greenmystyle.com - Your Daily Eco Glossy » Fashion

We love these fair trade ankle boots

Sarah Woodhead — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:57:23 +0000

I remember punched suede ankle boots from the Eighties. It was a New Romantic thing, I think, and I even tried to wear a pair to school. Spandau-esque footwear with a Monkhouse’s regulation brown school uniform is not a good look, even with my skirt rolled up to an inch below my knicker-line. Better luck this time around with these fair trade beauties from Where.

Available at Fashion-Conscience.com in dark grey suede or cream leather, a pair will lighten your purse by £110. That’s barely more than the average high street pair, only in this case you know that the people who made them have been paid fairly.

Where ankle boots, £110

New designers to watch: Michelle Lowe-Holder & Partimi

Mandy Barder — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:12:47 +0000

London College of Fashion’s enterprising program for ethical designers The Centre for Sustainable Fashion occupied a central space at estethica this year with two of its participating designers exhibiting some of their pieces. Mandy Barder finds out what drives them and the affect the innovative program has had on them.

Michelle Lowe-Holder and Partimi are two of the impressive brands that have contributed to The Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s hybrid of business teachings and radical fashion design.

Michelle Lowe-Holder’s SS10 collection ‘Summer Smock’ looks back to the ‘labourers embroidery’ of the Middle Ages and is an appropriate follow-on from her AW09 collection ‘Smocking’ of a darker, more sensual nature.

The collection is modeled around the concept of ribbon work, which is an appliqué clothing technique, where different ribbons are traditionally layered on top of each other with pieces cut out to form a sort of optical appearance. “It’s taking old techniques and reconverting them and trying to modernize them. I use end-of-line ribbons and hand crochet and everything is super labour-intensive,” she says.

Michelle has taken this simple craft and given it her own modern and provocative twist, from fitted black dresses with central layering giving the overall LBD a sumptuous redesign, to floaty smock dresses with the Lowe-Holder ribbon print cascading down the oversized sleeves. A celebrity favourite are the leather chokers and cuffs, cut into exaggerated ribbon pleats. Eco enthusiast Livia Giuggioli wore some to the Elle Style Awards in February.

Print design is a big part of the brand, where the focus lies with stunningly intricate and feminine floral and ribbon designs, which are almost always delineated in a smoky black that hardens the delicacy of the patterns. Handicraft plays another important role in the designer’s process, where she deems craftsmanship to be more important than material.

As a designer, working with vintage and reusing materials has always been a very organic process for her and without putting a deliberate green label on it. “The seminars have been a really good match for me and it’s something that I don’t have to work too hard on because it is what I am. It’s not something I associate myself with particularly, its just stuff I do”.

As Michelle’s designs follow an unconscious green path, Partimi does the opposite. Eleanor Dorrien-Smith is a recent graduate from Central Saint Martins and since the summer of 2008, her label has been slowly revealing its sustainable identity, from raising awareness about over-fishing to constantly on the search for eco-friendly fabrics. As a new comer to the world of ethical fashion Eleanor has found the workshops hugely encouraging in helping her push Partimi into the limelight.

The AW10 collection is a preview for her main collection for SS11, giving her plenty of time to grow her workforce and concentrate on discovering new ways to express her ideas.

Art that has an interesting story attached to it is a hard abstraction to disengage from and fashion has often been accused of dismissing a deeper narrative. Partimi certainly doesn’t fall into this category. The collection pays homage to Eleanor’s grandmother who collected costumes from the Ballet Russes, an avant-garde Russian ballet group that ran from around 1909-1929. Some of the pieces have been sold to the V&A and are due to be showcased in an exhibition dedicated to the famous ballet troupe in September.

“What’s special about what I’m doing is I’ve grown up being able to look inside the garments, to handle them and to see all the mistakes that the public could not. I’m concentrating on all the repair methods, looking at the labels inside the garments with all the dancers names in, the sweat patches and areas that really show that the garments were actually worn and danced in and travelled in; the history” she says.

The Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909–1929 is at the V&A and starts in September 2010 until January 2011.

Katharine Hamnett’s new beach collection

George Walker — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:00:45 +0000

Stuck for what to wear on the beach this summer? Choosing the right style of swimwear can be hard for both guys and gals, especially if you’re looking to keep the contents of your beach bag ethical. Luckily Katharine Hamnett’s new beach collection for Yoox.com offers 14 Fifties-inspired swimwear items and accessories that will have you strutting to the beach confident and carefree. George Walker takes a look at the new ‘Save the Sea’ collection by the pioneer of ethical style.

When it comes to sorting out our summer wardrobes once again, it’s often the thought of buying swimwear that looms in our minds as we make our way around the shops. Buying swimwear is difficult – finding that comfortable, body flattering style can strike fear in many people’s hearts, especially for women who have all manner of designs available (for us guys it’s easy: just a big no-no to Speedos!) Also the fact that swimwear and beach accessories quite often use unsustainable plastics, fabrics and dyes makes it hard for people who want to live ethically to get something both environmentally friendly and stylish.

But fear not dear Greenmystyle readers: help is at hand from the fashion elite. Katharine Hamnett, the internationally known designer who has been championing ethical clothing since the Eighties, has teamed up with the Italian high-fashion online retailer Yoox.com to release a stunning range of bikinis, swim shorts and dresses for your summer jaunt.

The ‘Save the Sea’ collection combines Katharine Hamnett’s trademark ethical sloganeering with clever design touches, many of which are inspired by Fifties designs. Hamnett said: “I have called this collection Save the Sea as the sea that we all love is dying due to the impact of human activities such as oil spill, sewage dumping, industrial pollution, agricultural chemical fertilizers and pesticide run-off, lack of fish stock management and over fishing.”

Sadly at the moment everyone is all too aware of the dangers of sea pollution after the BP oil spill, making this a good time to think about how we can support a healthy future for the oceans. Hamnett suggested: “It’s important as consumers and voters that we all know the facts, so that we can do what is needed to save it. Take action - you can make the difference.”

A percentage of the retail price of the collection goes to help farmers in West Africa through the ‘Fashioning a Better Future’ project set up by Katharine Hamnett and run by the Organic Exchange, a registered U.S. charity. It also uses organic cotton, recyclable polyester and other such sustainable fabrics, so you can be safe in the knowledge that these items won’t be harming the sea you take a dip in.

But is the collection up to the style stakes?

‘Save the Sea’ is printed on some of the t-shirts and tote bags in this collection, bringing a bit of Hamnett’s iconic Eighties stylings to your summer look. For those who are a bit wary of such a bold Eighties look, however, much of the collection is more subtle, with chic wrap dresses and cheeky polka dot bikinis all making an appearance.

The swimsuits and bikinis appear well structured – mainly because Hamnett has used tried-and-tested retro cuts that flatter a womanly shape. Polka dots and stripes add an edge of fun, making this range splendidly sexy and full of humour.

One standout piece from the collection is the organic silk dress (pictured left, £122 ). It’s the perfect item for a holiday as it’s casual yet luxurious look means you can wear it straight from the beach to the bar.

Unfortunately the men’s items are a bit less interesting – as often seems the way with ethical clothing lines made for both men and women *sigh*. Although there’s nothing wrong with the khaki shorts and t-shirts, it’s a shame some little touches of Fifties patterning didn’t make their way into the men’s collection.

The ‘Save the Sea’ collection for men and women is now available from Yoox.com.

Mary Portas Living and Giving London shop opens

Eleni Sardi — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:46:13 +0000

After a successful stint as a pop-up shop in London’s Westfield Shopping Centre, a brand new ‘Mary’s Living and Giving Shop for Save the Children’ is opening in Westbourne Grove and this time it’s a permanent addition to the area’s fashionable boutiques. Eleni Sardi writes.

Under the creative guidance of Mary Portas and her communications agency Yellow Door, the Westbourne Grove shop is ready to open its doors this Saturday, on the 22nd of May. Merging the best of high fashion, charity shopping and local talent, the Living and Giving Shop will be the first of its kind in the capital with more coming throughout 2010.

