Himane: Eco-Couture Made from Recycled Umbrella Fabric

Don’t toss that broken umbrella! While having it repaired may not be a feasible option for most people, the fabric can be recycled in unexpected and beautiful ways. New Yorkers can bring their broken umbrellas to a kiosk at Grand Central to embark upon new lives as fashionable totes and handbags.

Local Labels, a shop that sells products made within the New York City area, has teamed up with designer Catherine Edouard-Charlot to collect used and broken umbrellas and refashion them into bags that fashion-forward New Yorkers will be proud to carry.

Edouard-Charlot is the founder of Himane, a design label that upcycles fabric into beautiful new items like dresses, jackets and other clothing items. The dress, jacket and tote bag pictured above are all made from umbrella fabric that would otherwise have been sent to a landfill.

Not only are the designs hot, they’re durable and waterproof, too. Check out the whole collection at Himane.com

Link [Himane] with thanks to [EcoSalon]

Who’s Who in Green: Bahar Shahpar

When it comes to retro-chic eco fashion, there’s nothing quite as stylish as the designs created by Bahar Shahpar. The New York-based sustainable fashion designer with a special knack for unusual prints and bright pops of color owns one of the most sought-after labels in the business, and is also co-founder and creative director for The Four Hundred, a showroom representing the best in high-end sustainable fashion.

Shahpar, born in Iran and raised between Georgia, New Jersey and California, launched her first eco fashion collection, called agricult, in 2005, following it up with the debut of her self-titled label.

Shahpar had always been interested in art, having tried her hand at make-up artistry, art direction, event production and owning an art gallery in San Francisco. When she dabbled in designing her own line of accessories, her passion for fashion caught fire. Clearly, it was her calling – Shahpar’s luxurious designs have been featured in Lucky, ELLE, NYLON, Vogue an Women’s Wear Daily.

Of her designs, Shahpar told The Persian Mirror,

I love to work with all natural materials that have texture and come from the earth. Not because I am a hippy or anything but because I feel they carry a history with them. I used feather and was also obsessed with vintage leather. My mother doesn’t understand it. She says I like “old and dirty” things. We promote fashion forward items that are organic yet have style I use organic cottons, silks, vintage items and hemp. I like to have sustainable design.

Shapar could certainly be an inspiration for others who are looking to get into sustainable fashion design. She offered some tips to EcoSalon in a January 2009 interview:

Sustainable design takes many factors into account, not just fiber and fabric choices. The first basic steps are to minimize waste and source and produce locally whenever possible. Cutting down on transportation costs and supporting local economies and fair trade goods can have a huge impact, and designers should look at the big picture ““ sustainable design includes all of the choices we make when we design a product, so we really need to start looking at the full life cycle of that product.

When it comes to fabrics, the reality is that our choices can be limited in some categories, but there are some areas in which we have many sustainable alternatives to conventional materials and there is absolutely no compromise. I encourage all designers to just try to find alternatives to what they’d normally use, without feeling like they have to edit their design vision. Of course, if anyone is interested in learning more about sustainable fabrics, viewing our C.L.A.S.S. fabric library, or taking advantage of our consulting services, please contact me.

Bahar Shahpar’s Green Score: 24,981

5 Innovative Eco-Friendly Fibers of the Future

As gorgeous as organic cotton, hemp, peace silk and bamboo can be, they’re hardly the only eco-friendly fabrics around. In fact, some of the innovative new eco-friendly fibers are emerging that are way more sci-fi than granola. Check out the list gathered by Summer Rayne Oakes, eco-fashion model and activist, at The Huffington Post:

SILVER

Silver (yes the metal not the color) is commonly used in the medical and healthcare fields due to its known healing properties, but is slowly making its way into consumer markets, particularly in undergarments and athletic wear. Silver is a conductive element, which means it is naturally antimicrobial, thermally conductive, and electrically conductive. “The silver particles attach to the microbes and short-circuit them. Basically they suffocate,” says Bennett Fisher from Carolina Silver.

MORPHOTEX

Teijin Fibers Limited of Japan has recently produced Morphotex®. The biomimetic fabric refracts light like the wings of the Morpho blue butterfly, completely eliminating any need for pigment or dyes, which has always been a challenge for sustainable designers who love and want color. All the color seen on the fabric’s surface is created by the strength and angle of the light refraction against the material. Though extra dye is not used in the fabric, the material itself is made out of 85 percent polyester and 15 percent nylon. There is no word whether the manufacturers are using recycled polyester and nylon, which they have available in other products.

