These organic cotton bed linens, throws and towels are sooooo yummy looking--it is enough to make you want to throw out, oops recycle, everything that you own now. The fabrics are organic cotton, environmentally-friendly linens and silks, and pure wools, including pashmina, merino and angora. The cotton is grown by rural communities in developing countries.
Luma works very closely with factories in India and Peru that have fair trade practices and with small farming communities, cooperatives, and companies supporting traditional skills. The bedding is luxurious, but reasonably priced. The throws (pictured) are made by a cooperative of women weavers in Northern India and the blankets are hand spun and woven in a valley on the edge of the Himalayas. Each comes with a handmade label showing the name and village of the weaver. The cushions are hand embroidered, using hand-quilted vintage fabrics and hand-woven wild silk and linen. And surprisingly, not that expensive, given their luxurious and fine look. The children’s pillow cases, towels and baby blankets are pure organic cotton and beautifully hand-embroidered with charming details of little bunny rabbits, flowers and birds. ::
Luma
...
As more and more designers are launching brands made of organic and natural materials, we look for something unique to share with all of you. So when we read about Sara Simmonds, creator of Sharkah Chakra (translation: “hand make life”), we wanted to pass along her philosophy.
“I believe that the future is about slow fashion and making luxury pieces last. So I have created a collection based on a wardrobe full of iconic pieces with new cuts and washes to be added each season.”
Sounds inspiring, right? But here’s what we really liked about Sharkah Chakra…
...
Image Credit:
Human Inbox.
Via::
Ecotextile News. We’ve told you about the impacts of cotton versus viscose
here. Recently, the findings of a new life cycle analysis
(LCA) comparing a linen and cotton shirt were shared at
Premiere Vision by the French company
Masters of Linen. The LCA considers all stages of the life cycle of linen from the growing of flax to the processing, spinning, weaving, finishing, garment manufacture, care during the use phase and the recycling of worn-out garments.
The LCA shows that the major eco-benefits of linen are in the agricultural stage. The study claims that a shirt made of linen has a more sustainable eco-profile than the same shirt made of cotton. ...
After our initial launch, we were thrilled to find Crate & Barrel's
Kona rug. And over the past few years we’ve covered the company's various eco-products, such as their
glass food storage containers, their
Bamboo Bento collection and, in the past year, their
“green sofa.” Nowadays, we’re amazed at what they’ve come up with.
At first, we were skeptical of Crate & Barrel’s most recent e-newsletters, touting their commitment to sustainability, but we’re beginning to see that this might not be a case of your average green washing. “The best place to start making the world a better place is right at home,” reads the introduction to the environmental part of their website. “At Crate & Barrel, green is not a trend. It’s an ongoing mission.”
...
Photo credits: Old Shoe Woman (left) and Iceman75 (right)
When it comes to garments and fabric, which is greener: wool or cotton? Slate's
Green Lantern tackles the question, doing some analysis and ultimately coming up with...well, it depends.
It's an apples to oranges comparison, notes the Lantern -- one comes from sheep, the other grows in the ground -- and, on top of that, there are a lot of environmental impacts to consider with both. Wool is a renewable resource, but sheep belch 20 to 30 liters of climate-changing methane per day; cotton's
organic variety is grown without petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, but, grown conventionally, the plant is a toxic mess. Hmm.
...
In part two of our interview with Yvon Chouinard, the maverick businessman talks about politics and the irony of living simply in a consumer society. He also rebuffs his brand’s “Pata-Gucci” reputation and explains why he’s started pouring cheap wine down the toilet. ::
TreeHugger Radio
Listen to the podcast of this interview via
iTunes, or just
listen/right-click to download. Catch
part one here.
Full text after the jump....
As long theorized, evidence has emerged that too extensive planting of Bt producing cotton in one setting can result in resistance to Bt by the ubiquitous Boll Worm. So how to mitigate against this? Pay
some farmers not to use Bt modified crop seed? Encourage organic cotton farming round and about the Monsanto style plots? The solution seems like it would be a long term challenge if the economic benefits of using Bt producing cotton are high for the farmers.
University of Arizona entomologists looked at data from six experiments to monitor pests in fields sown with transgenic cotton and corn in Australia, China, Spain and the United States.
They found evidence of genetic mutation among bollworms (Helicoverpa zea) in a dozen cotton fields sown in Mississippi and Arkansas between 2003 and 2006...The mutation entails a slight change in the bollworm's DNA to help it resist a toxin that the cotton plant exudes thanks to a gene inserted by biotechnologists.
These GM toxins are produced in nature by a widespread bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, which goes by the abbreviation Bt. The type of Bt toxin to which these bollworms have become resistant is called Cry1Ac.
Via::
TerraDaily, "First evidence emerges of pest resistance to GM crops: scientists" Image credit::Wikipedia entry for Helicoverpa zea...
Grammy nominees this year will be treated to more than just expensive watches and exotic trips in those outrageous bags of swag. Amid all of the pre-partying and pampering going on at this year’s 50th Grammy Awards, green goods are making their way into the scene at
Green with Music ‘the first ever, all-green gifting retreat and Ayurvedic Spa’ for Grammy nominees, providing a green treat for all those artists brave enough to battle LA traffic. While checking out the green goods, attendees also got to people watch and mingle with celebs spotted in the crowd, including Omarosa, and the members of Evanescence (who liked it so much they came by both days).
The event was held February 8 & 9, 2008 in the lobby of
the South Collection building Elleven, the first and only LEED Gold certified, eco-chic residential building in California. Most of the green companies were based in Los Angeles and, interestingly enough, were predominantly companies that are relatively new. This gave great exposure to smaller, eco-friendly companies that are just getting their wings....
Here’s a new shop paradigm for you: Shop according to the revealed ingredients of every object. Because those ingredients sure look yummy with a range of products made from sustainable wood, cork, bamboo, organic and recycled materials. Monica Potvin in Barcelona and Anu Suominen in Finland have joined forces and created ‘a new version shop presenting a collection of objects for living made as sustainable as possible’.
Matteriashop is finally a shop that guarantees eco-smartness as well as fabulous design.
Through close collaboration with designers all over the globe, the Matteriashop offers a unique transparency and behind-the-scene information on each carefully selected product, taking into account its entire lifecycle. Monica Potvin explains:...
At first glance you might not see the connection between the ethical fashion label
Alabama Chanin and the civil rights photographer
Charles Moore. Working in two different eras, in totally different mediums, the two seem poles apart.
But, by choosing to align her collection for Fall/Winter 08 with these iconic images taken in the 1960s, the designer Natalie Chanin is placing the work of her fashion label within an important historical context of working towards a fair and ethical society. Moreover the connection between
Alabama Chanin and Charles Moore is personal as well as historical as Natalie tells us......
In a twist that would make even the Easter Bunny turn a happy shade of green, artist Jeffrey Scott Holland has finally come to his senses and canceled his massive global Easter egg hunt that had been originally planned for this coming spring. And that means he won't be hiding another 10,000 plastic Easter eggs out there in the world for someone to "find" with a piece of his original artwork inside. But the fact that the previous two egg hunts left tens of thousands of these unrecovered plastic eggs out there somewhere in America doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside either......
Cradle to Cradle fame, urges companies to spend more money on information-based supply chain improvements and less on testing, promising they will serious saving with this approach, citing a return on investment in just a couple of months. As their website states, “If no critical substances are found in the input, the output i.e. the final product is also free of critical substances.”
And it seems the approach is attracting a strong cadre of advocates. Established in 2000 with a headquarters in Switzerland, bluesign technologies ag are working with the likes of
Patagonia,
Mountain Equipment Co-op,
vauDe, Nike,
Marks and Spencer, Eschler, Formosa Taffeta, Schoeller,
Clariant, and
Huntsman.
bluesign is another ecolabel to join the existing plethora, as discussed
here, and
here, but it does seem to offer greater depth than many of the others.
::bluesign technologies ag....
This is a sneak preview of a gorgeous jewellery collection and bags named Jova Design. It’s a joined project between the Ducth fair trade organisation
Tilingo Nepra,
Dutch Design in Development (DDiD) and jewellery designer
Joanne Zwart.
Working with local people in Nepal, designer Zwart decided to use natural and local materials like wood, hemp, cotton and bone. She also found inspiration in the symbolic Nepalese jewellery like the Buddhist and Hindu prayer beads, made from the dark rudraksha berries.
This project is one of many others set up by the DDiD, who specialise in linking Dutch designers and companies to businesses in developing countries. They create opportunities for companies in the developing world, to step into the European market under fair trade conditions. Via
::Design.nl
...
During
London Fashion Week in September British fashion designer
Sarah Ratty talked to TreeHugger about
Ciel, her critically acclaimed ethical fashion label. Ciel has had an amazingly successful year, winning the first ever UK 'Fashion Export Award for Ethical Fashion' and being shortlisted for 'Fashion Product of The Year' at
The Observer Ethical Awards 2007.
