go green, part two

Here is part 2 from the Designers and Agents event in Los Angeles this past week. To see part 1, please go HERE.

Moving on……

LOTUS SPRINGS: Luxury is their philosophy. Green is their commitment.

They offer a contemporary and sophisticated line of home lifestyle and clothing products. Their collection uses 100% environmentally friendly products creating harmony between style and sustainability.

From all the lines I saw, this is the only one with a comprehensive line for home and baby, as well as personal style items. As with all the clothing at the event, it is soft. One big difference with this line is how they get that softness…milk. My background in science helped me to understand this, but the lactic acid helps breakdown the fibers naturally, to create an incomparable softness.
What stood out most about this line, though, is the detail. Even if we want are lounging around the house, we want to know we look good. In this line, you may be wearing a comfortable pair of pants, but the delicate details still allow you to feel feminine and graceful.

I wish I could find a picture of this one pair of pants, because they were my favorite. Although, there was a nice wrap dress that I think many an outfit would look great with the long wrap cardigan. They are a brand new line, so hopefully you will start seeing this line in your town.

You can go HERE for their website.

THEA GRANT: Thea Grant, the jewelry collection, is a collaboration in design and exploration of artistic form by Thea Grant and Nicolás Bazzani. Their materials range from vintage brass to sterling to gold and result in effects ranging from rock’n'roll to delicately gothic.

I cannot rave about this line enough. I’m going to start this by saying that I love bold, fun, fearless jewelry… and this line matches my taste. They use reclaimed material to make the pieces. It looked to me that many of the items were vintage or antique costume jewelry refashioned for contemporary styles. One bracelet that I fell in love with is made from an antique rhinestone shoe buckle. Gorgeous!

I have many of the costume pieces from my grandmother and my great aunt, that, as much as I love them, do tend toward a traditional style. So, it is fun to see what can be done with the pieces to update them… and then guess what? By updating what you already have, you haven’t bought anything new, therefore using our already depleting resources!

The line can currently be found at Barney’s CO-OP. Before you come back and yell at me…yes, the pieces are more expensive than I might normally recommend. But this isn’t jewelry that you throw away. This is modern day Coco Chanel…which means as funky as it may look to you, it is classic. Believe me.

You can visit the website HERE.

LEAF: Love the Earth fashion

Using the time-honored wisdom of organic farming practices, LeAF’s natural cotton does not pollute, leave any by-products and never any overproduction. By purchasing from marginalized producers and workers, we can actively promote better standards in line with international labor and environmental codes. We consciously try to improve and empower the lives of these individuals by moving them from a position of vulnerability and exploitation to one of security and self-sufficiency.

Let me start by saying that the founders, Debra and Marie Helene, are wonderful. I had the nicest time speaking with them, mainly because I feel, like myself, they believe that being “green” is not just about the products you wear, but the way you live your life, what you put into your body and how you treat others. Debra is a photographer, author and cinematographer and Marie Helene is a fashion editor for a prominent French magazine. Put the two together and you have a wonderful line of clothing made from 100% organic and sustainable farms in India.

I feel as though I am repeating myself, but the philosophy behind all of these companies are that the products are classic pieces made sustainably, so that you don’t have to throw them out for the new season. And, this line follows those same rules. It is a clean, fresh line, but also is undeniably different. I mean for one thing, they are European, so they aren’t going to follow a traditional American trend. They are feminine, with a touch of high fashion. They care about the cuts and the silhouettes created in each piece, fantastic colors… well, and this may sound odd, but there is just a sense of ease and effortlessness about them that they will quickly be your favorite pieces in your closet.

Obviously, the picture is not a piece of clothing, but it is from their website and I think it’s pretty. Please visit their site HERE. They are not currently in Los Angeles, but hope to be so in the Spring of 2009.

So lastly, I want to mention REUSENIKS. I have been talking about all these great clothes, and most of them if not all are home-washable. However, Reuseniks is a product I have not seen at a few events and I want to make a mention of them.

