Green Options

Have you been painfully searching for garments that are versatile, comfortable, modern and playful while being extremely eco-friendly? Well, no worries, your search stops here. From the mind of designer Andrea Crouse comes Gaia Conceptions, a line inspired by her months spent in India and Amsterdam. Not only do her well-rounded garments capture all of the above attributes, Andrea’s main goal is to use only the best available fabric including local organic cotton, raw silk and hemp.

The Nature of Beauty announces its new partnership with Ecotique, offering online customers eco-friendly beauty products, clothing, bed and bath products, and other accessories.

Hop over to the beautiful San Francisco Clary Sage Organics boutique anytime you’re free between Sunday, May 3rd and Sunday, May 10th, and when you buy something they‘ll donate a portion of their proceeds to The Trust for Public Land. “The Trust conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come.”

So stop by with Mom in mind, becuse you’re invited to “take a peek at our Spring offerings at Clary Sage Organics. We’re sure you’ll find something for the mom, grandmother, wife, aunt, girlfriend, daughter or sister in your life!”

“Dressing your child is a fun thing for every mom, grandmother, aunt and family friend,” says Kim Barker. “Dads get into it too -  Who doesn’t want to hear that their child looks adorable or cute?”.    That’s exactly Barker’s goal behind her eco-savvy company Love Bug Clothing Co.

For the eco-conscious parent, the company features trendy organic children’s clothing and recycled vintage rock wear for girls and boys.

In her Vintage Rock section, the online store offers stylish vintage rock concert tees, rock tunics and dresses by diverse designers.

We have a number of loyal readers of this blog in the green apparel industry and its rapid growth is yielding rewards for ecopreneurs targeting the variety of consumers that I mentioned in my post, The 4 Green Fashion Consumers – Which One For You?

The Living Green consumer, who has embraced the whole concept of the environmental lifestyle

The Core Fashionista, “who is looking to build up the green in her fashion portfolio,”.

The Walking Green consumers, “driven by wanting to belong to a greater community. These are trend followers.”

The Spending Green profile, the shopper who buys green clothes because “that sense of exclusivity and entitlement are important to her.

The green fashion industry is exploding. More and more companies are entering the field every day and still, the consumers’ voracious appetitive for eco fashion seems to be not even close to be satiated.

Donning the list of Toronto’s Fashion Heroes, named by NOW Magazine, is Natalie Stephenson whose Heart On Your Sleeve boutique in Toronto, Ontario is filled with labels that are only cruelty-free/vegan, sweatshop-free, recycled and/or organic.  Passionate about supporting local designers, she carries only goods from Canadian labels.  You’ll find great eco-brands like Grace & Cello, Passenger Pigeon, deux fm, Sparrow handbags and more.  And if you live or work in Toronto, they have a bike delivery service that costs the same as shipping (if you’re within their bicycle delivery zone). 

Normally Black Friday (11/28) is a huge day for retailers, but HOYS will be closed as they’re  participating in an international event, Buy Nothing Day as “an opportunity to express their ongoing frusteration with rampant, excessive consumption“. 

With hot styles and names like a “Nightie to Remember” and “Empire Strikes Back,” the Jessica Scott line at Kai Kids makes dressing during pregnancy easy, fun and stylish. The line is flattering as well as comfortable made from soft fabrics with flowy designs.

Where comfort meets sophistication, the mom-to-be is happy in these great designs.

Kai Kids, a Toronto-based online boutique from parents, Nancy De Hart and Peter Chin, sells eco-friendly [...]

The other day my very crafty neighbor came in my back yard and handed me a magical book called Generation T 108 Ways To Transform a T-Shirt, to which I immediately became all drooly over and enthralled. This book has been out since 2006 and was written by a kick ass lady in Brooklyn who would host Tee Parties! Everyone got to bring over their old useless t-shirts and learn to transform them into fabulous designer (and not so designer) outfits & accessories.

Since I am learning to sew (better) right now and actually don’t own t-shirts I want to cut up I decided to delve into the saucy project #69 “Cinch City” with some organic cotton scrap fabric. I bought my organic cotton for $2 downtown Asheville NC where the Spiritex warehouse sells off the leftovers from their locally woven organic fabric production. (Major score!) The “Cinch City” skirt truly was easy, although they say to only cut one rectangle to make the tube skirt, I actually had to go back in and make more of an angle to fit my waist. To make this skirt all you need is a swatch of organic or upcycled fabric big enough to wrap around your waist & hip, a ribbon, and the most basic sewing skills. It really inspired me to use more drawstring and cinching in my sewing for decorative effect! You can get super creative with this simple design too by making a longer more sultry skirt, instead of the Vegas style mini- or even adding a drawstring cinch at the waistline too so that you can fluctuate in weight and still sport your skirt, well, forever.

While eco-friendly fabrics are showing up in more and more designer collections and stores, we often don’t hear enough about the dyeing and finishing processes that accompany them. Conventional dyeing methods often involve toxic chemicals, harmful to the wearer and the environment.

I recently hosted an event at Pivot where Chicago designer Annie Novotny of Frei Designs demonstrated how she naturally dyes some of her garments and accessories with pomegranate juice. First, select a 100% pure juice (no sugars or additives). Pour the juice in a large bowl and add some vinegar and water. The vinegar helps to set the color and also adds brown into the hue.

No matter what your personal sense of style or fashion preferences might be, I believe everyone can work toward a smarter wardrobe.

This is one reason I opened Pivot, a boutique devoted to organic and sustainable fashion in Chicago, last September. Prior to starting Pivot, I was working as a journalist with a fashion focus.

Through my research and reporting I discovered the developing and intriguing world of eco-fashion. I became fascinated with the fabrics and designers who were choosing to create collections that were not only beautiful, but also conscious of the environment. To me, this was simply smart. If you can have both fashion and regard for the earth, then why wouldn’t you?

So, while usually descriptors such as “green,” “eco-friendly,” or “earth-friendly” are used to refer to fabrics such as organic cotton, lyocell, peace silk or bamboo, I prefer to point out that they are just smarter alternatives.

Peace in the Middle East might be a near impossible dream but on-the-ground-efforts are all the more impressive for it. Take the initiative by Adam Neiman, a Boston-based Jewish entrepreneur partnering with a Palestinian clothing factory. Neiman’s NoSweatApparel.com makes a ton of difference for dozens of Palestinians working the looms of an organic clothing factory in Bethlehem on the West Bank.

An important part of the Palestinian economy consists of organic cotton manufacturing but the conflict in the Middle East has badly impacted the industry. Neiman signed a deal with the organic cotton manufacturing company in Bethlehem after it had been forced to ax 30% of its workers. Many of the laid off workers returned to the Bethlehem factory after he stepped in. The deal included the creation of a trade union.

“We’ve found a rare piece of common ground — more good jobs for Palestinians on the West Bank will help,” the Boston entrepreneur was quoted as saying in a recent interview. “Economic development is no substitute for a diplomatic settlement but no settlement can survive without a sustainable Palestinian economy,” Neiman added.