If you have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes, they might as well be these handcrafted Argentinean alpargatas by Pauline in Love. Similar in style to the popular TOMS, these on-trend foot-cozies pack a lot of comfort and style while supporting ethical labor through the Working World, a nonprofit organization that helps local craftspeople and independent factory owners bring their products to the consumer market.
Photos by Warren Chow
When something as forward-thinking as fashion collides with a design-build professional’s sharply honed mind, the results can be explosive. A case in point is New York architect Margarita Mileva, who turns discarded rubber bands into curiously stretchy jewelry. Mileva turned heads in September when she unveiled a cocktail-ready frock made entirely from the ubiquitous office supply. For her encore performance, she transformed nearly nine pounds of the springy stuff—or 14,235 rubber bands—into a high-fashion gown worthy of its Bauhaus and Paul Klee influences.
Have you ever spied a pair of pants so ugly you wondered how it ever made it to the rack? Or coveted a dress that never made it past the concept sketch because the designer was short on funds? FashionStake, a crowd-funded online marketplace with “democratize fashion” as its motto, is shaking up that status quo by manufacturing pieces you actually want to buy. The website is inviting fashion-savvy shoppers to browse its growing stable of emerging designers and their fresh-off-the-mannequin collections. By voting for your favorites, you help decide which pieces get made—and more importantly, don’t, which saves tons of fabric from going into clothes that nobody buys.
Photo by Alessandra Elle
Bid adieu to streaking colors and fading threads. A new permanent dye by British scientists could spell the end of rose-colored “whites” and other laundry disasters. The new technology bonds the dye to textile fibers—particularly synthetic ones—on a molecular level, resulting in color that won’t run, leach, or fade. To develop their product, researchers at the University of Leeds spun off their own company, DyeCat, which offers an environmentally friendlier alternative to conventional dyeing methods by mitigating waste, pollution, and energy use.
A silent yet infinitely powerful force of nature, magnets are driving a new kind of fashion revolution. Leading the charge (pun intended) is Brooklyn designer Kellar Williams, whose Klik Klik Jewelry collection lets your inner designer toy with thousands of possibilities. Each kit consists of 300 nickel-plated neodymium magnets—the most powerful magnets in the known world—that snap together like magic, allowing you to create whatever you fancy in an instant.
Our readers have spoken! Make way for the most awe-inspiring, ground-breaking, mind-boggling, and future-forward eco-fashion stories of 2010, as selected by you. The biggest game-changer of the year? Norway’s history-making move to ban fur from Oslo Fashion Week, the repercussions of which remain to be seen. As for the year ahead, don’t miss what 28 sartorial soothsayers, including eco-model Summer Rayne Oakes, designer John Patrick, and Sheena Matheiken of The Uniform Project, had to predict. Here’s to you, 2011.
Some people cope with midlife crises by buying hot rods or getting hair plugs. Marisa Lynch of West Hollywood entered her third decade with a blog, a sewing machine, and a plan to remake a new outfit every day for a year. Besides pledging to abstain from “doing an ounce of traditional clothing shopping,” Lynch set herself a budget of $365 for the whole year—an über-thrifty limit of a dollar per look. “This year, I will be foregoing trips to Bloomies and Nordstrom for brand new gear,” Lynch writes on her site. “Goodbye to H&M purchases and accessory grabbing at Forever 21. And seeing the “must have” French Connection dress in People’s Style Watch will just have to suffice as a cut out on my inspiration board.”
We couldn’t include all our refashioned favorites. Visit our archives for any stories you may have missed… …
Want to do the time warp with us? Check out the snazziest wearable-tech ideas from 2009… …
For more proof that fashion has a sense of humor, however twisted, revisit our most bizarre stories from 2009…
You think you’re cold? Try being one of Detroit’s 18,000 homeless. Veronika Scott, a junior at the Center for Creative Studies, for one, isn’t about to shiver on the…
Topshop and Bionic Yarn have joined forces to launch a three-piece denim collection, derived in part from recycled plastic bottles. Available online and in stores, the TopShop by Bionic…
Thrift-shopping has shed its plebeian connotations and is now officially a favorite pastime of some of today’s most influential tastemakers. Don’t believe us? Just ask…
Unu Footwear’s house slipper requires no glue, seams, buttons, or zippers—just a single sheet of die-cut recycled leather. The perfect kick-around shoe, it’s shipped…
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