Among others, the shop will also feature the donations of ethical brands Beyond Skin, Organik Rocka and The Smiley Company and the directors are trying to push a considerate shopping attitude urging customers to donate their unwanted items before they purchase any new ones.

The revolutionary concept was introduced in Scotland at the end of last year giving new meaning to the term ‘charity chic’ and creating a statement with its cool and trendy interiors in bold colours. Mary’s ‘Living & Giving’ philosophy isn’t simply about shops, regarding the collaboration of people, ideas, beliefs and values as utterly important. The concept is based on the idea of a cooperative, with community involvement at the heart of each shop, encouraging the locals to get involved either by volunteering in the shop or by donating their items.

The distinctive interiors created by Yellow Door are exemplary of the ‘Living and Giving’ philosophy. As Chris Coe, Save the Children retail director said: ‘We are the first charity to invest this heavily in design because we recognise there is a customer out there that wants to shop ethically in a stylish environment. We chose Westbourne Grove for its fashion credentials. The interior will reflect the area: sophisticated, unique and of course there is a great family atmosphere in Westbourne Grove.’

Mary’s Living and Giving Shop for Save the Children is appealing to the fashion industry to donate press samples and end of season stock for the store launch. All the money raised will help save children’s lives around the world. If you live in the area, you can also volunteer to help out in the shop or donate your ‘pre-loved’ goodies. If you’d like to learn more, please call 020 7012 6400.

Visit the Save the Children website to support the charity’s work.

Explore the Fashion Footprints exhibition

Eleni Sardi — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:05:27 +0000

The Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World is organising a unique exhibition this summer to explore fashion’s complex cycle and the industry’s challenges for the days ahead. You can be a part of this exciting project too as the Centre is hosting an open call for designers and creatives working in the field of sustainability. Eleni Sardi writes.

The exhibition ‘Fashion Footprints: Sustainable Approaches’ is the result of the collaboration of four recent graduates of the MA Fashion and the Environment at the London College of Fashion. The aim of the project is to unravel the complex world of fashion from the cotton field to our own wardrobe with a new perspective that addresses the different issues of sustainability.

Fashion Footprints will be focused on eight themes: materials, production, use, end of life, consumption, localism, speed and connection to producers offering a complete overview of a fashion product’s lifecycle and realistic solutions to the challenges posed by our insatiable need for a constant fashion fix.

Showcasing garments, projects and concepts, the exhibition will give visitors an insight into how their every day actions can collectively build a more sustainable future.

Ranging from pioneering pieces that display a zero waste premise, to hand-me-down and cherished garments that identify with quality and speed of consumption, the clothes – accompanied by film and photography – will help everyone uncover a world unknown and teach how each of us as a consumer can help lessen the burden fashion places on the world’s resources.

The exhibition will open at Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World project space in Exeter and will subsequently begin a national tour in 2011 around fashion and textile institutions in the UK. The exhibition is supported by an experimental fashion show and series of workshops and events, such as Wash Day, promoting traditional washing techniques and Dinner to Dye For, an exciting fusion of natural dyeing and food.

If you’d like to be involved in Fashion Footprints, you can submit your work if you are a designer, visual artist or simply a creative working in the field of sustainable textiles and fashion.

Refresh your wardrobe with ethical fashion designer bargains!

Jen Marsden — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:14:33 +0000

Have you recently had a Spring Clean of your wardrobe and looking for some new ethical designer capsule pieces that you can cherish throughout the seasons? Greenmystyle.com has just got word of the latest sample sale in London.

The busy hub of ethical fashion wholesale and PR, Foundation Agency, is holding an Ethical Fashion Sample Sale this month where you will be able to pick up bargains in womenswear, menswear, shoes and accessories from some of the best brands in ethical fashion.

This sale will be taking place between the 20th and 23rd May, featuring hot samples and past season garments from brands such as Howies, Komodo, Outsider, Kuyichi, Bibico, Julia Smith and many more – for as little as £5 and up to a whacking 80% off retail price!

Get yourself to London and over to:

Shop 14 corner of Hanbury Street
The Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London
E1 6QL

Opening hours:

Thursday 20th May: 5pm – 9pm
Friday 21st May: 11am – 8pm
Saturday 22nd May: 11am – 6pm
Sunday 23rd May: 11am – 5pm

For more information call 020 7608 0593

Ethical fashion designers get political with Think Act Vote

George Walker — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:08:57 +0000

We all know that being ethical can be stylish, but can politics be stylish too? As part of the Think Act Vote campaign, founder Amisha Ghadiali has brought together some of the biggest names in ethical fashion to redesign the campaign’s t-shirt. Junky Styling, Ada Zanditon, Tara Starlet, Ciel and Beautiful Soul are but a few of the wonderful designers to re-work a simple t-shirt into stunning creations. George Walker reveals what happens when fashion meets politics in our pop-out gallery.

You may remember that we attended the Think Act Vote t-shirt launch last month. It was a great night and a great t-shirt, chosen by members of the Ethical Fashion Forum and iconic fashion designer Katharine Hamnett.

Since then the Think Act Vote team have been busy taking their special ballot box to the public and taking their t-shirt to the best ethical fashion designers in the UK for them to re-design. The pictures you see below will sit alongside written contributions from the public in a book that looks at the topic of democracy in a fresh, and very stylish, way.

So why get ethical designers involved? Think Act Vote founder Amisha Ghadiali said: “The idea behind this was to encourage creativity and show how you can use fashion to express yourself and a message. It’s interesting to see what you can do with a simple t-shirt. The designers that took part in the customization, also provided instructions of how you can do it yourself, which will soon be featured on our website.”

VIEW THE POP-OUT GALLERY BELOW

Vote with your feet: SAWA shoes

Eleni Sardi — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:36:02 +0000

Amidst all this talk of elections, candidates and party leaders, a small company urges us to cast a different kind of vote, a vote with our feet. SAWA wants to start a new chapter in the African story and we examine its candidacy, Eleni Sardi writes.

Tired of the classic old stories of preconceptions and misconceptions about the continent, SAWA shoes has tried to start a different project that aims to challenge the traditional North/South industrial flow of raw materials coming from Africa and being transformed elsewhere into finished products.

The SAWA sneakers are made in Africa with materials sourced locally and using local expertise to produce footwear that’s built to last. The production is based in Cameroon and two of the people involved there are Michel Abbé, the pattern maker who made the Dr. Bess pattern, and Yves Bessala, after whom the shoes were named. ‘Bess’ for Bessala and Dr. because he always wears a white coat that makes him look as a doctor, as SAWA introduces him to the world.

The SAWA project is inspired by the omnipresence of second hand clothes sent from developed countries and their input into the African economy, only SAWA decided to challenge the usual economic model reversing the flow from the North to the South: as opposed to the thousands of containers entering African countries everyday, the SAWA project has embarked on an inverse journey towards the Western markets.

SAWA believes in setting the foundations of a sustainable economy using the local genuine knowhow and raw materials from different African countries: canvas from Cameroon, leather from Nigeria, laces from Tunisia, rubber from Egypt and packaging from South Africa. The project also supports other African products like soap from Cameroon, authentic school notebooks and matchboxes also made in the country and sturdy bags from Nigeria that are used for the SAWA shoeboxes that you can also be used for shopping or laundry.

The project believes that producing in Sub-Saharian Africa is already a strong ethical commitment but they do not wish to stop there. The sneakers are made with canvas from organic cotton and SAWA tries to source more and more materials locally and reduce its environmental footprint. Because Cameroon is a country with limited manufacturing capabilities, it is more difficult for the company to use exclusively organic and ethical sourcing channels. SAWA is looking for ways to improve in that area having already decided to change manufacturers and working with one that organizes a pension plan for his employees.

As Frederic of SAWA puts it, ‘in a nutshell we have no choice but to take things as they are and to improve them step by step’. Greenmystyle recognises the effort and will be keeping up-to-date with the latest SAWA developments.

Read the SAWA story here.

Fresh from Oz: WOMbat ethical tees for spring days

Eleni Sardi — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:53:08 +0000

For days now the sun has been teasing us with frequent appearances that dispel our will to work and make us long for days out of the office and into the open. It is about time we start thinking about stylish and ethical clothing designed for an active lifestyle. Eleni Sardi writes about WOMbat’s Fairtrade range.

