The room, the designers making sketches and scraps of fabric scattered around on tables resembles an episode of "Project Runway."
But the scene was a March meeting of the Fashion Design Club of Nassau Community College in Garden City, N.Y., where students were recycling clothes from designer Eileen Fisher by making them into bags, wallets and pouches to sell on Earth Day., which arrives April 22.
The items ranging in price from $5 to $10, and will be sold through the marketing office in the A Cluster building on campus. Proceeds will go to the school's Fashion Scholarship Fund.
Fisher, a resident of Irvington in Westchester County who founded the women's clothing brand, Eileen Fisher Inc., is known for her simple designs and her emphasis on sustainability. Seventy percent of the cotton used in her clothing comes from organic cotton.
Fisher's company also has a recycling program that allows customers to donate the designer's "gently used" clothing in return for a $5 gift certificate for each item and after being dry cleaned the pieces are resold, with the money being used to fund business grants for female leadership programs.
In the spirit of Fisher's company, the Fashion Design Club members were making their creations by re-imagining parts of Eileen Fisher clothing.
"We've talked a lot about sustainability and we made a trip to Eileen Fisher (a factory in Westchester)," explains Heidi O'Connell, associate professor of fashion design for the college who co-advises the club with another fashion professor at the school, Joe Pescatore.
For the Earth Day project, the students brought back bags of pieces from Fisher's stores throughout the country that were damaged, slightly worn or were new, but had been returned by customers, O'Connell says. "The (fashion) industry is starting to become aware of its impact on the environment and of how it can be more environmentally friendly," she adds.
Stephanie Buto, a fashion buying and merchandising instructor helping the class with the project, says that as "up and coming" designers, the students need to be aware of how things such as water pollution can be caused by the dyeing and rinsing process used for some materials.
Buto notes how there's a lot of waste involved in fashion too because some people wear things for a while and then throw them away.
"Polyester goes to a landfill and doesn't break down," Buto adds. "We've shown the class images of what a landfill looks like."
Jason Burgess, 20, is a freshman from Queens Village who was designing a bag made from an Eileen Fisher shirt that he wanted to match with a "casual street" outfit he also worked out on paper. He says that as a designer he's inspired by the looks fashioned by rapper Kanye West.
Burgess says he would describe his own designs as "different" and "outlandish," adding that no matter their style, all fashion designers need to pay attention to the ecological footprint they're creating.
"Especially now the way the world is," Burgess says. "It's the best thing we could do for the Earth."
