Non-Dorky Bicycle Helmets: Brainwear for Smart People

Tired of looking like a big dork every time you put on your bicycle helmet? We need to wear helmets for obvious reasons (unless you’re one of those folks who think they’re invincible), but they’ve never been particularly attractive.  Even Barack Obama was made fun of for how he looked riding a bicycle earlier this summer (though the light wash mom jeans may have had something to do with that, too).

Well, bicycle riders (and Obama), you now have a reason to feel much more hip when getting to and fro. A group of Danish designers has created bicycle helmets that look like hats, though they do still have the requisite chin strap. You can get your very own ‘shell helmet’ with a choice of hats to cover it from Copenhagen-based company Yakkay for about $120.  They aren’t available in the US quite yet but Yakkay has plans for an international launch shortly.

Link [Yakkay] via [Springwise]

Eco Clothing Store Owner Sued for $20M After Exposing Scam

When business owner Leslie Richard of eco-clothing store The Oko Box was first contacted by Vision Media Television, the offer of an interview for a documentary about eco fashion they were producing sounded like a great opportunity. VMT’s producer told Leslie that the documentary would air on CNN and PBS and that it would be seen by 84 million viewers worldwide.

Of course, there was a catch: the company demanded $22,900 in production fees and $3,000 airfare to do the program. Leslie told The Mountain Xpress, “I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say. My store doesn’t have that kind of money.”

It wasn’t long before some searching on the internet revealed VMT’s questionable history, with several reports of scams on consumer-report websites like the Ripoff Report. Leslie wrote about what happened on The Oko Box Blog, including several email exchanges with VMT in which they try to rationalize the charges and react indignantly when Leslie tells them she has reported them to the Better Business Bureau. One reads, “You need to call me before spreading wrong information about our company in any way. Vision Media Television’s Legal Department will follow up with you promptly if you do not.”

Unfortunately, when Leslie didn’t remove the blog postings – in the hope that she could help other small businesses that might be similarly targeted – VMT’s legal department did just that. Leslie has been served with a $20 million dollar lawsuit – an amount that a small business like The Oko Box could never pay.

The federal lawsuit, filed in the Southern U.S. District of Florida on July 17th, accuses Leslie of defamation, libel and “tortious interference with business relationship.” Leslie, who lives in Asheville, North Carolina, is trying to figure out how to deal with the lawsuit, hoping she’ll be able to get it transferred to her state and find a lawyer to represent her pro-bono. She has answered the summons and written a motion herself to try to get the lawsuit dismissed or transferred.

The Mountain Xpress has more information about VMT’s false claims, reports of them scamming others and the details of the lawsuit. The New York Times also wrote a piece about VMT on August 15th, “Company Pitches a Television Production, and Nonprofit Groups Are Wary”.

Talk about jerkass haters. We wish Leslie much luck in this – we know that VMT’s claims will be thrown out. They’re ridiculous. Surely, a U.S. court will be able to recognize a scam for what it is. Hopefully, the press that this story has picked up will help ensure that other business owners avoid being scammed out of their own hard-earned money.

Link [The Oko Box] + [Mountain Xpress] + [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Tooth and Jaw

Simple, Natural Earth Surf Jewelry

Eco-friendly jewelry isn’t just about conflict-free diamonds. Using sustainable, natural materials in everything we put in and on our bodies is a goal for a lot of us (still working on finding sunglasses not made in China, though!).

When it comes to earth-friendly jewelry, Earth Surf really has it down to a science: there is so much beauty in the simplicity of sea glass taken straight from beaches all over the U.S. and in Barbados. Jennifer Stone Gonzales, founder and jewelry artist, takes the sea glass she finds on the beach and drills a hole in it for stringing – she doesn’t machine-tumble it, polish it, or alter it in any way. Sea glass is, of course, fragments of glass that have been smoothed naturally by the ocean surf.  The pieces of sea glass used in Earth Surf jewelry may have once been a beer bottle, an ink bottle, a drinking glass, a vase or part of a fisherman’s glass boat.

What results is a wide variety of recycled treasures in colors ranging from amber and cobalt to leaf green and pale sea foam. Jennifer hand-strings these beautiful pieces of sea glass on leather and silk cord, and secures them with sailor’s knots rather than metal clasps. Each piece is completely unique.

