Pivot: Chicago's First Eco Boutique
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 10.17.07
While shopping online is fun and convenient sometimes you just want to feel that soft bamboo t-shirt or try on that hemp silk dress before you buy. Jessa Brinkmeyer, seeing the demand for more hands-on eco-fashion in the relatively green city of Chicago, opened the Pivot boutique last month. Positioning the store amongst the hip galleries and restaurants of the meatpacking district, Fulton Market, lends a cutting edge appeal; as do the designers she has in stock including several TreeHugger favs such as Linda Loudermilk, Ciel, Sans and Loyale.
Through her work as a fashion editor Jessa became interested in eco-smart fashion and consequently realised that her "positive actions had diminished since her childhood". Through starting up her own eco-boutique Jessa says she has "rekindled her desire to live a more sustainable everyday life." Pivot's interior has been designed by local artist Joshua Height of Brickermade. He uses recycled materials to create unique custom furniture, some select pieces of which will be on sale. Thanks to Kyeann Sayer for the tip. :: Pivot
While I applaud most attempts to 'save the planet', I really can't see how fashion and environmental issues are not mutually exclusive. Surely the whole point of fashion is that it changes, thereby requiring the follower to invest in more items and discard older ones. Even though something may be made from recycled materials, it's still had to be sourced, designed, processed to turn it into something new, distributed, advertised, and finally sold again - all that uses resources. And how long before that recycled material purse (or whatever) goes out of fashion and is slung in the back of the closet in favour of the latest style recycled material purse?
Sorry, but the whole point is to 'use' more responsibly - i.e. use until a thing is broken, or all used up - not simply to buy more 'recycled' garbage that no one actually needs.
Eco-friendly fashion and such things as this boutique are a contraction in terms.
Steve N. Lee
Author of eco/religious thriller 'What if...?'.
www.steve-n-lee.com
Wow, steve! Can we try to be a bit more optimistic here? Too many people have a tendency to be negative and I think that it is great that someone has taken the time to try and better the world around them! Part of of the solution to using more responsibily is making people socially aware. As a fashion industry professional, I really feel that is great that companies are now taking a positive role in trying to make their products more eco-friendly while informing their broad public base of the issues surrounding them and in the process they are giving them smart alternatives to use in a more proactive way. Remember, it is important that we learn to be more open minded not just in terms of the world around us, but in the people who are trying to make a difference as well. You, as an activist, should be glad that someone has taken a keen interest in the one thing that you have devoted your life to and that person's interest will now be targeting a ton of people you would have never been able to target yourself. I really suggest you lighten up and try and take a more proactive role in life rather than be the person who is quick to judge. We all need to learn to open our hearts to a hope that we can make a change in any venture we take!