishments designed to accentuate the beauty in imperfection. Angie and Maggie first met Mandalyn as undergraduates at Dartmouth College and started their eco-fashion line when they met up again in San Francisco.

oda create's apparel that people can be confident wearing and supporting. The current collection is inspired by Native American and Korean traditional costume. In line with oda's belief in the use of socially and environmentally sound materials and practices, cottons, hemps and wools are organically produced. The other fabrics are made from natural fibers like soy, and colors are hand-dyed or tea-stained. Clothing details are eco-mindful as well; feathers are collected locally from molting chickens and buttons are made from found antlers and bamboo. Maintaining and fostering the skilled crafts of traditional cultures is important to oda's philosophy and inspiration.

Visit their website at www.odafashion.com

oda products are sold at the Mission Statement

oda creates socially and environmentally conscious clothing for women, men and children designed to accentuate the beauty in imperfection. Their exquisitely detailed, handmade clothing will make you feel like you've stepped into a fairytale.

View more images here at the Mission Statement website.


From the Bedoiun Princesses Collection:







From the Threesome of Stone Collection:









[all images are from Mandalyn Echo Cody Begay]

Video | Bee the Change Aboriginal Fashion Show 2009

Bee the Change 2009 : Aboriginal Fine Arts and Fashion Show

Check out this video of the Bee the Change fashion show last August, featuring various First Nations designers. The fashion part starts at about 4 and a half minutes in. Enjoy!



Eco-inspired Eco-friendly art and fashion presented by an amazing group of talented and ambitous Designers and Artists. The Bee the Change Aboriginal Fine Arts and Fashion show was hosted by PEACHFEST and the ABORIGINAL CULTURAL VILLAGE on August 9th, 2009. Host Designer: Nadine Spence

Bee the Change Aboriginal Arts is a not-for-profit society founded by aboriginal artists and designers in early 2009, to promote and advance Aboriginal arts and artisans by providing showcasing and developmental opportunities to emerging, established and youth artisans and artists. Bee the Change is committed to promoting and advancing made in Canada authentic Native artisan products and services to international markets. If you would like more information on becoming a member please email beethechange@shaw.ca or via Phone at (250)491-1308

TecBor Tribal Eco-Couture

This just in from the eco Couture blogspot!:

TecBor Tribal
14 June 2010

One of the biggest trends to stride the runway this season was the "tribal" concept we so often see during the spring and summer. However, this spring's "tribal" styles had a new, hard-edge. Fierce models looking more like warriors, took on the runways with painted tattoos and armor style jewelry, providing the perfect inspiration for every summer wardrobe.


The perfect way to bring this trend into your wardrobe is with accessories. I was on the look-out last week for more accessories like these to toughen up some of my girly looks, when I found just the thing.


As I scanned countless pages on etsy, I came across an accessories designer that has a very new take on this popular spring trend. Flavia Amadeu, a member of etsy, sells amazing jewelry made from a rubber material produced in the rain forests of Brazil. The unique material, called TecBor, is an eco-friendly rubber made with a new technology of coagulating the material with out the smoke acid chemicals used in making other rubber products.


Flavia Amadeu makes everything from bracelets to bookmarks with this interesting new eco-friendly material. The pieces I found most interesting were the "zig zag” and "rectangle" bracelets and arm bands. These bracelets are bold and tough with a tribal feel that’s perfect for the the summer trends. Also, because it's made from rubber the jewelry is comfortable and flexible and comes in vibrant summer colors. They would even be the perfect accessory to wear with a bathing suit at the pool or beach.

Check out Flavi Amadeu’s great pieces on etsy and bring the tribal trend into your wardrobe.

Note: She also sells other items, such as necklaces:


Diamond Necklace, Green Jewelry from the Amazon Rain Forest. MADE IN BRAZIL. Colors: orange, red, blue, green, lime, yellow, black, brown. About the material: The green rubber production originated as a means of sustainable development for native Amazonian communities. This project, known as TecBor, was developed by the University of Brasilia, Brazil where the manufacturing was perfected to improve the properties of the rubber. The rubber production is environmentally friendly and product safe for human use.


Thin Elipses made of an ecological rubber from Amazon. It is a Green Jewelry from the Amazon Rain Forest. MADE IN BRAZIL. It can be used as necklaces, as elastic for things, as charm or holder for your hair or as what you imagine. $12.00 each one. You can choose many colors, creating your own combination. They are very resistant and flexible. The material is an ecological rubber from the Amazon.

[Thanks eco Couture for posting on this! Check out eco Couture's Blog, where they state, "Why should sustainability be stuffy, unaffordable, or overcomplicated? Here, I'll try to find the best of designer organic fashion to better the world--through green and fair trade practices."

Enviro-Chic: Green Couture

Tansi Clothing company puts Cree words on bamboo shirts

Sandra Black has recently written a book on Eco-couture, called Eco-Chic: The Fashion Paradox. With advances in technology, and the new ‘fast fashion,’ garments can be created quickly and cheaply, and are accessible to more people via online shopping. Black warns that our new consumer throw-away culture has seeped into fashion, and has huge environmental impacts.

Eco-couture hit the runways in a big way in 2008, and the green trend was adopted by fashion with open arms. The list of natural materials utilized by designers included more than just cotton and hemp. Now, consumers can buy their clothing made with unusual materials, including bamboo, coconut, seaweed, and soybeans.

While cotton continues to be a commonly used fiber, the use of man-made materials has increased significantly in the past decade, and a 2006 report found that man-made fibers accounted for over half, or 58%, of all fiber demand. With the increased use of these materials comes the increased environmental impact. The production of synthetic fibers, for example, is energy-intensive, and they do not biodegrade and are not easily recyclable.

Native fashion designers Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo) and Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) are two designers who are blazing the green trail for Native fashion. Ortiz’s 1680 line features cashmere and organic t-shirts, and Michaels incorporates bamboo, soy fabric, and silk hemp into her work. She’s recently started incorporating silk corn husks into purses.

But Native fashion’s roots may be some of the greenest of them all. Michaels explains about her eco-friendly work, “It’s putting an organic feeling to who we are. It’s like everything Natives stood for in the first place that made us ‘savage.’” With a unique twist, Michaels makes an excellent point: while Native people were looked down upon as uncivilized savages for their use of natural materials in clothing and were forced to adopt Euro/American attire, now we’re seeing a reverse of sorts (similar to the hippie movement in the 1970s).

Native designers are positioned to capitalize and expand on the green movement. One t-shirt company, Tansi Clothing, based out of Saskatchewan offers affordable options. The company’s mission includes donating to non-profit organizations that give back to Indigenous communities. They also promote positive messages by inscribing inspirational words and phrases on their shirts, such as peace, don’t give up, green, and strength, all written in the Cree language.