News Home & Design Ecouterre.com Official Launch Party at Kaight NYC By Emma Grady is a fashion writer whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and more. our editorial process Emma Grady Updated October 11, 2018 Migrated Image Share Twitter Pinterest Email News Environment Business & Policy Science Animals Home & Design Current Events Treehugger Voices 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. 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: Green Fashion Now More Green Fashion Spring 2010 Linda Loudermilk Spring 2010 Preview Simple Shoes Spring 2010 Preview: BIO-D Biodegradable Shoes LA Fashion Week Spring 2010: Popomomo Bahar Shahpar Spring 2010 Collection at New York Green Fashion Week Study by Tara St. James at Green Fashion Week in New York Green Fashion: New York Fashion Week Spring 2010 Ethical Fashion Show Highlights (Slideshow)