Ethiopia…land of the original coffee bean, breathtaking waterfalls, and the history-making, inspired leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopian people are some of the most beautiful in the world, as well as some of the poorest. Too many people in this country suffer and die from diseases that are completely preventable, like podoconiosis.

Podoconiosis, or “podo,” is a form of elephantiasis caused by walking barefoot on soil with high concentrations of irritants like sodium, potassium, and silica. Podo victims become outcasts of society and are often incapable of performing most types of work. This incurable condition is gruesome, debalitating, and 100% preventable.  The grand solution to podo involves providing people with one basic possession: shoes.

Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes is the perfect man for this job. From its inception, Blake’s “for benefit” company has donated a pair of TOMS to a child in need for every pair the company sells. TOMS has distributed shoes to tens of thousands of cutie pies in Argentina and South Africa, as well as hosting DIY shoe decorating parties in the US for children affected by Hurricane Katrina. Blake is now applying his exceptional business model to help prevent podoconiosis in Ethiopia.

For the month leading up to Christmas 2008, TOMS promoted their Project Holiday campaign to sell 30,000 pairs of shoes, so they could give 30,000 pairs of protective rubber shoes to kids in Ethiopia. When all the holiday dust had settled, TOMS and all the customers who participated in Project Holiday had made it possible for 37,000 Ethiopian children to receive shoes and slow the spread of this heartbreaking disease.

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Launch Date: Summer 2005
Number of Employees: 4
Location of Headquarters: Seattle, WA
Location of Manufacturing: Seattle, WA
Design Heroes: Vivienne Westwood, Rei Kawabuko, Natalie Chanin

While Camilla focuses on the creative end and Davora more on business development, both women contribute to the look and feel of their handmade line. “We try to blend utility and seduction, to find ways clothing can be both useful and ornamental. As entirely independent designers, we walk a fine line between experimentation and commerce and hope to offer something novel and desirable with each new collection.”

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Autonomie Project is all about ethical manufacturing. Company founder Anne O’Loughlin had made it her mission to source her line from small, independent cooperatives and Fair Trade-certified facilities in developing countries.

Autonomie Project is best known for their very popular “Ethletic” line of Converse-style shoes made of organic cotton and all-natural FSC rubber (instead of petroleum-based synthetic rubber.) Today, AP also carries organic cotton t-shirts, as well as crocheted bags, hats, gloves, and scarves handmade by the Northern Creations women’s sewing cooperative in rural Peru. Anne’s vision is to help communities around the world be autonomous through creating markets in which their products can thrive. It’s nice to know that when you’re stylin’ in Autonomie Project, the people behind your clothes are stylin’ too.

Lori Bonn Design has been crafting stunning jewelry with gorgeous semi-precious stones and silver for over seventeen years, selling to Nordstrom and independent boutiques across the country. Many typical questions came up for designer Lori Bonn Gallagher over the years-where to source materials, what merchants to sell through, how to run a successful operation while creating pieces her clients could fall in love with. In 2005, some much deeper questions about her business came to mind. Where do these stones really come from? What’s happening to the people who mine them? Is consumption on this level acceptable? This was a turning point for Lori Bonn Design and the beginning of Clear Conscience Jewelry.

Bill Gallagher, partner and operations guru at LBD, explained in a recent interview, “Clear Conscience Jewelry is our project to create a new standard for environmentally and socially responsible jewelry. It’s jewelry that you can wear with a clear conscience and then feel as good as you look. The three elements of Clear Conscience Jewelry are ethical manufacturing, recycled metals, and responsibly produced gemstones.”

