Ecouterre.com Official Launch Party at Kaight NYC : TreeHugger

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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.

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Jill Fehrenbacher (left) and Yuka Yoneda choose a raffle winner at Kaight NYC. Credit: Emma Grady

TreeHugger: What are some innovative fabrics or designs you've seen recently?

Jill Fehrenbacher: Jasmin wrote a post this morning on reflective fabrics--fabrics that reflect light that bikers can wear at night and glow in the dark so they don't need to use batteries to have a light on your bike--that's one single purpose for the fabric. In terms of general sustainability-- honestly this is not super technological--I just love organic cotton, I think cotton's a great fabric. It's not that sexy or exciting to talk about because it's been around forever. I go back in forth between super old-school natural fabrics that have been around forever--cotton, wool, and silk--and I'm getting really excited about the wearable tech things that people are doing. Like embedding solar photovoltaic technology in weaves and wearable garments that have various interactive capabilities.

TH: And looking at fashion more in terms of design.

JF: Yeah and the potential that it has for the future. I can envision at some point having hats that are made out of photovoltaic weaves--so they can pick up sun during the day--and charge your cell phone, ipod, or something like that. Currently in the market there are not that many solar-powered clothes. There's some jackets out there that have solar powered strips on the arm but I think there's potential to go a lot further than that--to have photovoltaics embedded in the whole of the garment so it's not just a stick-on patch.

TH: Where do you read your fashion news?

JF: There's Eco Fashion World. I read some of the fashion sites like WWD and I follow Starre Vartan's blog Eco-Chick.

TH: Who are your favorite designers?

JF: I really like Tara St. James who made this covet she has her own line now which is really great, and I just discovered Mr. Larkin at the GreenShows a couple weeks ago. That was the first time I had seen Mr. Larkin but I was blown away. I'm really excited about the line and would like to pick something out from that.

For more green fashion news, check out our feature: