Designed by Miguel Adrover, and adorned with an image of the African continent cradled in human hands, we first introduced our statement shirt “Not Without You” in the Fall collection of 2010.

hessnatur customer Stephan Homberg, along with his parents, wife, and son Laurin Thandizwe (Laurin’s second name means “He loves the world – the world loves him” in the Zulu language) were on the road in South Africa for five weeks, visiting and supporting preschools, among other things.

Writing us in a wonderful e-mail, Stephan Homberg told us that, knowing they were on their way to Africa, he and his family had ordered the T-shirts and worn them on their travels “…as a statement of our solidarity with Africa.” Sent along with the e-mail was this photo of the three-generation family, wearing their hessnatur statement shirts at the Cape of Good Hope.

It’s great to be able to share this news in our blog, and we’re delighted that our message has made it to Africa as well!

Many thanks to the Homberg family!

“Green fashion goes mainstream” … that’s the title of a Deutsche Welle news piece which aired recently. The film portrays hessnatur’s development in just the last three years – from Miguel Adrover’s show “Hidden in Natur” at the New York Fashion Week in September of 2008, to the recently presented Humanity in Fashion Award in Berlin.

Miguel’s inspiration for the design came from Africa and its history: “The continent, with its many countries and cultures, is incredibly valuable, as is its landscapes, rain forests, and biodiversity,” stressed the designer. “For me, the heart of the Earth beats there, which is to be preserved and protected. The future is in our hands.” “Not without you” is his challenge. Not without Africa.

Grameen Knitwear manufactures the T-Shirt in Bangladesh out of 100% organic cotton. Collaboration with the clothing manufacturer in Dhaka, a member of Nobel Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus‘s so-called Grameen Family, began two years ago with the first Statement Shirt, appearing at the 2008 New York Fashion Show.

Our dedication has borne fruit: every shirt sold from the project supports the “hessnatur scholarship program” from Grameen Shikkha. This initiative fosters the education of Bengali students, and supports 39 young people to date. The scholarship program sponsors a student’s entire education, including a college degree. Long term sustainability through education, and that in one of the poorest countries on the planet.

The reasons to pick this story up again for the blog are standing in our headquarters in Butzbach at the moment – namely, several sculptures from the exhibition. Since we have information on the pieces displayed for visitors and employees of Butzbach alike, and thought it a shame not to share this with our on-line community as well, we would like to introduce some of the pieces in a small series.

For today, I’ve chosen one of my personal favorites, the Philodendron, and thought about what makes this sculpture so fascinating to me.
The military posture of the mannequin and dark green color of the dress can’t be it – neither can the plant as such. All of these, taken separately, are just not my thing. I think it’s simply Miguel Androver’s brilliant idea of taking the plant as an inspiration for such a dress. The philodendron, with its huge, impressively edged leaves and robust branches. A dress meant to protect its wearer from the elements. The choice of materials and tailoring superbly implemented. Two layers of merino-wool, each differing in shades of green and brown, form the leaves which sheath the poplar wood mannequin. Hand embroidered borders decorate the edges of the leaves and curves of the branches. The piece is lined with organic silk, died from plant extracts and batiked. And in New York, the artwork received an additional component – it stood planted in a box filled with earth.

This sculpture calls to me. Every time I walk by it I simply must reach out and touch the dress or the wood, and marvel at the workmanship … I believe that I’m not the only one so drawn to this piece, although here at headquarters there is much discussion about likes and dislikes. And there are some here who simply cannot see art at all in this sort of work. But if art – in whatever form that may be – draws us into discussion or provocation, it has already fulfilled one of its intentions. By the way: we still have a bit to learn about provocation, as there are others who are far ahead of us. Matthias Schenk, from Schloss Freudenberg, for instance.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Win Today’s Tee!
To win this tee, comment below, stating why you feel this tee carries your message.  The winner will be chosen based on creativity and originality.

If you’re chosen, hessnatur will email you and ship the tee to the address provided in your response email.

Contest Rules
Must be 18 years of age to enter.  Please, one entry per person.  Giveaway is available to residents of the U.S. only  If we don’t hear back from the entrant within twenty-four (24) hours, we’ll pick another winner.  No substitutions for cash. By submitting, you are agreeing to the full rules and restrictions.  Open for entries until Thursday, March 18, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Last year the Miguel Adrover for hessnatur exhibition at New York Fashion Week captured the attention of the fashion world as it focused on the the beauty of organic fabrics in unique and exquisite designs.

This year, hessnatur kicked off Fashion Week with a tee shirt that can change the world.  Designed by fashion icon and hessnatur creative director, Miguel Adrover, “The World in Your Hand” tee was introduced at the Whole Foods Market Tribeca and is on sale at 130 Whole Foods Markets around the U.S.  Proceeds from the sale of the tee will benefit the hessnatur Scholarship Program at the Grameen Shikkha Project in Bangladesh, a program that helps eradicate poverty through education.

Take a look at the video interviews of Wolf, Luedge, CEO of hessnatur and Miguel Adrover.

hessnatur is ahead of the times. Currently you can see our great collection for Autumn and Winter in our webshop. But at the same time, we are working for the new collection for next year’s Spring and Summer and have just finished to Photo shoot which took place aorund the lovely area of Potsdam and Berlin.

My colleague Verena and I made a video-clip to give you some impressions of the Photo shoot, especially the shoot for Miguel Adrover’s new collection! Enjoy!