Every collection Lori Bonn Design produces is made with at least 50% recycled metals. They’ve dropped any manufacturing facilities that they could not prove were providing fair wages and have safe working conditions free of abuse and discrimination. Bill and Lori have become an integral part of the Madison Dialogue, a coalition of jewelry manufacturers, retailers, conservation groups, and mining associations that have joined together to establish standards and best practices for fair trade and ethical jewelry. With their new Chrysalis Collection, LBD is combining recycled metals with traceable stones while doing everything in their power to make sure the land where their raw materials come from are restored fully after being mined. All these efforts combined make the Chrysalis Collection Lori Bonn’s most socially and ecologically responsible line yet. (more…)

Sameunderneath is returning to Portland Fashion Week on October 10th to premiere their very hush-hush Spring ‘09 line. According to Creative Director Amy Christensen, their look for ‘09 is inspired by the socio-political revolution of 1970’s Cuba. Bright whites and fuschias are juxtaposed against darker blues and military greens in linen crochet, bamboo, and organic cotton twill. Graphic tees will espouse quotes from the greatest revolutionaries of the 60’s and 70’s.

Company founder, Ryan D. Christensen has always made education and activism central goals of his line. Emphasizing equal rights and cultural harmony through the medium of fashion, “We evoke the enlightened rebel.” Sameunderneath continues to do just that for Spring 2009, reflecting the hope and excitement of the current election season by invoking the spirits of last century’s greatest cultural heroes.  ¡Vivá Revolución! 

Cara Remington is a woman fascinated by an age gone by, when quality and craftsmanship were part and parcel to manufacturing, before massive factories began producing cut rate versions of everything. As the sole designer at Lucy Notions, Cara weaves into each of her stunning headbands the quality of the past by incorporating vintage fabrics from Japan, Austria, Italy, and beyond. She diligently searches out her raw materials at rag trades and flea markets, estate sales and thrift stores. Today, Lucy Notions can be found at the accessory counters of top quality sellers like Henri Bendel (NY), Fred Segal (LA), Boutique 1 (Dubai), and a short list of well-curated online eco shops.

Named after her mother, Cara launched Lucy Notions in 2003 with a desire to bring art to fashion, which is exactly what she’s doing. Cara never intended to have an “eco” line by recycling used materials into beautiful new treasures; she simply loves couture quality vintage fabric.

Between her Newport Beach, California home and her country studio in Harrisburg, Missouri, Cara attends to each and every detail of crafting the headbands herself: sourcing the material, stretching and buffing the plastic form, cutting the fabric, hand applying each swarofski crystal, and stitching together the final piece.

When she travels to work with the buyer at Bendel’s and overhears young girls asking at the counter why Lucy Notions headbands are so much more expensive than other brands, Cara bristles with the knowledge that other handbands are generally cheap factory-made knock-offs. To Cara, “It’s about handcrafting things of beauty. There’s no one else out there putting the work into these…There’s nothing mass market about what I do.” This statement is so obvious when you hold one of Cara’s pieces in your hand, they are indeed “hair couture.”

Much of the Lucy Notions collections are one-of-a-kind, mainly because Cara can’t bare the thought of repetitive tasks. Her recent Yuko Collection features gorgeous one-of-a-kind pieces, made from vintage kimonos. A Lucy Notions band is a unique and glamorous way to keep a wild mane tame on an elegant evening out, or to bring a little diva flavor on your next trip to the farmer’s market. Watch out when you wears Lucy Notions though, because Cara states with confidence, “These are man magnets.”

Launch Date: Fall 2006
Location of Headquarters: Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada
Location of Manufacturing: Halifax, NS and Vancouver, BC
Number of Staff: 1

Deep on the Canadian peninsula of Nova Scotia, Anna Gilkerson designs, cuts and sews deux fm (pronounced deux femmes).  Her mission is clear: Inspire ethical and environmental awareness by implementing sustainable action through innovative design. Well, luckily for all of us eco style fanatics, Anna’s “innovative design” does not sacrifice an ounce of sophistication in her pursuit of ecological responsibility. deux fm exudes a 1940’s-era romantic elegance, while serving you modern women’s business attire in recycled and sustainably harvested fibers. Ces deux femmes sont très chic et très vert!