NETTLE

I was first introduced to nettle fabric by Norwegian designer, Leila Hafzi, who commonly works with artisans in Nepal. It was there where she saw craftswomen spinning the Himalayan Giant Nettle (also known as Allo), which grows in the mountains. Fabric from nettle has been used for thousands of years, but it fell out of favor as cotton became the fabric-of-choice. Nettle has many properties similar to linen, but it’s long staple can provide for some interesting fabrications if proper technology and scale is brought to the industry.

Read more about each fabric – and get the full list – over at The Huffington Post.

Link [The Huffington Post]

Make a Messenger Bag Out of Trash Bags!

This video from Make Magazine shows you how to fuse plastic together and then make a bag out of it! All you need is an iron, plastic bags, sewing machine, and some straps and buckles.

Who’s Who in Green: Linda Loudermilk

Linda Loudermilk has a message for the world: eco can be edgy, loud, fun, playful, feminine (or not) and hyper-cool.

When it comes to eco fashion, perhaps no other designer is more well-known than she. The Los Angeles-based fashion designer has helped to transform public perception of eco-friendly clothing from bland and hippiefied to chic, modern and accessible to all people – not just hardcore greenies.

Named one of the top innovators to watch by ‘W’ and called the “Vivienne Westwood of eco” by Elle Magazine, Loudermilk didn’t start out as an eco-designer. After rising to the top of the world of high fashion six years ago, Loudermilk felt like something was missing. Of her revelation, she said, “I was creating beauty, but beauty without soul.” It was then that she shifted her focus to sustainability, meeting with scientists and seeking out companies that create fibers without pesticides or other toxic processes.

What’s so great about Loudermilk’s designs is they manage to be eco-friendly without the self-consciously Treehugger-ish vibe that so many other sustainable clothing lines possess. Loudermilk creates pieces that can easily compete with the best of what the Paris runways have to offer, yet are friendly to the earth as well.

Watch Rachel Lincoln of EcoStiletto.com’s interview with Loudermilk in January 2009:

Loudermilk also works to raise awareness and support for environmental issues through the sales of her Luxury Eco line. For this line – which is the first to create a luxury eco lifestyle brand under one umbrella – she uses organic textiles woven from natural sources like bamboo, SeaCell® (seaweed) and Ingeo™ (corn). She also incorporates remnants and scraps from fine European fabrics into her designs.

If only more fashion designers would start being so ecologically conscious, the world would be a better place! Check out the new spring 2009 line at LindaLoudermilk.com.

Linda Loudermilk’s Green Score: 31,765

Renewable Dress Design by Fernando Brízio

If you’re tired of how your dress looks, don’t throw it out! Instead, wash it and draw on a new design!

That’s the concept behind Fernando Brízio’s renewable clothing line. The video below shows how placing colored felt-tip pens in the pockets of a dress changes its appearance over time. Within one hour, the colored ink bleeds into the fabric and creates a one-of-a-kind design for each occasion. The owner can then clean the dress and color it in a different way for each time they wear it.

No word yet on whether the dress is made from sustainable fabrics or if the ink is eco-friendly but it’s a good start toward some innovative green design!

Clothing Retailer H&M Boosts Organic Cotton Content

When you’re on a really tight budget and are sick of fruitlessly picking through thrift store racks, finding affordable organic clothing can be tough if not impossible. In such a scenario, it can be tough to pass up $6 t-shirts from places like Old Navy, until you really think about the pesticides and questionable labor practices – but not all “affordable” clothing chains are alike. Swedish retailer H&M, which is known for offering up-to-the-minute fashion at low prices, is getting in on the organic cotton game.

From Green Biz:

Since H&M first started slipping organic cotton into its products in 2004 it has quickly ramped up the amount of organic cotton in its offerings, and this year the clothing retailer plans to use 50 percent more organic cotton than last year.

In 2008 the company used about 3,000 tonnes (about 6.6 million pounds) of organic cotton, putting its goal for this year around at least 4,500 tonnes (almost 10 million pounds).

H&M took its first tentative steps into using organic cotton in 2004, using 5 tonnes (11,000 pounds) in children’s clothes, an amount that represented about 5 percent of the material in the clothes. The items were not labeled as containing organic cotton.

In 2007, H&M began releasing items made from 100% organic cotton as well as some that are a 50/50 blend of organic and conventionally grown cotton. This year, H&M also plans to integrate other alternative materials into its line, including polyester made from recycled plastic bottles and recycled polyester, as well as recycled cotton.

