Ecouterre

Amisha Ghadiali is one busy lady. Not only is the Londoner the associate director of the Ethical Fashion Foundation, a U.K.-based not-for-profit that champions social and environmental responsibility in fashion, but she's also the founder and designer of her own line of jewelry. And if that's not enough, Ghadiali recently launched Think Act Vote, a campaign to inspire people to wield the power of democracy and creativity to build a better future. In this slideshow, Ghadiali tells us how she puts together sustainable ensembles for work and play—and how working with what you have is far greener than a whole new "eco" wardrobe.

Photos by Jake Giles Netter

North and South clashed once again as a blood-soaked epoch in America's past unfolded on the Vauxhall Fashion Scout runway at London Fashion Week. Imparting the history lesson was Prophetik, a Tennessee-based eco-fashion label by designer/poet Jeff Garner that drew upon the American Civil War for its Fall/Winter 2010 collection. Awash in Unionist blues, Confederate grays, and streaks of crimson, "Southern Shores" counters the violence and bloodshed of the battlefield with epic romance and drama. As God as your witness, you'll never look humdrum again.

Think you're a multitasking superstar? You don't have anything on model-TV host-author-designer-editor-social entrepreneur Summer Rayne Oakes, multihyphenate par excellence. Oakes gets paid to twirl in sustainable style, but we were far more interested in what she wears on her downtime away from the catwalk. Living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn ("land of hipsters," according to Oakes) has left a definite imprint on her personal style. "My everyday style has definitely eroded to geek chic and thrifted finds," she tells Ecouterre.

Click through our slideshow for a peek into the trailblazing twentysomething's eco-closet and find out, in her own words, what goats have to do with visible panty lines, how she rates on the air guitar, and which dress she shimmies into when she's in the mood for trouble.

Photos by Stuart York for Ecouterre

Ada Zanditon may have wrapped up her London Fashion Week presentation this week, but her natural and organic Autumn/Winter 2010 collection is still making waves. Set loose at Vauxhall Fashion Scout on Tuesday, "Echolocation" was a visceral journey through the twilight realm, inspired by bats and their ability to use sound (through vibrating vocal cords) as a navigation tool.

As the cavalcade of white tents deflate with a sigh for the last time at Bryant Park, the click-clack of stilettos migrating across the pound can only herald the start of London Fashion Week. Since 2006, the locus of the British ethical fashion industry has been Estethica, a curated showcase of 28 sustainable designers now in its seventh season. Skip through our slideshow for a selection of the gems we spied on the roster: some new to us, some new to Estethica, and some just too fab not to name drop. Above, one of Makepiece wearable sculptures, knit from sustainably farmed British wool, mohair, and alpaca.

Photos by Arthur Eisenberg

The GreenShows at New York Fashion Week officially came to a close Wednesday night with C. Marchuska's Fall/Winter 2010 show, which presented a melange of clean, versatile pieces directed towards the socially conscious, fashion-forward woman. Catherine Marchuska and Brooke Bresnan, the two Wall Street execs turned eco-designers, really flexed their eco-chic muscles this year, with seriously alluring attire in fluid jerseys and shimmery satins, all while keeping utter wearability in check. True to C. Marchuska form, the classic pieces have major staying power, making them all the more sustainable.

Pulling together looks from eight different eco-designers to create one cohesive show can't be easy, but the team players at Ekovaruhuset did it with flair on the final night of the GreenShows on Wednesay. Featuring the Fall/Winter 2010 collections of designers Johanna Hofring, Meiling Chen, Tor Söderin, Renata Mann, Mika Machida, Kaori Yamazaki, and Melissa Kirgan and Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard of Eko-Lab, the show delivered intricate crochet work, organic fabrics, and hand-painted charcoal-ink prints from Emmy Award-winning artist Jennifer Wen Ma.

Its name might be a pickle to pronounce, but Deux FM's Fall/Winter 2010 runway show on Wednesday at the GreenShows made up for it by being very easy on the eyes. Set to a soundtrack of '30s love songs—and modeled by statuesque beauties that recalled the screen sirens of yore—designer Anna Gilkerson's flowy and irresistibly femme wrap dresses, pencil skirts, and car coats transported organic and sustainable fashion to a bygone era of glamour.

For Fall/Winter 2010, Popomomo's Lizz Wasserman envisioned a City of Quartz, much like the subject of Mike Davis' treatise on the future of Los Angeles, a "cold but beautiful city with straight lines and sharp shadows." Wasserman designed two prints this season: one invoking quartz crystals and the other inspired by CIA satellite images of polar ice caps. Swaddled in moody, nouveau neutral palette of steel gray, charcoal, and indigo, punctuated with bright spots of teal, Wasserman's pieces were an exercise in geometry, balance, and wit.

It's hard to restrain ourselves from calling Samantha Pleet's Fall/Winter 2010 collection "cute" without infantilizing it, but the erstwhile Bodkin designer's pieces exude an unselfconscious charm that is irresistible. Awash in organic wool, Chinese mud silk, and recycled Ultrasuede—and inspired by what Pleet describes as the "mysterious and fantastical experiences" that punctuate her everyday life—the stark and sharp silhouettes embody a kind of magical realism that Pleet wishes to impart, in the manner of Amélie Poulain, to both dear friend and friend-she-hasn't-met alike.

This may only be Susan Woo's third season on her own, but the burgeoning New York designer's sleek, polished lines and dramatically sculpted details belie her youth—she's only 27—and her eponymous label's fledging status. Woo's Fall/Winter 2010 collection, unveiled on Saturday at Manhattan's Bryant Park Hotel, was a battle royale of earthy solids (dark green, brown, navy blue), obsidians, creams, and blistering scarlets. Suffice to say, the unexpected pops of red ruled the collection—quite apropos considering that it was the eve of both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year.

Marking its debut at New York Fashion Week's the GreenShows, the Thieves by Sonja den Elzen collection was, at first glance, post-apocalyptic, bleak and, combat-ready. Upon further inspection, however, the transient asymmetrical shapes and costumey details like fitted bodices and Star Warsesque hoods were interpreted in a black-on-black color palette that made them surprisingly suitable for everyday wear. We were impressed by the line's eschewal of trends (something that all eco-fashion lines should strive for) and we heard audience members gushing about pieces they were keen on snagging for themselves. Take a look through all of our pics, but be warned that they don't do Thieves justice as the garments are much more stunning in real life.

While a New York snowstorm swirled outside, Willian's runway show kept the GreenShows toasty inside on Tuesday afternoon. Long lines, sheer detailing, and cat-scratch T-shirts made us long for the days of spring when these clothes would be perfect for a night out on the town or an afternoon in the sun.

If anyone knows anything about upcycled fashion, it's designer, nay, visionary JoAnn Berman. She was dreaming, cutting, and Frankensteining up new garments from vintage and found fabrics long before the term "eco-fashion" was first uttered. At New York Fashion Week's the GreenShows on Monday, Berman's "Thunderbirds" collection was so retina-searing that the designer herself donned sunglasses for her final bow (or rather, dance) on the runway. Don't believe us? Click on through our slideshow.

While no animals were harmed in the making of Vaute Couture's Fall/Winter 2010 collection, the vegan and eco-friendly outerwear line sure knocked us dead at the Green Shows for New York Fashion Week yesterday. Playfully styled models with origami-adorned coifs and sparkly crystal necklaces strutted down the runway wearing an array of 100 percent cruelty-free looks, ranging from classic black pea coats to DayGlo-yellow puffer jackets.