Eco friendly clothes and products are stylish and classy this season.
Green is cool for this holiday season!
The fashion industry, built on constant change and quick earnings, is taking a longer view. You no longer have to be an eco-warrior or a hippie to grasp the message. For the cool and stylish, green is the new black.
Lucky fashion editor Hope Greenberg says,
It’s not a fringe movement anymore, the clothes are easier to find, and celebrities are picking up on them.
“Truly great design is coming through,” said Bono about the fall/ winter collection. “We have got to find ways of making our activism sexy, and fashion is it.”
What is eco-fashion?
Eco-friendly clothes are made with a minimum use of chemicals and with minimum damage to the environment. This includes chemicals used during every step of the process, from growing cotton, to the dying and finishing of the fabric and eco-friendly clothing in general is manufactured using environmentally-friendly processes.
High approach of eco-fashion:
Topshop’s flagship Oxford Circus store now houses Fairtrade-certified and organic concessions - e.g. People Tree and Made
M&S has pledged that 5% of its cotton will be organic by 2012.
Dorothy Perkins launched an organic-cotton range. The O line, which includes vests and T-shirts, in July, in sizes 8-22, with prices from £10.
Levi’s have added 100% organic cotton jeans to their fall 2006 product line and they’ll be known as “Levi’s Eco”. Not only will they be made of 100% organic cotton but they’ll have recycled buttons, rivets and zippers, and natural indigo is used to dye some styles of jeans.
Tesco’s have also announced they will be launching an organic clothing range next Spring, designed by Katherine Hamnett.
Materials Do’s & Don’ts
• Choose Organic cotton
• Avoid synthetics such as nylon & polyester
• Avoid viscose (an artificial fibre made from wood pulp)
• Avoid polycotton & easy care (’crease resistant)
• Look for linen
• Try hemp (Hemp is extremely breathable, softer, and more absorbent than cotton. And, it will keep you warmer in the winter)
Here is a short list of eco-names:
ANTI-APATHY, worn-again sneakers, seen above, using 99 percent recycled materials. www.antiapathy.org
EDUN, the socially conscious line of Ali Hewson, based on “Trade Not Aid,” to help countries like Africa’s Lesotho. www.edun.ie
CRAFT COUNCIL, for the current eco-exhibition “Well Fashioned.” www.craftscouncil.org.uk
ENAMORE, environmentally aware clothing. www.enamore.co.uk
VEJA, Organic cotton sneakers with natural rubber soles. www.veja.fr