I have a lot of items in my closet that require dry cleaning. And, I cringe every time I go to pick something up and it is protected by the plastic bag. Many dry cleaners are trying to renovate their methods to be more earth friendly. Well, fortunately, Reuseniks came along to take it one step further.

Reusable, cloth, garment bags. You can use it to bring all the clothes to the cleaner, and then use it to take all the clothes home. And, not a drop of plastic in sight.

If you are a heavy dry cleaner… please consider buying one of these. You could even encourage your cleaners to give you a reusable bag discount in the same way markets do…? Just a thought.

Go HERE to check it out and buy one!

So that is my summary of the D&A event. I hope you have an idea about some wonderful clothing alternatives that help the environment, not hurt it, while keeping you fashionable and trendy!

If I get information about where to purchase the items, I will for sure pass it along to you all!

go green, part one

This weekend was the Designers and Agents event in Los Angeles.

For those of you who don’t know, and I was one of you until this weekend, upcoming fashion merchandise is put up for display in these large loft spaces. If you own a boutique, you can visit these “marketplaces”, see the upcoming collections and order stock for your store. The D&A marketplace focuses on cutting edge fashion and lifestyle. (If you are interested in learning more about them, and other events they may have, I highly recommend their site. You can go HERE.)

This year D&A launched their Green Market. This is a sustainable trade event encompassing the world of fashion and lifestyle. You can get the full details by clicking of the “greening” button on their site, however, I have included an excerpt of their mission:

“In addition to expanding fashion and lifestyle brands we will invite ecologically minded businesses, community based organizations and a selection of sustainable business models that we believe our audience of taste makers and influencers will find of interest.”

When I heard about, I decided to go and see what this was all about.

Let me tell you. I was impressed. There was space after space of merchandisers that were trying their darned hardest to blend the environment and great fashion; whether it was jewelry made out of reclaimed gold, or made from organic cotton, or vintage clothes cut and sewn together to be fresh and new. I was really in awe of every single person there. Each one was so passionate about their product and wanting to make a difference.

I am going to highlight a few of my favorites. (And, no the order does not imply preference… I loved them all equally). There are seven stores I want to mention, so this will be in two parts. Here are the first four.

SUST: An organic ethically made clothing line manufactured in San Francisco (yay local!). Essential pieces for a woman’s wardrobe, SUST pieces are meant to be kept as classics that can be dressed up or down.

They use 100% organically grown cotton, encouraging sustainable farming practices for the health of ecosystems, workers, our communities, and well let’s face it… the world.

OK. So this stuff is cute and holy cow is it soft. Without meaning any offense to the SUST crew, it reminded me of a much MUCH better American Apparel, especially in terms of the colors and the… energy… of the line. Fun and fresh. The quality of how it was made (stitching, design detailing) showed me that they are creating pieces that are durable and stylish, yet classic, that these are the pieces that will be in your closet forever. And, isn’t that what being sustainable is all about? This is about not having to throw out your clothes every year cause they have fallen apart or aren’t fashionable anymore.

And… oh! The mod dress. Seriously, my absolute favorite of the collection! But, I could see every piece competing with James Pearse, who isn’t sustainable or locally made. So given the choice… choose SUST!

Go HERE for their site. And, if you go to their site, click on collections… the green dress. The mod. Isn’t it adorable!

*I was able to take a picture from the catalog that I was given. Sorry for the poor quality, but at least you can see how adorable the line is…

SOY BEAM: environmentally friendly candle collection that blends sustainability, design, and craftsmanship to create a gratifying, aromatherapy experience.

Started by two friends that were concerned about what they were buying and its effect on the planet and people, they set out to create an environmentally friendly, yet luxurious and elegant, candle.

And, boy did they! The candles are made with organic and wild crafted essential oils, pure cotton wicks…and you know this is my favorite… NON GMO SOY!!!!!! They are poured into reclaimed glass, and once the candle is done, you can clean it out and have a wonderful glass container. They are packaged in 100% recycled biodegradable boxes, printed with soy ink, and to protect the wax until use they are covered with paper seals that are embedded with flower seeds. So, you can throw it into the earth and watch what sprouts. I mean that is a bang for your buck!

The scents are incredible and include Mandarin and Grapefruit, Geranium and Rosewood, and my favorite Clove bud and Cinnamon.

And if all that weren’t enough, I got to love them for the single fact that we share a logo… a golden spiral!

Check out their site HERE

TOPO RANCH: Named after the founders great great grandfather’s ranch, here in California, Topo Ranch clothing is 100% organic cotton.

“Topo Ranch believes that greener pastures lead to a brighter future. We don’t claim to be experts in going Green, but we do know that little things can add up and make a difference.”

This line is just so much fun. First off, it was one of two lines that carried good looking men’s clothing. I know we women tend to buy more and have more variety of clothing we think we “need”, but it is a shame that men don’t have the same eco-friendly clothing options that we do. So, moral of the story… go here!

The shirts are so soft. And the graphics are fun. I guess if I had to categorize the line reminds me of what a typical beach community might wear… fun tanks and tees, hoodies, button ups… I wish I knew more specific style names. But, the kind of clothing you would go to the beach on your cruiser, hang out all day, have a bonfire and some great times with friends.

The graphics were really unique and my favorites were a toss up between the “Organic Matters” and “Moth Deer” (which is exactly as it reads… a moth with antlers.) OOoh… and the Bandana Smock shirt that I have pictured… adorable!

So go HERE to check out there stuff. For Los Angelenos, they have a store in Venice, and what I was told is that the first Friday of every month all the stores stay open late, music blaring, appetizers and wine, and just a good old community hanging out.

HARVEY BAGS: These folks have been around a very long time. I have loved since I first saw them… ooh, I hate to say it… 10 years ago.

If you don’t know the Harvey bag is the “seatbelt bag”. Mine is red and I have had it for at least eight years… and it does not show it in the least! It is so durable. But, why wouldn’t it be, it is made of seatbelts… which are supposed to, you know, save our lives!

From what I understand, they didn’t used to be sustainable. But that’s okay. They saw the light. Apparently, when a seatbelt does not pass inspection, Harvey’s goes in and grabs what they want to make the bags out of. The lining is reclaimed material, as well.

Like I stated above, part of sustainability is that the product is so well made that it doesn’t have to be thrown out every year. These items have become classics, while also maintaining a sense of whimsy that we all love to have in our collections. They provide a splash of color to your wardrobe… and may get a cute buy talking to you about. They are real conversation starters.

I really have loved them since I first laid eyes on them. And, I love them even more that they are using reclaimed products and making less of an impact on our home!

Go HERE for their website.

I will have the last three later tonight or tomorrow. Don’t want to bombard you with too much information… this turned out longer than I thought. Whew!

light posting

Sorry folks…

I went to the Designers and Agents event over the weekend and got connected with so many fantastic vendors that are putting out sustainable, eco-friendly clothing and lifestyle items.

I am writing it all up and will post soon.

Check back this afternoon for all the great new products!

green-house

Go HERE to find out more about this cool green house in Culver City, CA.

D&A

To be honest, I am not sure what this is, but I think I will be going.

From what I read it is a collaboration bringing together sustainable, eco-friendly fashion and lifestyle to a convention type setting for the public to peruse and purchase.

Check out the website HERE. I will tell you more of what I find out about it when I go!

it IS easy being green, kermit

I for one think shopping just got a wee bit easier and a lot bit greener!

A new online shopping site was launched yesterday!! GREENZER

From their website, this is what they are about: Greenzer is a next-generation shopping engine designed to make environmentally conscious shopping easier. At Greenzer, we’re building a unique service for consumers to browse, compare and shop thousands of greener products from dozens of our carefully chosen merchant partners. Greenzer collects product and merchant information from across the internet to filter and arrange it into a comprehensive catalogue of the web’s best and greenest products.

So, now, instead of wasting gas and going to the mall, buying products that have no sustainable value whatsoever…. you can double your impact on the environment by staying home and buying green!