It was so great to be back in Shanghai for a few days for the Eco Design Fair last week.  The number of companies in Shanghai that are committed to being environmentally sustainable and responsible left me excited and hopeful that it’s not too hard to be a responsible citizen especially in a city that’s heaving with people and development.   That’s the NEST table above featuring a ‘picnic-themed’ table and (yours truly) Paper Tiger Shanghai at the left end of the space.

Shanghai Mulan Gifts Co., provided a great creative space for kids to create DIY art on a blank cardboard canvas frame using organic items such as beans, rice, dried pasta, textiles..etc.   Local fashion label Finch showcased her Spring collection at the event’s fashion show.   Finch’s clothes are made using organic fibers grown without pesticides and toxic chemicals and low-impact dyes.  The Good to SH group featured sacks of soil for your own DIY urban farming at home.  Their goal is  to create a community of environmental and social initiatives that aims to provide people with insightful and actionable ways to practice ‘sustainable living’.

I’m headed to Shanghai tomorrow to participate in the annual Eco Design Fair, taking place on Saturday, Apr 16 at The Waterhouse Hotel in the South Bund.    I’ve been away from the city for 2 years and didn’t know this property existed, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

The Eco Design Fair is an annual event that is a collection of local businesses creating, producing and selling things that are made responsibly with sustainable and eco-friendly materials.  I’ll be there selling my paper wares at the NEST table.  Come by and say hello!

I recently collaborated with Beijing-based Milliner, Elisabeth Koch to create paper head pieces with my paper.   Truth be told, my entire contribution was essentially giving Elisabeth some of my paper which she then transformed through origami into beautiful, amazing hat creations.   Since she was young, Elisabeth has had a love for origami and lucky for us, this has been put to good use.

Inspired by a bouquet of origami lilies made by her for her grandmother when she was young, she created her first paper hat of origami lilies out of pages of Harper’s Bazaar Jewelry.   Her process is long as you have to measure each square piece perfectly, to then be folded precisely.  Any of the squares cut incorrectly even by a millimeter or folded not right or tight, creates bad results.  Any tears in the paper can’t be repaired as no tape or glue is used at all in the entire hat.  Once the lillies are ready, they are then sew onto a 100% wool felt base with finishing touches and labels completing it.

Elisabeth’s hats have been worn by celebrities in China, royalty and has been seen on heads at Ascot, Melbourne Cup and weddings world-wide.  These Paper Tiger head pieces are available for purchase.  Contact me if you’re interested.  The hats will also be on display on April 16 in Shanghai at the Eco-Design Fair.   Find Elisabeth at http://elisabethkoch.net