Auto parts make fashion statement

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.

The project took 16 weeks to complete. Villaire, who leads the company's legal, human resource and sustainability functions, hand-sketched the initial design herself. The gown, along with a tie to be worn by Chief Commercial Officer Sebastian de Coster, was made at an IAC Group facility in Poland.

"This gown exhibits the collective skills, expertise and attention to detail our teams at IAC Group have for each and every product we touch," Villaire said. "Our seamstresses are on par with those whose work is dawning the runways of New York this week for Fashion Week."