Designer Nina Valenti (of Nature vs Future) and classical concert pianist Soyeon Lee didn’t start as eco-revolutionaries. But, sharing a passion for their respective arts, the duo recently paired up for an unprecedented event combining classical music, fashion, eco-awareness, and something called "The Drink Pouch Brigade.”

Introduced by Daryl Hannah, an eco-activist herself, Lee appeared on the hallowed stage of Carnegie Hall wearing a Valenti-designed gown made purely of trash-– specifically, 6,000 recycled Honest Kids juice pouches, collected from hundreds of school children-- in an effort to raise not only eco-awareness, but money for inner-city music programs.

psychoPEDIA caught up with Lee and Valenti to find out the inspiration and evolution behind how this “eco-chic” garment:

So, you saw a trash can full of juice pouches and thought, "Carnegie Hall?"
SL: My fiancée runs TerraCycle [the company famous for turning worm poop into a booming eco-business], and I’ve been around him enough to be alert to seeing trash. And in August, I went to a Live Earth Concert and was so happy there– music is so powerful and can reach a lot of people with a strong message. I knew that the thousands of people there were not all going to become green, but made everybody just a bit more aware. I thought, this sort of thing has never been done in classical music. A week later, I ran into these pouches. TerraCycle was already doing a program with these bags anyway, so I thought, why not a dress?

Was the idea behind wearing an eco-friendly dress a press move for your recital or do you really care?
SL: Of course it would bring in press because it's so different, but I took a risk. I wasn't sure it would only be positive. The classical music industry is conservative-- in some ways sort of in a box still. [Eco-awareness] is something I really care about. It was really neat to get so many young people involved; the sponsors said all the proceeds could go to inner city music programs. I live so close to Trenton and the kids there are lucky if they have pencils. It seemed like an all-around great thing to do.

Did you think it would expand your audience to those who wouldn't normally attend a classical concert?
SL: Because I incorporated fashion and eco-awareness, [it drew] people in my audience [who] had never been to a classical concert. Had I not had this dress- I can tell you from previously playing at Carnegie- probably the same amount of people would have shown up. The crowd was a different crowd.

What is the average classical music audience these days?
SL: Probably between [the ages of] 45 and 70. But I'm sure at my concert you saw a lot of young people. Honestly a lot of people were intrigued by the fashion and the green idea - and it was a chance for them to experience music.

Is classical music a dying breed?
SL: Yes and no. Yes in that our concert halls are harder to fill - but that's the case maybe because it's so accessible in the Internet. You don't have to go out to hear something. In fact I think classical music went up 20% and pop music went down in terms of sales and downloads. The music is too beautiful to die.

Where is the dress now?
SL: In my closet. I’m going to figure out a project with it– maybe a tour, or I want to commission more of these kinds of dresses, maybe donate them to a museum.

What do you think about this term “eco-chic”?
NV: I incorporated a lot of sustainable materials just because I love nature. I started to research and find out about the fabrics, so it just became a part of my line. I never made a term for it. In some ways, it’s really good because you educate more people, and the more people want it, [the more] they incorporate it into their lives. But then, some people just use it as a term to do one look on a runway.

Do you think events like this have an actual impact?
SL: People don't have to become "environmentalists" to make a difference. I go out there and wear this dress of juice pouches that otherwise would be sitting in a landfill-- 6,000 of them. I hope that some people went away at least thinking about it a little more.

What else do you do to stay "green?"
SL: We recycle everything. We compost. I always buy organic food. I always buy local unless I'm on the road. I'm doing my small part. I think more and more, people will because they have to. If it continues like this we're going to be buying oxygen later.

~April Hussar