I source from local used clothing outlets and store/factory close-outs. I also know a few vintage clothing dealers and I can get (in bulk sometimes) great vintage fabrics or home textiles.
I use my production scraps as well…Our recycled fabrics are often broken down from other garments that are not relevant to modernity. I love the fabrics I can get from some of the most hideous garments. I shop in the plus size section a lot so we can get more of the good stuff!

We source all of our products, fabrics, accessories, etc. in Canada- maybe about 2% in the US. We produce all of clothing in Canada. I support Canadian fabric suppliers because I want to cut down on fuel for travel and I like to support as local as possible. It is not possible that Canada manufactures fabric unfortunately. Our bamboo fabrics come either from South Korea or China but they are sourced from Canadian suppliers.

Deux fm is about sustainable trends. I know that sounds like an oxymoron but it really isn’t. I am very much inspired from vintage fashions (I grew up working in a vintage clothing store) and the days of the past. All of our collections are based on classic styles that never go out of fashion…Fall 2008 was really about the working woman. Almost every woman needs a great suit. I wanted the collection to be sexy and celebrate the woman’s body while still having a sort-of polite and ladylike feel. I called the collection “Pretty Rebel” as I was seeing structured black coming back in a big way, balanced with pale and muted feminine tones and textures.

Describe the piece of clothing in your own collection that you wear more than anything else?

Personally I am all about comfort. I live in my soft wool tees for fall, I will get a lot of wear out of the pants too. I live in the countryside so dressing up generally means a t-shirt and jeans.

I think it is happening!…Companies I would never have dreamed of joining the green movement are joining in droves. I think even the topmost executives at large clothing companies are realizing that this is really happening and if they want to stay current and on the cutting edge they must adapt.

What’s next for deux fm?

We are introducing an eco swimwear line for Spring 09 and we will be coming out with our new Resort 08/09 collection of recycled bikinis…We will also be attending either Pool or Project for the first time this winter so watch out for us there!

Cradle-to-cradle describes a method of manufacturing that is extremely efficient and virtually waste-free. This phrase was coined in the 1970’s by Walter R. Stahel, and popularized in 2002 by McDonough and Braungart, authors of the book, Cradle To Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things. Cradle to cradle manufacturing is the natural evolution of cradle to grave manufacturing; cradle to grave holds companies responsible for disposing of the waste created by their products after they are no longer in use. Cradle to cradle certified production goes one huge step further and creates quality products that can be used, and then either reused or disassembled and recycled or with ease and without creating any waste.

Another level of cradle to cradle production is manufacturing items that are biodegradable and kept free of toxic dyes or materials. This is exactly how the wool for Helen Riegle’s Rain Bag is produced. In 2007, Chris Riegle, Helen’s husband and business partner, heard about a Cradle To Cradle-certified wool flannel made without toxic dyes. He sourced it from the mills of world-reknowned wool producer Pemberton. Helen took the C2C-certified wool and cascaded nickel studs down the strap and gusset, lined it with organic cotton, and trimmed it with PVC-free vegan leather trim to create the Rain Bag. Inside this spacious hobo, she put a zippered pocket, cell phone pocket, and a swivel key clip. The Rain Bag reflects the beautiful synthesis of fashion, function, and sustainable design prevalent in all of Helen Riegle’s collections.

When it comes to sustainable materials, Helen has also experimented with organic cotton, recycled polyester, hemp, recycled leather and micro-suede, which Chris has painstakingly sourced for the line. What’s next for HER? They will soon be incorporating a new Cradle To Cradle-certified material dubbed “eco-intelligent polyester” for the upcoming 2008 Holiday season. Chris explains, “It has been designed to be safely and perpetually used, reclaimed, and reused in high-quality products… not just downcycled into something less…For Spring/Summer 09, we plan to incorporate recycled cotton into several of our signature styles.” HER Design has consistently led the handbag industry in conscious design and remains a shining example of their credo: “Challenge conventions, live responsibly, embrace style.” Sustainability most definitely reigns at Helen Riegle.