Ecouterre » Women’s Eco-Fashion

Honest By: A Game-Changing Label That Offers Supply-Chain Transparency

Kirin Rinehart — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:30 +0000

Bruno Pieters wants you to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. The award-winning designer, formerly of Hugo from Hugo Boss, is launching a ballsy new clothing brand and e-tailer that promotes complete transparency in price and manufacturing. Honest By, according to Pieters, is the first company in the world to give customers a full cost breakdown of its products—the sartorial equivalent of speaking stark-naked in front of a crowded room. Pieters conceived of Honest By while on sabbatical in southern India, where he observed the way locals grew, wove, and stitched their clothes from sources they could identify. Returning to Antwerp, Pieters decided to explore that degree of transparency with luxury products on an international scale.

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“Carry on Closet” Offers Multifunctional Garments for the Green Jet-Setter

Kirin Rinehart — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:00:25 +0000

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Mariclaro Upcycles Car Upholstery, Air Bags Into Durable Carryalls

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:23:42 +0000

Where do exploded air bags go to die? If you ask Mariclaro, they don’t. The Toronto-based accessories label salvages truck tarps, leather upholstery, seat belts, bicycle inner tubes, boat sails, and yes, exploded air bags, to create a range of road-tested laptop sleeves, messenger bags, briefcases, and backpacks. Of the materials that comprise each piece, roughly 99 percent was landfill-bound, according to co-founders Sven Schlegel and Willa Murray, who intercept the materials within 300 miles of their workshop. (“1 percent is made of notions and our logo, still unavailable in recycled,” Schlegel says.)

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Eileen Fisher Extends Commitment to Environmental, Social Responsibility

Amanda Coen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:00:55 +0000

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The “Flourish Approach” Uses Modular Construction to Unite Local Skills on a Global Front

Amanda Coen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:00:27 +0000

For Sarah Dixon and Danielle Sponder Testa, what began as musings on sustainability soon evolved into a business model. The designers, who met as students at the London College of Fashion, developed the “Flourish Approach” to bring together community skills and resources from across the planet. By creating interchangeable components using techniques as varied as Estonian folk-knitting, Mayan weaving, and African batik, then seaming them together in one central location, Dixon and Testa envision modular garments that offer innumerable opportunities for customization.

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Awamaki Lab Debuts Fair-Trade Peruvian Knitwear With a Modern Twist

Amanda Coen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:00:18 +0000

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Marcia Patmos Takes Us “Behind the Seams” With Her Eco-Friendly Knits

Jasmin Malik Chua — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:00:23 +0000

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Carrie Parry Heads to Amsterdam for Green Fashion Competition Finals

Amanda Coen — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:00:49 +0000

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Chanel Builds Life-Size Plane for Spring 2012 Paris Couture Week Show

Brit Liggett — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:00:29 +0000

Photo by Olivier Saillant for Chanel

As if fashion wasn’t already synonymous with environmental excess. Karl Lagerfeld commisioned a life-size aircraft to house Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2012 couture show inside the Grand Palais in Paris on Tuesday. Subtlety has never been the designer’s strongest suit—this is the man who flew a 265-ton glacier to the City of Lights on a whim, after all—but the display of such extravagance in a depressed economy feels gauche even by the most liberal standards. Set designers didn’t just spend five days constructing the plane (or at least, the innards of one) from anodized aluminum. They also outfitted it with an extra-wide 164-foot aisle, 180-degree swivel seats for 250 high-profile guests, double-C monogrammed carpet, a holographic cockpit, and a slatted roof that revealed a vista of clouds. Mon dieu!

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Kinabuti: African-Inspired Fashion That Bolsters Nigerian Communities

Kirin Rinehart — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:00:38 +0000

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7 Eco-Friendly (And Mostly Vegan!) Winter Boots to Conquer Snow, Slush

Jasmin Malik Chua — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:00:22 +0000

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“Shed Me” Clothes Reduce Need for Laundry by Shedding Like Snakeskin

Brit Liggett — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:00:19 +0000

Katie Ledger wants you to make like a serpent and molt—the layers of your clothes, that is. Inspired by the way a snake sheds its skin, London College of Art student envisions garments with layers that slough off without the need for frequent laundering. In addition to slashing the heavy energy burden that washing and drying entail—an average laundry cycle uses up to 40 gallons of water and 5,500 watts of electricity, according to the U.S. Department of Energy—Ledger’s “Shed Me” project imagines clothes that change color and even style with the removal of each successive layer.

