TILL

Meet Olivia Greenspan: Sustainable clothing enthusiast. Former Ted Talk host. Protector of the earth. Lover of coffee in mason jars. My new favorite person to brag about knowing. And, of course, the Co - founder of TILL:bioFASHIONtech LAB - Connecticut's first sustainable fashion incubator.

The TILL:bioFASHIONtech LAB is one of those places that just oozes creativity. Located on the fifth floor of Stamford Town Center, the lab serves as a fashion house for young designers who create ecologically conscious garments. Behind a set of glass windows, clothing racks and mannequins display the labs latest creations.

What we see are a set of designs created from engineered fabrics and up-cycled clothing donations. Their latest collections features waterproof outfits, compostable accessories hand stitched wool, and more! 

Basically if they can dream it they can make it. And, when they do, it’ll be produced with our ecosystem in mind. However what is now a fully functioning fashion company, started as an initial reaction to the stark effects of global warming. 

Six years ago Olivia entered the sustainability world as an intern for her current business partner, Jane Philbrick, in a program Jane started called re-wire. At just 15 years old Olivia began learning about brownfields, which are patches of land that go unused for various reasons (oftentimes due to soil contamination or pollution). As the Principle of Food and Farming for re-wire, Olivia was responsible for gathering information about sustainable agriculture and farming.

After high school Olivia left Connecticut to study economics and psychology at Fordham University in New York. During her undergrad studies, Jane reached out about the next phase of re-wire. This time the company was focusing on brownfield regeneration called TILL. With Olivia's help Till:bioFASHIONtech LAB emerged!

“When you’re already really engaged in trying to prevent climate collapse, it’s a no brainer to align your actions to the reality of the fashion system,” said Olivia. According to the United Nations, the fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of global greenhouse gasses. That means that 10% of the reason why the planets out of whack comes from our clothing!! 

Most garments are made with mass production practices that emit greenhouse gasses into the air. Then, after we get the clothes and decide that they are no longer in style about 80% of our discarded garments go to landfills to be burned off. Thus, creating a never ending cycle of consumption and destruction.

The Bio Fashion Tech Lab is essentially working against alllllllll of that.

Through their efforts in green-production, the TILL team hopes to lessen the effects of global warming that traditional fashion companies sustain. They start with a concept for a collection, then decide on a method of creation (i.e repurposing old fabrics or finding ways to make new ones), and finally make each piece in their studio. By eliminating the need to outsource materials, they’ve found a way to create one of a kind designs that are both visually appealing and good for the earth! 

When asked what a typical day looks like she exclaimed, “they’re all different!”As the co-founder she can oftentimes put her econ degree to use by scouting new talent, keeping up with environmental research, aiding in fundraising and finances, and developing plans to expand the company. 

“I make sure that everything is moving forward,” said Olivia. However, it seems that the best part of her job is working collaboratively with a team that cares about the planet. In their efforts to combat global warming from a fashion standpoint, they’re working against an issue that some people still don’t take seriously.

Global warming is sometimes written off as a problem for a later date. Olivia however, thinks that we can see the immediacy of this issue if we simply think of the earth's temperature in relation to our own.“So your body temperature has to be at 98.6 degrees right?” she asked me. “If you go up two degrees you’re sick. Once you get to like 104 that’s your tipping point. You can recover from a 104 degree fever, but past that your body starts shutting down and even if you survive you’ll have permanent damage.” 

She then explained that the earth works in a similar way. A few degrees might seem like nothing now, but the higher that number gets the worse it is for our planet. While the problem of global warming may seem too daunting to combat, Olivia believes that paying attention to ordinary practices like buying clothing can help lessen its effects. 

Some of her tips in doing so include thrift shopping, recycling old clothing in local stores, and of course supporting the TILL lab! Their team plans to shift into retail this fall, so people can start purchasing the clothes their designers work so hard on!  

I don’t know about you but I’ve got my eyes on a yellow dress, a wool coat, and a pair of lemon earrings :)) 

Until then you can visit their website for updates and upcoming events, or head over to the lab to see what the team is working on next!