Frank Angiuli is the owner of Natural High Lifestyle, a “California Lifestyle” boutique. Natural High supplies ethical clothing, accessories, and yoga gear to the beachtown of Santa Monica, CA. They also have their own eco clothing line which they provide wholesale to quality shops like Fred Segal. Here’s what Frank had to say in response to our article earlier this week, which was a question for both ethical style creators and consumers, Eco Fashion: Are We Making A Difference?

“No question that the industry has changed its focus pretty significantly over the past few years when it comes to promoting green. This alone is a positive thing, requiring individuals and companies alike to take stock of what they are doing well, and what they can do better in regard to serving our environment for long term well being. That said, we are starting to see the scope of this issue, and how intertwined elements of this vast economy are, from alternative fuel impacting feed stocks, to farming practices and water use abuses to inefficient manufacturing processes and disposable fashion shipped around the world.

The days of bringing awareness to the environmental movement at the expense of ones own individual impact needs to wind down. We, as consumers must check in with our own lifestyles and take account of the impact we have across the board. Finding ways to make our lives simpler and more efficient, while inspiring others to do the same. Live local, act global, be the change you wish to see in the world, if not us, who, if not now, when. These are the mantras of 2008 as they were in the moment they were first spoken. We need action on all levels, government, corporate, and consumer, every time the opportunity to improve presents itself.

I highly recommend this movie for its attempt to effect the social view of consumption at its core… The Story Of Stuff.”

Thanks for that perspective Frank. Definitely check out the intro to The Story of Stuff above. Anyone else? Please comment below or send us your response to this question, along with some photos for us to post.

I just wanted to take a moment to check in with you. Yes, you, the readers of this blog who represent a good slice of the eco fashion heads in the United States. I imagine you not only read In The Loop, you are in the loop on greener garment trends. Some manufacturers like Natural High Lifestyle and Patagonia, as well as customers of hemp designs and vintage clothing stores, have been leading the eco fashion pack for at least a decade or more. Most of the sustainable fashion designers and junkies in the U.S. just realized very recently what a huge impact the clothing industry has on the world at large. From the destruction of ecosystems through cotton pesticides to the abuse of children in foreign sweatshops, what we buy, sell, design, or manufacture has a massive ripple effect on society and nature. It turns out that shopping does matter after all. So as Earth Day 2008 approaches, we must pause to ponder the question…Are we making a difference? Do you notice major changes in the availability of ethically-made garments and fabrics in your neck of the woods? Do you see any improvements in the communities and ecosystems most effected by the apparel industry?

This is the beginning of a conversation with the fashion industry-those who buy, make, and sell clothing-to suss out if all this hoopla of green fashion shows, eco haute couture designs, benefits, speeches, books, blogs, podcasts, and changes in consumer habits have made a damn bit of difference. Please leave a comment below and let us know what you see happening (or not happening) with eco fashion in your area…and your closet. Or, if you’re feeling super spunky, send us your perspective with a few photos and we’ll post it here on In The Loop.

Seriously, leave a comment, don’t be afraid. It’ll take two minutes and we’ll love you for it. The Comments section is just below this photo, right down…there↓. Thanks.

Cosmetics Professionals Are Starting to Go Green
By Starre Vartan for The Daily Green

Though it may feel like makeup is a necessity when you wake up exhausted, hungover, or both, in reality our little pots and tubes of color are extravagances. And like four-dollar coffees, frosted-to-death cupcakes and doggie sweaters, these little indulgences are what makes life fun.

But at what cost do our good times come, to both our health and that of the planet (which is really one and the same)? I’m not the only one who thinks that life’s little luxuries should come with zero impact; if it’s not necessary then the first rule should be “do no harm.”

Good thing the beauty industry is catching on. Following in the wake of sustainable fashion, less-toxic makeup is now available everywhere from the drugstore (Physician’s Formula’s new Organic Wear line) to makeup megastore Sephora.) But for a serious selection of the most toxin-free cosmetics, check out online retailers Kaia House and Futurenatural.

We know that consumer pressure can encourage companies to consider the impact of their products, but the makeup industry also works with professional makeup artists (pro-muas) who can have influence on both the companies’ products they use and the clients they work with. Greenmua has a great listing of companies, articles and links for pro makeup artists who are interested in making their industry more sustainable.

I spoke with the Australia-bred Emma Pezzack, the owner and founder of Futurenatural, about Earth-friendly makeup for regular women and the new move by makeup artists to bring these products into the pro makeup arena. Read the interview with Emma…

To learn more about what’s in your makeup bag, check out the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

This week, US jeans labels the National Jean Company and Earnest Sewn will host a fashion to kick off a five day charity initiative which will result in old denim clothes being recycled into cotton insulation.

