The supplier International Automotive Components Group used the Detroit auto show as a chance to highlight its products — not at a booth, but on a gown worn by one of its top executives.
IAC Group said a team of its designers and seamstresses created the bespoke gown for Iwona Niec Villaire, its chief administrative officer, to wear at the show’s black-tie charity preview fundraiser on Friday.
“IAC Group is dedicated to creating sustainable environments that we live, work, and move in,” Villaire said in a statement. “This gown exemplifies how beautiful sustainable products can be.”
The gown and accompanying jewelry showcase three kinds of sustainable materials the IAC Group uses in automotive applications:
1. The fabric is Dinamica, a microfiber material made partially from recycled polyester used in headliners and door bolster coverstock.
2. Flower appliques combine cork coverstock and laser wood coverstock — plant-based renewable resources with lower carbon footprints than synthetic alternatives.
3. Earrings and other jewelry are made from mold-in-color plastic that doesn’t employ paint or film, accented with foil pieces made from discarded polypropylene fishing nets that wash up from the world’s oceans.