Sketching Success: Unlocking Our Inner Artist with Zoe Hong
Fashion Drawing, Sustainability, and Sold-Out Workshop at Pinterest HQ
As the seventh and final event of Rethink the Runway's SF Climate Week 2025 series, Friday, April 25th delivered a sweet conclusion: 30 aspiring fashion illustrators packed into Pinterest HQ for a late afternoon that perfectly captured why sustainable fashion education resonates so deeply. Photos by Andrea Santiago unless noted otherwise.
The Fashion Drawing workshop with Zoe Hong served as the grand finale to our SF Climate Week 2025 series, but its planning began early. Our Program Director Mira Musank approached Zoe Hong in January, around the same time planning began for the Half-Day Retreat at Fibershed Learning Center.
These two signature events would become the pillars of our climate week programming — one opening our series with sustainable fashion education, the other closing it with hands-on creative expression.
Originally planned for 25 participants, demand was so high we expanded to 30 — with the additional seats claimed within minutes. This enthusiastic response highlighted Zoe Hong's stellar reputation as the Bay Area's fashion icon: designer, educator, illustrator, author, and successful YouTube broadcaster. It also demonstrated the appeal of hands-on creative workshops, especially for sketching beginners interested in sustainable fashion.
Pinterest, who supported our Threads of Change Fashion Exhibition and Reception, was a gracious host. They didn't just provide the stunning venue that hosted many SF Climate Week events throughout the week; they went above and beyond with Terra Futura themed refreshments that perfectly complemented the evening's sustainable focus.
Attendees enjoyed thoughtfully curated appetizers alongside cocktails, mocktails, beer, and wine, creating an atmosphere that felt more like an exclusive creative salon than a traditional workshop.
This workshop is joined by Bay Area’s fashion and art community. Makeup artist and hairstylist Mayra Aguiar (@limitlessbeauty_artistry on Instagram) transformed our models Lindsay Jacobs and Anjel Pangelina for this event.
Lindsay and Anjel’s modeling participation made this event extra special. In addition to holding several still poses, they also modeled a couple of Fafafoom Studio’s upcycled outfits as the final sketching challenges for the participants.
As always, it took a village to create a successful event. Rethink the Runway’s Emily Ocon, our Partnership team member and Pinterest liaison joined this workshop, as was Koryn Olage (Zoe Hong’s Marketing Manager), Meggie Stenback (Fafafoom Studio Intern), and Andrea Santiago, our amazing photographer!
The Perfect Finale to SF Climate Week
The afternoon buzzed with creative energy as soon as participants started coming in. Zoe Hong transformed Pinterest's office workspace into an intimate art class with an open layout. Known for her thoughtful and wholesome approach to fashion education through her widely-followed tutorials, she brought her signature teaching style to this milestone event, making fashion drawing accessible to complete beginners while championing sustainable design principles.
The first part of the workshop began with figure drawing fundamentals, where Zoe Hong demystified the art of capturing the human form. Participants, many of them complete beginners, eagerly observed Zoe’s demonstrations and gradually found their confidence as Hong shared essential techniques for proportions, gesture, and movement.
The room filled with the satisfying scratch of pencils on paper as attendees discovered their ability to translate what they saw into compelling sketches.
From Figures to Fashion: A Journey in Sketching
After a brief break at the one-hour mark, the afternoon's highlight unfolded: sustainable fashion illustration in action. Mira presented a couple of her upcycled fashion pieces. They are crafted from materials that would have otherwise ended up in landfills, demonstrating the creative potential within sustainable fashion practices.
Art Meets Activism
The workshop embodied Rethink the Runway's mission of making sustainability interactive, approachable, and undeniably fun. As participants sketched the upcycled designs, they were engaging with the broader conversation about fashion's environmental impact and the creative solutions emerging from conscious designers.
Zoe Hong's expertise shone as she guided the group through clothing-specific drawing techniques, from capturing the cage dress’ bulbous silhouette to the flowing lines of colorful ruffles. This last session allowed participants to see sustainable fashion not as a limitation, but as a source of unique textures, unexpected silhouettes, and innovative design solutions.
Building Community Through Creativity
The evening reinforced the power of collaborative approaches to fashion education and environmental awareness. Pinterest HQ provided the perfect backdrop for this intersection of creativity and consciousness, with participants leaving not only with newfound illustration skills but with a deeper appreciation for the artistry possible within sustainable fashion.
The overwhelming response reflects a growing hunger for hands-on experiences that combine creative learning with meaningful impact. Most notably, Rethink the Runway team members and volunteers from past events also participated, signaling the broad appeal of hands-on creative workshops within the sustainable fashion community as a whole.
By highlighting both Zoe Hong's educational expertise and Fafafoom Studio's innovative upcycling, the event gathered members of the Bay Area's thriving community of creators who are reimagining fashion's future.
As participants packed up their sketches and exchanged contact information, the workshop's memorable success was clear not just in the drawings created, but in the connections formed and conversations sparked.
This is the collaborative spirit at the heart of Rethink the Runway — proving that when art, education, and environmental consciousness come together, the results are both beautiful and transformative.
We are highly energized from this impactful event. The next Rethink the Runway hands-on workshop is already in the planning stages, and we cannot wait to craft another community gathering. Stay tuned to our newsletter for updates on upcoming events that continue to make sustainable fashion accessible, creative, and community-driven.
Until next time,
✨ The RTR Team
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