Check out the Earth Surf website for more info about how Jennifer finds her sea glass, or browse the selections available at the Earth Surf Etsy Shop.

Link [Earth Surf] + [Etsy]

Organic Cotton Jeans Dyed with Traditional Woad

You may have heard of woad before due to its historically inaccurate use as blue face paint in the Mel Gibson epic, Braveheart. Woad, which comes from a flowering plant, was overused and completely wiped out in the 16th century, so traders turned to the Far East for indigo, another blue dye, which is still used by most denim companies today.

A company called Dondup is bringing woad back from the dead with their new line of organic cotton jeans. Dondup, located in Italy, has begun growing the plant for use as dye. Woad – called Guado in Italian - once grew all over the Italian countryside, and Dondup is helping to reintroduce the plant. Dondup also uses other natural dyes for colors other than blue, including rose madder and blackberry.

Check out Dondup’s line of denim on their website.

Link [Dondup] via [Springwise]

WTF: Pollution Sensitive Dress Wrinkles On Smoggy Days

Wow, this sure is a conversation piece. Designer Stephanie Sandstrom has created a dress that responds to bad air – literally. It wrinkles up when you enter an area with bad air quality. The ‘EPA Dress’ isn’t just pretty and fashion-forward, it’s a way to avoid health hazards.

Inhabitat has it:

Designer Sandstrom has embedded her EPA dress with sensors that are able to intelligently read the surrounding atmosphere and in turn create telling kinks in the fabric’s surface. On days when the air quality is particularly poor, the EPA dress looks as if it has been pulled out of the laundry bin or from the back of one’s closet. It’s a scary prospect to think that our clothes might take on a texture of their own, but if this is a viable way for us to see our true selves or rather the state of our environment, well then, we are all for it!

Now you’ll always have an excuse on those days when you sleep in, run out of your apartment with your shoes in your hand and your toothbrush in your mouth trying to catch the A-train before you’re late for an important meeting and walk in looking like you slept in your clothes. You can just tell them you’re an eco-fashion warrior way ahead of your time!

Link [Inhabitat]
Photo credit: Will Meeker

Moore College of Art & Design Turns Trash into Fashion

Would you wear a gown made of electrical tape and used shower curtains? How about a cocktail dress made of candy wrappers? Moore College of Art & Design held their eleventh annual Trash Fashion Show last Thursday, showing off over 20 eco-friendly designs made entirely of trash and reused items.

The event had students constructing garments made of items like soy packets, phone wire and old CDs. Students weren’t allowed to use anything new or store-bought; it all had to be trash and was held together by fishing line, glue guns and staplers. It was designed to get people to think about how items that are thrown away could be used differently.

While the contest was held in honor of Earth Day, and a similar one-time challenge was seen previously on an episode of the popular Bravo series ‘Project Runway’, things like this shouldn’t be seen as a stunt. There are plenty of things that are currently being thrown away that could function beautifully as materials for clothing, and if designers started taking it seriously, we could end up with some fabulous eco-fashion made of all kinds of recycled materials.

Link: [Moore College of Art & Design]

Lindsay Lohan Lending Her Name to Eco Fashion, Hopefully Getting Some Underwear in the Deal

Lindsay Lohan for eco fashion? Hmm. Hopefully the company she’s working with will donate a few pairs of organic cotton panties, cause lord knows she needs something. Sure, she could afford mountains of panties, but a little encouragement wouldn’t hurt.

Ecorazzi has it:

Lindsay Lohan has agreed to become the face of “Visa Swap” — a pop-up shop of sorts happening this summer in London’s Convent Gardens. The whole idea is to get people to bring their old used clothing to the swap in return for Visa points (based on the value of their swag). A few weeks later, people can then return to trade their points in for others’ second-hand items. Any of the clothing that fails to sell will be donated to TRAID, a British organization that raises money to support communities in developing countries by recycling clothing through its network of stores.

Some might say that Lindsay Lohan putting her name on eco-friendly fashion will get more younger kids interested in the concept, but doesn’t that also give kids a mixed message? They see her simply putting her name on something, perhaps appearing at an event or two, and that’s pretty much the limit of her ‘eco consciousness’. Ecorazzi deems it a paycheck rather than anything of substance, and I agree. So, what’s the point?

Link [Ecorazzi]

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons