FutureFashion: Fashion Week's Green Kickoff
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA 
on 02. 6.08
Earth Pledge FutureFashion Collection
Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren, and Versace aren't names you instinctively associate with eco-couture. But these white-hot superstars of fashion came together with designers such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Stella McCartney, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Jill Sanders, and Narciso Rodriguez on Thursday to kick off Fashion Week in New York City with a big, green bang.
Organized by Earth Pledge, FutureFashion was a dreamy display of one-of-a-kind creations using sustainable textiles, including organically grown natural fibers (such as hemp, silk, cotton, and wool), as well as newer materials such as bio-plastics and man-made cellulosics. "These materials are all selected because they reduce harmful chemical and energy use, and protect land resources for future generations," wrote Leslie Hoffman, Earth Pledge's executive director, in the event's program—printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper with soy inks, of course.
Sponsored by Barneys New York, Lexus Hybrid, and Pure & Natural, FutureFashion minimized the impact of the event by using low-impact fabrics, Kumbuc wood for the runway (later returned to become furniture), as well as by serving local and organic food backstage. If you're in Manhattan, be sure to check out the looks from the show in the Barneys windows on Madison Avenue (till Feb 21). More photos from the show are below the fold. ::FutureFashion
Cocktail dress of abaca (manila hemp)/cotton/silk and pinã cobweb, by Rodarte, worn by Stam, for Earth Pledge FutureFashion
Hemp/slik dress by Rogan, with Monique Pean jewelry of 25,000-year-old fossilized woolly mammoth and walrus ivory with recycled 18 carat gold and fair-trade diamonds, worn by Magdalena Frackowiak, for Earth Pledge FutureFashion
Ball gown of three vintage wedding dresses draped and stitched onto a vintage bustier by Maison Martin Margiela, worn by Shalom Harlow, for Earth Pledge FutureFashion
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is it just me...i don't think woolly mammoth fossils should be turned into jewelry or celebrated as a "green" choice
With regard to the woolly mammoth jewelry not being a "green" choice, I don't see what the difference is between that and whatever else we use that has been buried in the earth for gazillions of years. I guess we could leave it in the earth, or pile it all up in museums, but I think it is better to make something wonderful and useful (even if it is for adornment) and beautiful to behold, because aesthetically speaking, if we didn't have things of beauty to ponder and enjoy, what would be the point in existing? The woolly mammoth is extinct, we didn't kill it to make the jewelry and I think it is a great way to honor the history of our magnificent planet.