California Rising Up To The Challenge

These organic cotton hats from design team Josh Fischer and Jules Blaine have LA flavor written all over them. Can’t you see Pam, Britney, or Jessicas (1-3) hiding out under one of these at Urth Caffe in Hollywood? I can. Or perhaps, with the socially and ecologically conscious angle of California Rising, one of their caps will be topping Madge off on her morning run any day now.

This young company is really rockin’ the sustainable fashion front with their hand embroidered caps made in the good ol’ US of LA. Manufacturing in Los Angeles is making a huge comeback with local designers doing the extra legwork to find affordable ways to cut, sew, and dye right in town, rather than asking the hardworking Chinese nation to do it all for them. Kudos.

California Rising also has a fun line of casual separates that feature stripes and more stripes (so big this season) in eco-friendly materials such as hemp, organic cotton jersey, and locally grown cotton slub. Slub? Yes, it’s the first time I’ve heard of it too. Apparently, slub is a type of textured yarn, and California Rising is proud to have developed their own version of locally knitted…slub. All their garments are colored with low impact dyes and they are another stellar member of Yvon Chouinard’s brainchild, 1% For The Planet. With hardcore ethics like these married to the originality of design coming out of LA these days, California may indeed be rising to the top.