Oh the places you'll go Liberty Leben, creator of Dirty GRL soap. With one more semester to complete at Parsons School of Design before graduation this spring, the communications design major has proven that she has a bright future ahead of her. Whether she's crafting sustainable art or combining the contemporary with the nostalgic to create an art show, Leben's portfolio is sure to make a lasting impression. We caught up with her to chat about school, soap, and her inspirations.

You went to Parsons School of Design in New York - what led you to pursuing your education here?

I’m actually currently still in school at Parsons and graduating in the spring with a BFA in Communications Design and focus on Design and Technology. When I was ten years old, I fantasized about attending design school in New York and Parsons had always been my first choice. So, getting to go here was pretty much my childhood dream.

In what ways have your studies in communications design influenced your career as an artist today?

I pursued communications design because it is a great way to experiment with fine art and corporate marketing. I treat every course as if it were more than a class. I’ve tried to turn my school projects into real life opportunities.

A lot of your work revolves around Internet culture and girlhood - why do these subjects inspire you to create?

My aesthetic has always been pretty feminine and nostalgic. However, my use of Internet girl culture was never the original intention. Since our generation has grown up alongside such technological evolution, I'm interested in fusing the material reality of my childhood with current online personas and images. My exploration of contemporary culture and new media is approached through what appeals to me visually, and that is usually playful and girly. And while my work can be easily seen as feminist art, the politics are more focused on identity and how technology informs our behavior.

What kind of commentary are you attempting to make in your work on "diet" and "The Limited Fucking # 2" ?

I was the creative director for artist Matt Starr’s DKNY Diet show, which was a satiric take on New York’s Downtown youth culture and lifestyle branding. The Limited Fucking #2 was another collaboration with Starr, offering a re-conceptualized Limited Too. The commentary was based around experience and reaction. For girls, it was intended to be this nostalgic, awkward, and yet playful experience. For boys, it was meant to be uncomfortable, eerie, and inappropriately sexualized. It was very representative of my personality and the nostalgic store every tween girl was obsessed with. But then we applied a modern twist with an iPhone selfie booth, Justin Bieber shrine, and an inflatable Zorb ball – a post-millennium take on 90s inflatable furniture.

One of your most recent projects is Dirty Girl soap - where did the idea for these pieces stem from and what is the production process like?

It started as a sustainable, biodegradable, and dual purpose way to package jewelry (i.e. the choker necklaces I make). I wanted an alternative to plastic for packaging more plastic. I wanted it to be fun, unique and sustainable. When I started experimenting with soap, so many new opportunities opened up. Even though I’ve used soap all my life (in other ways), actually creating with it was exciting. An important factor to Dirty GRL is relevancy and contemporary culture. My goal is to keep everything limited and constantly updated. It’s incredibly fulfilling to create a new soap because it’s a piece of art that fits into this fun brand identity and is a functional product. It’s everything I’ve wanted to do with communications design. The fact that other people enjoy the soap as much as I enjoy creating them is just the cherry on top

By Daniela Tijerina & Rachel Kibbe

"We’d like to show that the Ukraine is not some kind of post-soviet wasteland, known only because of the Chernobyl catastrophe."

What comes to your mind when thinking about the ethical fashion industry is probably locally based companies in the United States, for instance in Brooklyn and LA. But what about the Ukraine? Though not at the forefront of the industry, the country is finding its place in the ethical fashion world too, with the help of a company named Valorisation Lab. Founded just last year in Kiev, Ukraine, the up and comer was built with a mission to produce one of a kind head wear from reclaimed materials. In pursuing the art of upcycling, Valorisation Lab is giving new life (and style) to old ideas and fabrics.

What is Valorisation Lab?

Valorisation Lab from Ukraine is represented by friends with a strong will to create and especially to recreate, in other words to give the "second birth" to things.

How did it all start?

We wanted to prove that upcycled doesn't always looks trashy. Once blogger Robert Verdi broke the Internet with his slip-on Vans made of vintage Hermes scarves. Then, we started to think about using vintage scarves to create an affordable yet quality and beautiful product - that is how the first Valorisation Lab’s camp hat appeared.

What are your inspirations?

The brand’s name itself comes from the French word “valorisation” and it means increasing value of the product by its modification or transformation thus generating something new – so our inspiration comes from various things, enjoying both upcycling and repurposing which helped us to soon understand that upcycling brands rarely produce both one-of-a-kind and quality products.

We've never worked with anyone from the Ukraine – are you based there?

We aren’t surprised that you've never worked with brands from Ukraine, since sustainable fashion and fashion industry in general is poorly represented here - but we are based in Kiev, which is capital of Ukraine, where our small production atelier is and where we make our ideas come true.

How has the Ukraine influenced your brand?

Another source of inspiration for our brand is our love for our Motherland, especially these days. We’d like to show that Ukraine is not some kind of post-soviet wasteland, known only because of the Chernobyl catastrophe. We aim to promote our country's image by creating cool colorful products with mentioning “Ukraine” on the label and spreading our word around the world, even though it may sound strange.