A week ago, I went to and volunteered at the Slow Fashion Symposium at Ponce City Market in Atlanta hosted by Coco + Mischa, a local ethical/vintage boutique in PCM. I will be posting more about this awesome boutique and the owner, Melissa, soon. It was a fun weekend filled with so much great information, meeting amazing people who are like minded in moving towards a sustainable future in fashion. I loved the feeling of camaraderie, it didn’t feel like people are in competition. It felt more like a supportive community of innovators who want to support each other and lift each other up to work together towards this goal. Because it affects everyone and the more we support each other, the more that the word will spread that the future of fashion is not only geared towards kindness to the planet and animals, but towards each other as humans. It felt great to share info, tidbits, to give each other ideas and to find people to work with down the road.

The symposium was setup throughout Ponce City Market, which is an old building that used to be City Hall East and was restored and built into an awesome live, work, play space but it’s so cool and industrial rather than a brand new development. The other thing I love about this market specifically, is that almost every single store in there is either local, made sustainably, companies that are smaller and care about the planet and people who make the products. The other great thing is it connects to the Beltline with a really cool walkway and they used that space to have a mini marketplace with ethical vendors set up selling their items throughout the weekend. They even had yoga one morning which made me so happy, being a yoga teacher, this is a great addition to this type of event!

So many great influencers, designers, creatives and more coming together in one weekend in the below photos. First photo is of Shannon Mulkey of Indie Craft Experience from the Indigo Dying Workshop. State The Label, Tropicophoto, & The Metal Romantic Vintage who were on “Fashion Favors the Bold” panel.

After passing through the vintage marketplace, there is a room where they held all the panel discussions with various authors, brand owners, store owners and designers speaking about a variety of topics and they opened the floor at end for answering questions by the audience. They were all so great with being helpful with people starting out in the industry. They had options to have brunches, dinners, drinks provided by local chefs/restaurants and a lot of the shops in PCM were having sales and mini events corresponding with the Slow Fashion Symposium. As you can see, the brunch photos below are from The Pancake Social and I am obsessed with those Chia Banana Puddings, vegan and so delicious(tastes just like banana pudding)!

This weekend also included sewing and clothes dying workshops(shown above), so people had a chance to learn how to make their own or upcycle their own clothes. The author of “The Concious Closet”, Elizabeth L Cline, was there at a panel and to talk about her book which provides such great info for those who are interested in how they can help make the changes that suit them to be more sustainable. I was able to watch panels that included Morgan Johnston of Club Duquette, Megan Huntz (namesake brand), Elizabeth Cline as well as Craig Arthur von Schroeder of Commonwealth Proper, a men’s made to order suit company based out of Atlanta. I got some great info from these panels, loved it! I also loved chatting with all the local designers in the market, one of my favorites was Hannah James Studio, with gorgeous handmade kimonos, tops, and more! She has some gorgeous designs, photo below.

It was a great weekend and I can’t wait for more events from Coco + Mischa as well as just around Atlanta that bring our community together to support each other in a sustainable fashion and local fashion network here in our city and beyond!

The below pics are of an insert made by Remake Your World with awesome info/tips on fast fashion, which companies are ethical and which are not, and more! Remake Your World presented two short films they created. “Remake is a nonprofit aimed at turning fashion into a force for good. Their films brings you face to face with the women who make our clothes. They share facts and stories to help you break up with fast fashion and provide seasonal curated collections to remake your closet with fashion that respects women and planet”