While H&M’s entire line isn’t organic (and I don’t know anything about their labor practices), it’s really encouraging to see a major retailer that caters to the non-green general public put some thought and effort into sustainability. Though these steps may not be enough to win over hardcore greenies, they’re a great way to introduce ecologically conscious clothing to the masses.

Link [Flickr user reiner.kraft

Andira Rain Tees: Supporting Education and Fair Trade While Saving the Rainforest

Help save Central and South American rainforests, one t-shirt at a time, with Andira Rain Tees. For every Rain Tee sold, a child living in endangered tropical rainforest land is given a tree to plant. Each tee features the thoughts and illustrations of children living in these areas of Central and South America – illustrations that show a love for their natural environment and a sadness about the rainforest destruction that they witness every day.

The Andira Rain Tee collection uses sustainable and earth-friendly fabrics like bamboo and organic cotton and supports fair trade practices. Andira, founded by Beth Doane, also offers a “Rescue an Animal” program through the charity Merazonia, located deep in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador – learn more here.

Andira Rain Tee designs are beautiful and playful and provoke thought about how important it is to protect and preserve the rainforests of the world – not just for the children who live there but for the good of the entire planet. The Andira Rain Tee collection includes six women’s t-shirt designs, 4 children’s t-shirt designs and a Rain Tee story tote. Check it all out at RainTees.com.

Link [Rain Tees]

Stunning Inaugural-Ball-Worthy Gowns Made of Garbage

In honor of the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, and the green themes that have appeared throughout his campaign, Great Green Goods has put together a collection of inauguration-worthy ball gowns made of the most creative of materials including junk mail, old t-shirts, men’s ties, candy boxes and even Obama campaign stickers.

It’s quite an impressive set of recycled fashion, with some designs a bit more wearable than others but all achieving the goal of provoking thought about how we can reuse materials.

From Great Green Goods:

Nancy Judd, from Recycle Runway in Sante Fe volunteered heavily in the Obama/Biden campaign this past fall. The day after the election she wasted no time and did a bit of “dumpster diving” behind Obama Campaign headquarters and struck recycled gold. She will be wearing this dress to the inauguration.

Created by the awesome and talented Jamie K. McIntosh from Twisted Textiles this dress is made from waste sheets of plastic film… the film’s original purpose was to protect pieces of plexiglass. (apparently Jamie worked in a manufacturing type plant that threw away this stuff by the boatload) There are details of the project on Jamie’s site, as well as on Craftster. One thing to note is that the bodice is made up of those little take-away mustard packages!

How awesome that Nancy will be wearing her sticker dress to the inauguration – it’ll definitely get some attention and send a message. And the best part is that it actually looks great! Here’s to sustainable fashion gaining more popularity in ’09 as Obama gets settled in.

Check out the rest of the designs and the stories behind them at Great Green Goods.

Link [Great Green Goods]

Summer Rayne Oakes at the Green Inaugural Ball

For more about Summer, see our “Hottest Girl in Green” post with lots of photos!

Dress Made from Recycled Cigarette Filters

If you thought stained, dirty cigarette butts weren’t good for much of anything, you’ll be surprised to see how Chile-based designer Guerrero Mantis transformed them into colorful and sassy clothing and accessories. Developed as a part of a graduate thesis, this project uses dyed cigarette butts collected from bars, streets and restaurants.

From Green Upgrader:

Cigarette butts present a threat to wildlife. Cigarette filters have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds, whales and other marine creatures who mistake them for food … Composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic, cigarette butts can persist in the environment as long as other forms of plastic.

Not only do these cigarette butts invade nearly every public space imaginable but inevitably they are washed away to local water sources where they leach toxic chemicals from the act of smoking into the waterways. Mantis project gleans some of this waste, cleans the filters, and combined with wool to be spun into articles of clothing from hats, gloves, and jackets.

The cigarette butts make up roughly 10% of the fabric while the rest is natural fibers. With cigarette butts being such a significant part of the litter we see every day on the streets, it’s great to see people finding creative uses for them. It might be a bit strange to imagine wearing the remnants of filters full of toxins, but this is certainly a thought-provoking project about how we can make sure that those butts don’t pollute our land and water.

