SHOW OF THE WEEK:Remark Clothing at EL Art Festival

Photo: Courtesy City of East Lansing

East Lansing hosts its 51^st annual Art Festival this weekend on May 16 and May 17 and will feature hundreds of artists from all areas of the United States. Lansing’s own Remark Clothing will have a booth on Abbot Road, by the bicycle valet parking. “(That’s a) fitting location given my environmental theme,” Lauren Olsen, founder and owner of Remark Clothing, said.

“I make new clothes out of old clothes. I started Remark Clothing because I was concerned about the vast amount of used clothing. There is a lack of ways to recycle clothing besides shipping it to developing nations and decimating the local sewing economy. Currently it's America's largest export and has been for some time,” Olsen said.

Olsen has a Master’s of Science degree focused on environmental decision-making and a Bachelor’s of Science in environmental economics from Michigan State University. She worked for over five years full-time as the education coordinator in the Office of Campus Sustainability at MSU, where she developed education programs, spoke at conferences, and managed projects. While working, Lauren took sewing courses and funded her business start-up using her salary. Olsen now works full-time creating all the fashions herself.

“I studied environmental economics at MSU, so you could say finding market solutions to environmental issues is something I was trained to do,” Olsen said.

According to Remark Clothing’s website, the United States has succumbed to “fast fashion” and fashion is the second largest consumer sector in the United States.

“Our generation clearly sees an unsustainable and unsatisfying fashion system that needs to be re-built from the ground up. While images of ravaged communities with fouled air and dye-tainted waterways from textile production may seem easy to ignore, we do not have the luxury to look past issues like the fact that even though we are running out of land and water to grow cotton, our world fiber use has gone from 10 to 70 million tons over the last 50 years, and every year fashion burns 145 million tons of coal and two trillion gallons of water. We use a mere half of the clothes we own, and those we pass on to “charity” are actually a huge burden to the system with declining value. These discards are pressed into giant cubes and shipped to African ports as America’s number one export by volume,” the web site states.

Olsen said, “I found a proprietary way to match knits such that the garment has cohesive drape. All the fabric (I use) is from old t-shirts from thrift stores and warehouses, with trim that is certified organic cotton--grown and milled in the USA. I develop all the patterns myself at the Lansing Runway, a fashion business incubator, using their software. I sew the garments in my home studio.”

This is Remark Clothing’s first year with a booth at the East Lansing Art Festival. “I've been going for several years now but this is my first year vending at the Art Fair. I like how the community comes together to support the arts and how MSU has a craft fair to complement the event. I have done the craft fair a few times and always enjoyed it.”

Olsen said she is doing quite a few fairs this summer. “Including the Old Town Lansing ScrapFest, which will feature sustainable businesses and arts. I volunteered to organize that fair, and applications are still open,” she said.

Residents wishing to know more about Remark Clothing can visit Olsen’s website at www.remarkclothing.com or follow her on Instagram at RemarkClothing.

“Come see me at the Art Fair!” Olsen said. 

According to the art festival’s web site, the ELAF debuted in 1964 as “Greenwich Village Days,” a sidewalk art sale designed as a project for a student advertising club at MSU. Later, the ELAF was presented as an event to spark interest in shopping in downtown East Lansing. In the 50 years since, the Festival has morphed into a major community undertaking that presents hundreds of artists and craftspeople, attracts tens of thousands of visitors, and requires year-round efforts from hundreds of volunteers.