Photos: Otto International
The German mail order company
Otto Group, who quietly rival Amazon.com for their international coverage, found that simple white long-sleeved cotton shirt was responsible for 10.75 kilograms of CO2 and other greenhouses gases during its production lifecycle.
Ecotextile News has reported that the largest proportions of CO2 emissions were linked to the consumer use phase, i.e.: washing, drying and ironing. For example, using a tumble drier each time you launder add 7 kilograms to the shirt's carbon footprint. But that's not the half of it....
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"Corporations are real weenies," he says. "They are scared to death of everything. My company exists, basically, to take those risks and prove that it's a good business." This is Yvon Chouinard, founder and CEO of Patagonia, the $ 270 million USD outdoor clothing talking to U.S. News who just included him in their 2009 list of
America's 25 Best Leaders.
Yvon knows about risk. Both personal (climber, skier, white water paddler, surfer). And corporate. In 1972 Yvon told rockclimbers there was a more environmentally sound way to protect themselves on rock routes that didn't require bashing metal pitons in and out of the rock. At that time he was making his money selling pitons. ...
Nau pop up shop in SoHo, NYC. Credit: Emma Grady
Activewear clothing company
Nau opened their pop up shop in New York City last night with the help of musical guests
Zee Avi and
Will Dailey. The fete featured Nau's spring 2010 collection along with styles from Horny Toad, Freitag,
Toms Shoes,
Timberland, and Stewart+Brown. We've declared
The Time as Nau before, this time Nau is a New York City minute. Click through for photos.
...
Image via Lav & Kush.
Meet
Lav & Kush: the flirt of sustainable fashion. The company believes in having it all: not compromising style while being aware of their environmental footprint. With every item in the collection embracing pretty, feminine details such as gathers, ruffles, and pleats while using eco-friendly fabrics, they are designed with the urban woman in mind.
It fulfills founder Angela Saxena's childhood dream: to design luxurious and practical clothing for women and to make a positive difference in the world. In other words, not only does Lav & embrace the eco-fashionista, but it also utilizes both classic and modern influences designed for the contemporary woman, fusing beauty and comfort for everyday-wear....
Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com.
You don't need electricity to do the laundry. It's as easy as riding a bike.
My wife's 90-year-old aunt still washes her laundry by hand, and dries it with a wringer.
God bless her. But if you're a little busier, you can keep your clothes clean with pedal power.
GreenovationTV has a segment on the low-tech solution....
One dress, 365 days. Credit: The Uniform Project
You may remember Jasmin's post on
The Uniform Project: One Dress, 365 Ways to Wear It back in May. Booklynite
Sheena Matheiken's has made it half-way through the year--191 days on Saturday, to be exact--in one dress and with the help of vintage she's perfected the art of accessorizing. This weekend New Yorkers can borrow Sheena's style--she'll be dressed by rising star
Raffaele Ascione-- and dress in black with vintage flare--like the invite suggests--click through for the invite. ...
Image courtesy of Lav & Kush
Candian-based
Lav & Kush is showing relaxed dresses--ideal for day and travel--in colorful prints that follow trends in sustainable fabrics--Modal, Tencel, soy, bamboo jersey--for
spring/summer 2010. We talk shop with Designer Angela Saxena--currently showing her designs at
Vancouver Fashion Week--on innovate fabrics, fair trade, and fashion--after the jump--and show photos from her collection. ...
Image courtesty of TerraCycle
We just began an interesting experiment at
TerraCycle: Opening our first retail outlet and giving people a place to bring in what they'd normally mail to us as part of our
collection Brigades. But that's not the most interesting part. We've decided to see what people will do when given the chance to pay whatever price they want for products.
In this economy, will people intentionally undercut the price? Will they, unaware of what we really charge, which, whenever possible, is the same or lower then comparable non-green products, actually overpay for their purchase? Or, might they, knowing we're a company working hard to make as sustainable a product as possible, make a point to pay more as a show of support?
...
Photo: Montane
Montane may not be one of the iconic names of outdoor gear, having only been around for 16 years. But they are taking it to the big boys by offering part of their outdoor sport clothing line in eco materials. The garments shown below, for example, use recycled polyester in either shell fabrics or insulations. Yet British-based Montane are still able to offer their signature low weight and pack size, demonstrating that eco-textiles still offer performance characteristics....