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Julia Ramsey’s Dramatic Knits Meditate on Our Relationship With Clothing

Amanda Coen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:00:50 +0000

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Blessus: Modular Clothing You Can Customize With Concealed Zippers

Bridgette Meinhold — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:00:07 +0000

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Elsa and Me’s Eco-Friendly Little Black Dress Flatters Every Figure

Lori Zimmer — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:00:25 +0000

If the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants swapped frocks instead of trousers, they’d find the same one-fit-flatters-all magic in Elsa and Me’s sleek little black dress. Inspired by timeless silhouettes, as well as the gaping need for sustainable businesswear for women, Swedish-born designer Maja Svensson sprinkled her own brand of fairy dust into the figure-hugging “Elsa” shift, which she designed to weather the vagaries of trend and time. Made in New York City’s hallowed Garment District from 98 percent organic cotton sateen (2 percent Lycra gives it some stretch), the dress features front pleating at the waist to smooth bumps or give the illusion of curves.

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Hot Off the Presses: Necklaces Made From Vintage Letterpress Type

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:00:24 +0000

Typography geeks, wordsmiths, and lovers of the alphabet will fall for the charms of Gwen Delicious, a Canadian accessories label that fashions necklaces from vintage printing-press type. Burnished with scuffs and other imperfections that make each piece unique, the repurposed brass blocks are strung from a gunmetal chain and secured with a toggle clasp for ease of wearability. Dangled around your neck with the type obscured, the pendant’s identity isn’t immediately obvious. Then again, do you really need to spell everything out?

+ Letterpress Necklaces $37
+ GwenDelicious

Oxfam U.K. Glams Up Vintage Fashion in Spring 2012 Lookbook

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:00:24 +0000

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Titania Inglis Wins 2012 Ecco Domani Award for Sustainable Design

Brit Liggett — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:00:10 +0000

Photos by Evan Browning

Hearty congratulations to Titania Inglis, winner of the 2012 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for Sustainable Design, an honor that was previously bestowed to Tara St. James of Study NY, John Patrick of Organic, and Bodkin’s Eviana Hartman. The award, which comes with a $25,000 grant, is a major coup for any designer, particularly one as young as Inglis, who debuted her eponymous label with a lineup of rust-dyed, vintage-inspired playsuits in early 2010. Since her breakout collection, Inglis has come into her own, creating crisp, impeccably tailored looks that are as sustainable as they are immaculate.

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Fonderie 47 Recycles Confiscated AK-47 Rifles Into Luxurious Jewelry

Helen Morgan — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:00:32 +0000

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Love is Mighty’s Eco-Chic Vegan Shoes Honor India’s Tribal Traditions

Amanda Coen — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:00:33 +0000

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Susan Woo Marries Luxury, Utility in Her Fall/Winter 2011 Eco-Fashion Line

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:00:02 +0000

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HJ Designs Upcycles Used Plexiglass Into Glittering Cocktail Jewelry

Kirin Rinehart — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:00:01 +0000

Hazel Studstill had always loved creating jewelry, but she never expected a cruise past a dumpster to prove so serendipitous. After discovering a cache of discarded plexiglass on its way to destruction, the industrious metalsmith decided to transform the hard, clear plastic into baubles fit for a fancy soiree. The collection, which was inspired by geode-hunting “out West” as a child, marries hand-carving techniques with gold and silver leafing for extra sparkle. Available as a single or double necklace or in the form of a cuff, no two pieces are alike. And unlike other cocktail adornments, your conversation starter comes with a built-in story.

+ Upcycled Plexiglass Jewelry $42-$74
+ HJ Designs

Kardashian Kollection “Kaught” For Using Sweatshop Labor in China

Kestrel Jenkins — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:00:57 +0000

We give up; we can’t keep up with the Kardashians anymore, nor do we want to. After drawing the ire of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for wearing fur, Kim and her reality TV clan are now under fire from a human-rights watchdog group for hawking products allegedly made with slave labor, according to Star. In order to bring their K-Dash by Kardashian, Kris Jenner Kollection, and ShoeDazzle labels to market, sweatshop workers in China’s Guangdong province—some as young as 16—were said to have labored for 84 hours over a seven-day work week to help Kim and kompany rake in $65 million in profits last year. The workers, in contrast, received a mere $1 an hour for their efforts, making as little as $15 a month after food and rent. Talk about economic inequality.

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7 Eco-Fashion Flash Sale Websites for Everyday Green Deals

Nicole Abene — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:00:52 +0000

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Thermochromic “Jack Frost” Scarf Reveals Snowflakes as Mercury Drops

Lea Bogdan — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:00:34 +0000

No matter how frightful the weather outside gets, Diana Eng’s “Jack Frost” scarf will delight with snowflakes that magically appear as soon as temperatures drop. A magical spin on technology in fashion, the scarf uses thermochromic inks that react with cold to produce the awe-inspiring effect. At 65 degrees Fahrenheit, tiny flurries begin to materialize, becoming progressively larger as the mercury falls further.

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