Link [Green Upgrader]

Summer Rayne Oakes and Payless Launch Eco Shoes

More Summer Rayne Oakes news, for all you fans! The eco-model, journalist and activist has teamed up with Payless Shoes to create a new line of ultra-affordable eco-friendly shoes for men and women. Shoes from the line, called Zoe and Zac, won’t sell for more than $30 a pair. And, if you’re skeptical about how green shoes from Payless could really be, Summer Rayne Oakes is here to tell you that it’s legit. She’s the brand’s sustainability strategist.

From Eco Chick:

“They have organic cotton bodies, the dyes are heavy-metal free, and all the metal details are nickel-free,” she said of the printed ballet flats, sneakers, flip-flops and espadrilles in the collection. Even the elastic band on one style is made from recycled PET. We also discussed adhesives, the material that makes up the foot beds and the soles, and without getting into all the chemistry specifics, I’ll just say that Summer and Payless covered a lot of the sustainability bases for the very first collection in their green line.

Payless is eager to “do a better job as corporate citizens”, according to the company’s spokesperson, Mardi Larson. Starre of Eco Chick was concerned about “the ghettoization of green”, fearing that companies will only market truly eco-friendly products at people who are already concerned about the environment, leaving everyone else with earth-trashing non-green stuff. Mardi’s response was that Payless hopes to “democratize green”.

While I’d normally be suspicious about something like this, the fact that Summer Rayne Oakes has a hand in the eco-friendliness of the line makes me totally confident that earth-friendly shoes will soon be affordable for all. It’s a great step in the right direction – we’ve got to make ‘green’ accessible for everyone!

Link [Eco Chick]
Photo credit: Eco Chick

Eco Fashion Review: Elwood Clothing

When it comes to shopping for eco fashion, those of us who don’t have deep pockets often find ourselves with a selection of garments that are comfortable, stylish and affordable (choose any two). While the scratchy, unattractive hemp creations of yesteryear are fading in memory, a new crop of environmentally conscious fashion is getting attention, and one of the brands that epitomizes the casual cool side of the eco-movement is Elwood.

Elwood bills itself as a ‘lifestyle brand’ that encompasses music, art and environmentalism. Their line of clothing and accessories for men and women is made mostly of sustainable materials like bamboo, hemp, organic cotton and recycled yarn.  Elwood is part of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses who pledge to donate at least one percent of their annual sales to creating a healthier planet.

My personal favorite among the women’s clothing is the Pinky dress (pictured middle above), a soft and cozy dress (which can also be worn as a tunic) made of bamboo and cotton.  It’s been a great addition to my fall wardrobe – warm, versatile and super cute with leggings and boots.

Check out the whole line at ElwoodClothing.com.

Link [Elwood Clothing]

How To Get Your Own Solar-Powered Bag

You’re in the middle of an important call and your phone dies. Or you’re on an airplane when your iPod runs out of batteries. If you’re like most gadget-carrying people, these scenarios are familiar and can leave you feeling helpless.

But never fear, the solar-powered bag is here! With flexible solar panels attached to small batteries, these bags allow you to charge your electronic devices where ever the sun shines. There are a few companies that make solar-panel bags like Eclipse and Voltaic Systems but the most stylish ones we’ve found are from Noon Solar.

From their website:

All of our collections at Noon Solar are inspired by the need to rethink the way things are made, and what they are made with. Each material used in our bag is specially chosen for its longevity and its ability to biodegrade. The other materials, such as the hardware and the solar panels can be reclaimed and reused for many generations of bags.

By integrating solar panels into our bags, we offer not only the convenience of portable power, but also a means for all of us to incorporate renewable energy into our daily lives.

[Photo by Joe Wigdahl]

Eco Designer Leanne Marshall Wins Project Runway

You wouldn’t know it from watching the show (they haven’t said a word!) but Project Runway’s newly crowned winner, Leanne Marshall, is an eco-fashion designer, using mostly sustainable fabrics throughout her collection.  In fact, the Portland, Oregon native used eco-friendly fabrics for half of the creations in her final runway show.

As winner, Leanne received a $100,000 cash prize, a new Saturn hybrid, a spread in Elle Magazine, a year’s professional representation and plenty of industry exposure.

Ecorazzi reports that this isn’t the first time Project Runway has featured green fashion.  Earlier this year, Natalie Portman – actress and designer of a line of eco-friendly shoes – judged a special competition where designers had to use all eco-materials.

Congratulations to Leanne, and we hope to see lots of sustainable designs from her in the future!

Link [Ecorazzi]

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]

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