In
part one of this interview I talked to Sarah about how the creation of Ciel helped her recover from a terrible car accident, the struggle to get ethical clothing on the fashion industry's agenda, the challenges of eco-textiles and what it's like to work with Top Shop. In part two, below, I ask Sarah about the benefits of having an agent in the US, how she keeps things sustainable as the business grows and what the future holds in store for her brand....
During London Fashion Week in September I got the chance to steal the British fashion designer
Sarah Ratty away from the
Ciel stand to talk to TreeHugger about her critically acclaimed ethical fashion label. Ciel have had an amazingly successful year winning the first ever UK 'Fashion Export Award for Ethical Fashion' and they were shortlisted for 'Fashion Product of The Year' at
The Observer Ethical Awards 2007.
The story of Ciel's birth is quite remarkable. Sarah had to overcome a horrific car accident and a painfully slow recovery process, not to mention the demise of her pioneering fashion label Conscious Earthwear, to arrive at where she is at today. Ciel is considered by many to be one of the leading ethical fashion brands which combines effortless style with beautiful eco-friendly fabrics and strong fair trade policies. These key elements have made Ciel very popular with women on both sides of The Atlantic....
Ring the bells! Pop the (organic) champagne! TreeHugger’s 2007 Gift Guide is here!
We've made this guide the most comprehensive yet, with 180+ gift ideas in three shades of green, making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, we'll be adding organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient.
Go to Part II here and
Part III here.
For more great ideas, don’t forget to visit our past guides from 2006 and 2005.
...
When the 'small and creative' team up with the 'big and experienced' we know that something productive is going to happen! This month the
Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) and the
International Trade Centre (ITC) are setting off for Kenya, with 25 designers + industry people in tow, to visit local artisans in their communities. The project is called Africa Inspires and aims to create new fair trade links between the global fashion industry and the skills and materials that can be found in Africa.
The EFF explain: "The rich culture and diverse traditions and skills of Africa have long been a source of inspiration for the international fashion industry. However it is rare that the communities from which this inspiration is derived have seen the benefits of the fashion trade. In response to this, the International Trade Centre has designed a programme of support for the fashion sector. This focuses upon linking designers and retailers/distributors in fashion markets with designers, producers (especially community projects or informal manufacturers) and businesses in Africa, to develop win-win supply chain models."...
Ralph Lauren recently launched a line of organic cotton bedding and towels they're calling
LaurenSpa, marking the first time we've seen the ubiquitous designer incorporate green into its products. Though certainly meaningful, it brings up a lot of the issues inherent in any big mainstream company going green, so we sat down both sides of the argument to duke it out. It's Point/Counterpoint time!
Point: It's great to see a label like Ralph Lauren finally embracing the green movement by making extensive use of
organic cotton.
Counterpoint: Okay, but if they really cared about "going green," they would have begun using environmentally-preferable materials a long time ago. Even Nike has been blending organic cotton into their garments for over a decade....
We have been remiss in not letting you know about this inspiring exhibition before now. However, there's still time ('til Thurs, 25th Oct.) to have your views of sustainable textiles revitalised by Ever and Again. Borne from the Textile Environment Design (TED) research unit at the Chelsea College of Art + Design in London, this exhibition showcases the recent work of eleven textile designers and five guest artists and designers.
Curated by the innovative textile designer and senior research fellow
Rebecca Earley, this show seeks to address ideas about ethical production, long/short life design, systems and services and new technologies. Amongst the designers included in the show are
Lorna Bircham,
Melanie Bowles, Kathryn Round and Gary Page.
Natalie Chanin, bringing over her
Alabama charm, is also taking part as a guest designer. ...
We think the
piezoelectric backpack is a pretty cool concept for generating your own electricity just by walking around, not to mention various other
solar bags, but a new development stands to revolutionize the way that we interact with solar power in our everyday lives: solar textiles. We've seen solar integrated into clothing before, like with this
jean jacket, but that was a group of photovoltaic cells surrounded by denim; the difference with this new textile (the "Power Textile," according to the image above) is that the whole fabric sucks up the sun's rays and converts it to energy.
Though real-world usage is probably two years away, the development represents a pretty significant step forward; pretty soon, there really won't be anything that can't be covered in solar fabric to help harvest energy. While panels won't be going out of style anytime soon for
residential and
larger arrays, the flexibility of the textile allows for a huge variety of applications beyond just
solar bikinis. They've even gotten the capacitors small enough to work with the textile, allowing the energy to be stored if you don't have anything that needs power while the sun shines on you....
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.
Over the last year there has been a relative rush of books on eco and ethical fashion published in the UK. We think this is an excellent indicator of the public’s awareness of how, what, where and whom produced the clothes in our closets. First was Tamsin Blanchard’s 
