Design and Sustainability at Formex

At the Formex interior design and gifts fair on 13-16 August, Lotta Ahlvar will be presenting a daily inspirational talk on the theme “Sustainability Trends”. She will be on stage talking to different guests, including fashion designer Lars Wallin, artist Lina Sofia Lundin, and designers Katarina Evans and Katarina Brieditis.

Natural Dyes from the Compost Heap
Artist and educationalist Lina Sofia Lundin is skeptical of the chemicals used in conventional textile dyeing. In her work, she uses color pigments from plants and organic leftovers, such as peel, pits and infusions. In the fall of 2013, Lina Sofia Lundin won Svanen’s Nordic Art Insight art competition on the theme of sustainable consumption with The Dyeing Manifest – an installation featuring textiles and an accompanying booklet.
Main Stage A 33:20, Wednesday 13 August, 16:15 – 17:15

A Unique Opportunity to Make an Immediate Difference
Lars Wallin is Sweden’s most successful haute couture fashion designer. With his hand-stitched garments, he creates fashion with no sell-by date and clothes that can be worn again and again. Lars Wallin is currently on tour with an anniversary exhibition showcasing his work in haute couture. He also has a new collection produced in association with Guide2Give. This company, which is also exhibiting at Formex, engages 198 women in Uganda through help to self-help projects and by selling their handicrafts to a larger market. Lars Wallin is responsible for the design and the women for the craftsmanship, and the collection is now being launched at Formex.
Main Stage A 33:20, Thursday 14 August, 15:00 – 16:00

Rugs and Trash
How can you utilize design to give apparently worthless material a unique value?  Fashion designer Johanna Törnqvist’s Precious Trash collection includes wearable clothes and gorgeous jewelry. Designers and craftswomen Katarina Brieditis and Katarina Evans have also created unique rugs from textile waste in their Re Rag Rug recycling project, and have also won awards and started a long exhibition tour.
Main Stage A 33:20, Friday 15 August, 15:00 – 16:00

Fair Fashion
Come along and meet two Formex exhibitors working with sustainable business models. Denise Cruz, who quit the fashion industry in New York to work on fashion forward products in her own Fairtrade project, For my People, and Jan Sandlund from Sustainably Yours. Jan Sandlund wants Bangladesh to develop its polluting tanning industry to work with eco-friendly leather products and wants the fashion industry to manufacture under favorable and fair working conditions. The Bangladeshi ambassador will also be joining him on stage.
Main Stage A 33:20, Saturday 16 August, 15:00 – 16:00

Visitors can enjoy several free-of-charge talks every day on the Main Stage, A33:20. See the complete Formex seminar program here http://www.formex.se/program

To find out more, please visit www.formex.se or contact:
Christina Olsson, +46 8 749 44 28,  christina.olsson@stockholmsmassan.se
Lotta Signeul, +46 8 749 43 36, lotta.signeul@stockholmsmassan.se

Formex is arranged by Stockholmsmässan and takes place twice a year. The Fair is the Nordic region’s leading meeting place for new products, business opportunities, trends, knowledge and inspiration in the interiors industry. Formex welcomes 850 exhibitors, 24,000 trade visitors and 950 media representatives.