FIN's neutral tones and sexy silhouettes for Spring/Summer 2010. Credit: FIN
Sustainable fashion brand
FIN from Norway first made TreeHugger news with their
"wild" hand-spun silk, click through for their sexy organic cotton, bamboo, fair trade, and carbon neutral creations for Spring 2010. ...
Vancouver Fashion Week, Fall 2009. Credit: Kris Krug, VFW
Vancouver Fashion Week is upon us (November 3-8) and we are happy to report that eco-fashion brands
Hawks Ave,
Lav & Kush,
Movement, Red Jade, and
Nate Organics will be representing green fashion on the runway. ...
Mociun winter wool coat. Credit: Mociun
We covet Caitlin
Mociun's Native American-inspired coat--made from 100% mill end blanket
wool--for winter, featured on and sold at
Kaight NYC--we stopped there last week for
Ecouterre's launch party. Click through for full length photos and more on Mociun. ...
Play with eco-fashion label Feral Childe paper dolls. Credit: Feral Childe via Ecouterre
We've been seeing
Feral Childe around New York lately--at the
NOW Showcase, at
Kaight two nights ago, and as paper dolls on
Ecouterre. The Brooklyn-based fashion label is known for their silk screened textile prints, use of sustainable materials--organic cotton, soy,
tencel, handmade buttons, hemp--and their eclectic style and funky prints. Click through to download, print, and play dress up in their Fall 2009 collection or for Halloween--as a Frilly Lizard or Great Horned Owl--Feral Childe-style. ...
Eco-fashion boutique Kaight hosted Ecouterre.com launch party. Credit: Emma Grady
We celebrated the launch of eco-fashion website
Ecouterre at
Kaight in New York City last night. After perusing racks filled with emerging and independent designers--who use organic, recycled, and sustainable materials-- and catching up with
SDN's Marcus Hicks--who sadly was not wearing his
shoe pants--we chatted with
Jill Fehrenbacher,
Inhabitat editor-in-chief and Ecouterre publisher, about her favorite innovative fabrics--like solar photovoltaic technology embedded in weaves--and her top picks for green fashion designers and eco-fashion news. Click through for our interview with Jill. ...
Vaute Couture Spring 2010, Chicago Fashion Week. Credit Ray Pfeiffer, Komifoto
Vert Couture forecasts green fashion for spring 2010 in the windy city. An official event of
Chicago Fashion Focus, the runway show was home to looks from
Vaute Couture--not to be confused with the show title 'Vert'--Bryant McLemore Smith, and up-and-coming designers from the Chicago Fashion Institute Student Collective as well as
Frei Designs and
Mountains of the Moon, covered earlier this week. Click through for our interview with Vert Couture Co-Executive Producer Bianca Alexander, and our favorite looks from the runway. ...
Frei Designs Spring 2010 at Chicago Fashion Week. Credit: Chad Smith
The
Vert Couture green show during Chicago Fashion Week was the place to be for eco-minded fashionistas this past weekend.
Frei Designs' Annie Novotny showed her spring 2010 collection--along with
Mountains of the Moon,
Vaute Couture, and Bryant McLemore Smith--at the show. Click through for Annie's vision of spring 2010--loose fitting dresses, skirts, and tones of gray--and her organic creations on the runway. ...
Image via flora&fauna.
We love learning about fashion designers and their inspirations - it's what makes each of them different in such a great way. Pauline Siu found hers amongst the surroundings and wildlife in British Columbia. From the beauty in nature, the irresistible cuteness of animals, and the intricacy of the planet's delicate eco-system,
flora&fauna was born.
With a blend of clean lines, rich colors, and lasting style, flora&fauna incorporates nature and animal themes into each design, and uses organic and sustainable fabrics. Our favorite -
The Jellyfish Tube Top. The company is also proud to support their local animal welfare and nature conservation organizations.
...
Mountains of the Moon Spring 2010 at Chicago Fashion Week. Credit: Chad Smith
While we physically missed Chicago Fashion Week's
Vert Couture green show--for the sake of our carbon footprint--we sat down with
Mountains of the Moon Designer Melissa Baswell--virtually, of course--to talk
sustainable fabrics, her
spring 2010 vision, trends for next season, and more. Click through for Melissa's vision-turned-reality in her photos from the runway. ...
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the
if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 11.19.09
Raffaele Ascione cape worn by Lady Gaga. Credit: 
Image courtesy of Lizz Wasserman
One of our favorite LA eco-designers Lizz Wasserman of 
