Dogeared’s eco-friendly projects include charm bracelets made from recyled silver and hemp – like this pretty plumeria charm bracelet – and notebooks made from recycled leather. I ♥ them both!
The latest is NOT always the greatest! Sometimes thrift and vintage shopping can lead to amazing finds and Paige Mycoskie’s love of vintage t-shirts inspired her to create the California line Aviator Nation. Her clothes are MADE IN USA with killer graphics silk screened onto super soft organic cotton. Also, a portion of proceeds from the “Give Back” designs are given to AIDS research in Africa. What’s not to love?! The line is sold at Revolve Clothing, Aviator Nation’s website and is new to Bloomingdale’s.
Funny, spreading the green word and my good friend Matty is in it. Couldn’t resist to post.
Check-out more hilarious videos by The Casual Mafia.
I love discovering new lines (both fashion and beauty) when you least expect it and this line was truly a wonderful find. Summer arrived in the North East this weekend and I somehow forgot to prepare my skin for summer fashion. On a mini-vacation this weekend in Philadelphia, while visiting my sister, I discovered a truly amazing certified organic body care line called, Whole Earth by eco-stylist Danny Seo in partnership with Boom llc and I absolutely love it! The entire line of beauty and bath products is free of harmful ingredients including, parabens, petrochemicals, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulphates (SLS), silicone, propylene glycol and it totally vegan and animal testing free. You’ll find 12 amazing products consisting of Certified Organic Body Wash and Lotion, Natural Body Souffle, Natural Bamboo Body Scrub and Wash, a Natural Body Mist and Room Spray, and a Certified Organic Perfume Spray; all made using natural and certified organic ingredients. I was drawn to the cute packaging at first, that is made from 100% recycled plastic and I quickly sprayed a perfume cloud in the Antropologie in Rittenhouse Square. The products smell rich, are non-greasy and completely luxurious. I can’t wait to try them all.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the most important… I’d say it’s about a 3. Who cares about fashion when our unemployment rate is climbing to 9%, thousands have lost their homes and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the recession. I believe the U.S. will be fine. The top of the pyramid is always fine, but for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) which accounts for the largest and poorest social-economic group who knows what lies ahead. How can I write about beautiful luxury goods, even if they are green and environmentally friendly, when there is so much more at stake? Some believe the solution to fighting poverty lies is successful BoP approaches for sustainable development. This includes developing business partnerships with the poor so they are not the end consumer but producers. This is where the fashion and textile sector can help. Fair Trade goods are examples of forming viable partnerships with developing countries to encourage their growth and success. For more information visit the World Fair Trade Organization. Women’s cooperative groups have been working hard and are finally starting to get the credit they deserve. Ten Thousand Villages is a retailer that sells Fair Trade goods and below are examples of my favorite Fair Trade products. Check out Hagar Designs to purchase their Fair Trade goods here. Every purchase helps “to foster hope for vulnerable women and children in crisis through holistic, transformational development and creative initiatives”. So inspiring! Made, which sells in TopShop in London (in Oxford Circus) is one of my favorite lines. When I lived in London, I would go to Top Shop just to shop the Made jewelry. Their slogan “made by the people for the people”… sums it up quite nicely. Beautiful local community-based design is empowering and the perfect medicine to escape our deflating economic bubble.
Can’t wait for April 19th to check out the limited-edition eco-friendly Loomstate line for Target! In stores April 19th.
This fascinating and “draining” documentary quite literally left me exhausted. Focused on our immense dependancy on oil and how we’ve squandered what limited reserves are left – this film is a must see!
Produced and directed by award-winning European journalists and filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack, the film interviews top leading experts and convincingly relates the on going war in Iraq, creation and dissolution of wealth in countries and communities across the globe and appalling corruption all associated with society’s black gold.
While the film lacks the face of Al Gore to help communicate the issues at hand, the scientists interviewed clearly show a great deal of resolve and conclude that oil production has peaked (see Hubbert Peak for a detailed explanation) and we are in a time for decisive action to create a society run on renewable energy such as solar (wind, biomass were discussed but could sadly not feed our massive consumption needs).
So what does this movie have to do with fashion & textiles… well, the chief fibers manufactured from petrochemicals (crude oil) include nylon, polyester, acrylic and olefin. So while it’s cheaper to buy than water, as the film explains, it won’t be so for very long. Nylon was first commercially produced in 1939 by Dupont Company and has a silky hand. Polyester was also first produced by Dupont and is primarily composed of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) which is the same material used to make plastic drinking bottles.
The recycling of used PET into fabric has been explored by companies such as Patagonia Inc. for example. Their partnership with TEIJIN, a progressive fabric manufacturer in Japan has led the industry and saved many plastic bottles from reaching the landfill.
In 2005, Patagonia launched the Common Threads Garment Recycling Program that encourages customers to mail-in their worn-out fleece clothing for recycling, resulting in 76% energy savings and 71% reduction of CO2 emissions versus creating the polyester fiber from raw virgin material. (Press Release Patagonia Inc. Aug 12, 2005)
I will highlight more initiatives underway at Patagonia Inc. but in the meantime “A Crude Awakening” is worth checking out. It will definitely make you reconsider purchasing clothing and fabric made from a NON-renewable resource like oil!
On April 24, 2008 the Emerging Green Builders of New York, a committee of the US Green Building Council, will present the 2nd Annual Project Earth Day fashion event. The event is dedicated to the promotion of sustainable design.
Project Earth Day will feature a fashion show featuring professional green fashion designers and an eco fashion show competition. As future designs, it is vital for students to understand principle of sustainable design and this competition hopes to educate and inspire the future of fashion and textiles.
As the Coordinator of the Student Competition, I can’t wait to see the designs!
Visit www.projectearthday.com to learn more about the event.