For the lucky ones who have already purchased their festival tickets, time is counting backwards till it’s time to rock. For the adventure lovers, it’s time to slip into lighter gear and enjoy the outdoors. For all these and some more, we’ve found a range that combines comfort, durability and eco-style: WOMbat clothing.

The idea behind the company was originally captured in the Australian Outback where the creators were camping in 2001. The name was chosen because it represents the Australian lifestyle; wombats are marsupials indigenous to the continent that may seem cute and fuzzy but have to be tough to survive getting out and about. Just like the creators wanted their clothes to be.

WOMbat clothes are easy to wear with a soft to the touch appeal and have been designed with graphics inspired by and for the wearers’ love of life and adventure. The adult range is currently 48% Fairtrade and where possible the denim is organic. All of WOMbat’s clothes can be washed at 30 degrees to minimise environmental impact, and the company is aiming to introduce a Fairtrade line for mini-WOMbats soon.

What we love about WOMbat is the choice of vivid colours and playful graphics that make the line so much more appealing than the boring khaki or just plain tees that are usually the choice for adventure gear: pink, red, blue and bright green, almost all of them with hand-drawn graphics and a feel-good vibe.

Perfect for walking, running, camping, rock climbing, surfing, skiing, kayaking, sailing, mountain biking, you name it!

Browse through WOMbat’s website to find your favourite outfit.

Considerate Design at the London College of Fashion

George Walker — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:03:47 +0000

Covetable and considerate were the key words at the London College of Fashion’s open morning for the Considerate Design project. The Greenmystyle team were there to hear how high-tech engineering technology is being used alongside traditional craftsmanship to create beautiful bespoke pieces. Could this be the future of ethical fashion design? George Walker writes.

Bags moulded to the contours of your back; knitwear fitted to the curves of your torso; chainmail textile designs that hug to your shape: These were the first products to come out of the innovative and forward-looking Considerate Design project.

Professor Sandy Black from the London College of Fashion was keen to emphasise the distinct nature of this new venture. She said the notion of ‘personalised products’ made using new technologies would give ethical designers “a toolkit for fashion so they can be aware of the clothing life cycle.”

A key feature of the Considerate Design project is its focus on empowering ethical designers by making connections between fashion design and other disciplines. Led by Professor Sandy Black, the London College of Fashion has worked with the Cambridge University Engineering Design Centre, the Open University and both the Engineering and Physical Sciences and Arts and Humanities research councils.

Professor Sandy Black said: ” By fusing fashion, science and engineering, Considerate Design had developed new ways of creating personalised products.”

At the morning event we saw how body scan data, advanced knitting technology and rapid prototyping technologies were giving ethical designers new opportunities to produce commercially viable garments and accessories. (Although some of the technology was beyond our comprehension, the machine that produced ready-to-wear jumpers fitted to an individual’s body with just the press of a button certainly impressed us!)

The actual garments and accessories are split into three categories: Knit to Fit, Bespoke Bags and Evolving Textiles. The Knit to Fit range devised by Professor Sandy Black and Dr Penelope Watkins is the seamless knitwear range we spoke of. The interesting range of jumpers will be shown at the Science Museum as part of an exhibition on ethical design from June- December 2010. By using 3D body-mapping the jumpers can be made to fit any shape- a virtue that Considerate Design hopes to make their secret weapon to make a real impact on the fashion industry.

Our favourite items so far, however, have to be the range of bespoke bags. Each bag is ergonomically designed to fit the body, with a wonderful combination of soft leather and copper-fused fabrics made through experimental production techniques. Highly structured but with delicate detailing, we imagine these bags could sell well.

The Considerate Design project is focusing not just on ethical production and distribution methods, but on how designers can create products which can lure shoppers to buy more long-lasting, personalised fashions. Although Considerate Design is in its early stages, the notion of personalised fashion garments that are as individual as they are fashionable could well prove to be the ethical fashion industry’s secret weapon.

For more information see the Considerate Design website.