Karen Glass: Zero Waste Fashion Designer & Retail Entrepreneur
Founder and Creative Director, Product Development at Ø GLASS
Twitter:
@_0GLASS
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-glass-3605b69/
Bio:
Glass is the Founder and Creative Director, Product Development at Ø GLASS, Chief Creative at Augmentum Consulting, an alternative design/design thinking consultancy; and Head of Design, Development and Product Process, Gruene Erde in Austria, consulting on a new line of woman’s apparel under global organic textile standards.
Disruption:
Glass has disrupted from a successful career in the traditional fashion/design industry to focus on environmentally and socially conscious design methods and product development. Ø GLASS employs a business model of designing and producing clothes through a proprietary small-batch, zero waste process. She partners with Beloved and Out of Darkness to support and nurture women transitioning from the sex trade to re-enter the workplace. Her company is currently building new relationships with other organizations that empower the victimized. The company mission is to build work force development by transitioning women into safe nurturing workspaces and empowering careers.
Mentorship:
Advocating for, supporting and providing re-employment, training and creative opportunities for victimized women.
Teaching, Lecturing and Internship Development:
Educating young adults in the development and practice of eco- social entrepreneurism and apparel making
What’s Next:
Restructuring to a hybrid profit/non-profit to facilitate greater leverage working with victimized women. Working to build a successful socially-conscious luxury fashion business that is a model for open hire rehabilitation employment for those with criminal records, humanitarian service, and sustainable design, sourcing and production processes. Forming alliances with multiple advocacy groups targeting outreach to Atlanta’s largest-in-the-nation sex trade victims.
I am working on building a company—this is what excites me totally and completely as it brings me to engage with so much of the Atlanta creative community. ATL is just exploding with creative talent and economic opportunity.
Education:
Virginia Marti College of Art and Design
Residence:
Atlanta, Georgia