The fashion show will take place at Slate Lounge in New York where entry to the show will require the donation of an old pair of jeans. Consumers will also be able to donate denim clothes at the National Jean Company’s New York stores from 8 – 13 April.

Donated jeans will go to the ‘Cotton. From green to blue’ project run by Cotton Inc., which is an environmentally aware initiative where denim is recycled into ‘UltraTouch’ natural cotton fibre insulation and is donated for rebuilding houses in the hurricane-affected Gulf Coast region.
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The A to Z of Eco Fashion: All you ever need to know about clothes. I guess we can just call it a wrap now. No one need write on eco-fashion ever again since everything you need to know about clothes is all right here. Well…maybe not. I can still think of a thing or two to say. But honestly, it is very well done, covering topics from banned substances to the concept of a ‘triple bottom line’, and everything in between, not to mention before and after. They might need to sing the ABC song a time or two again as they have “R” in there both before “S” and after “T”, they left out the Fair Trade header, but the discussion is there; K is M.I.A as far as I can tell, and the “X” is for eXport. Nonetheless, I am far from perfect in my editorial endeavors, so let’s not get bogged down in the grammatical, or in this case, alphabetical, details…. just read it. Here’s the A to Z:

A year in Eco Fashion, Banned substances, Conscious consumerism, Design pioneers, Environmentally friendly, Fair trade, Garment workers, Hemp, Inexpensive, Junior buyer, (No K) Lead times, Multi-stakeholder ethical trading initiatives, Natural dyes, Organic cotton, Polyester, Questions for brands and retailers, Reduce, reuse, recycle, Schools, Triple bottom line, Reducing negatives, Upcycling, Vegetable tanned leather, Wash less, wash green, Export processing zones, Yumbo, Columbia, and Zermenegildo Zegna.

Carol Tanenbaum recycles her good taste into hand-picked vintage treasures from the Olden Days (you know, back when cell phones didn’t have TVs in them.) She has an amazing collection of costume jewelry from decades past, although she seems a little light on the jelly bracelets from the eighties that you could get from those gumball machines at the grocery store. But seriously, let her do the work for you when looking for great vintage stuffs- she’s gonna do a better job than you anyway, and she makes it easy. As easy as watching an episode of The Hills on your cellular phone while driving your hovercraft over our new capitol city of Las Vegas.

www.caroletanenbaum.com

(from www.thegreenset.com)

Friday is a good day to look back at what was in the news this week on the eco-fashionable front lines. Since we have already covered and re-covered LA Fashion week, it will be almost absent from this post. Here we go:

1. Rashida Jones, who fans of The Office may recognize as Karen Filippelli, along with partner Angela Wilcox launches a new collection of eco-friendly apparel called Laloo. While the styles are pretty basic,(we all need basics) consisting of “swingy tanks, dresses, and layerable tees in the softest organic cotton, ”what I like most about it this news is Rashida’s statement to Lucky Magazine: “It was important that everything be reasonably priced and look great on a range of body types.” I know I am not alone is saying…FINALLY! Now let’s see if it pans out. You can read more in this month’s issue. Courtesy of Ecorazzi. Image Courtesy of WireImage.com

2. What does Sustainable Fashion really mean? Apparently Fashion Group International has the answer and you can pay $25 to find out. On Tuesday, March 25th, they will be hosting, “Sustainable Fashion: What Does It Mean?” They do have some good panelists to inform the masses. Tierra Del Forte is one, and she knows what she is talking about when it comes to organic denim, and Mike Korchinsky of Wildlife Works will be sure to have some good insights on fair trade and supporting developing nations through commerce.
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Labeled “the new silk” by some for its incredibly soft texture, bamboo fabric is the center of a great debate over whether the fabric is truly eco-friendly or not. Though it is lauded by many for growing without pesticides at an average rate of 12 inches a day, eco fashion fans are concerned by the harsh chemicals it takes to break down this hardy miracle plant. As more stunning bamboo designs hit the runways, Greenloop thought it was high time to get some answers to this controversy and what we ended up with was a lot more questions.

Industry insider Bruce Dear, owner of Pure Bamboo, was featured recently on White Apricot explaining how his particular company deals with this process.

Some companies, such as ours, produce bamboo fiber via what’s called an advanced “closed loop” solvent spinning process, which has minimal impact on the environment and an economical use of energy and water. The solvent is continually recycled during the production process. So, production plant emissions into the air from smokestacks and from waste water are significantly lower in comparison to many other man-made fiber operations. The solvent to digest the bamboo pulp can be toxic, but utilizing the closed loop process, this solvent is carefully reused and not thrown into local water systems. It’s also important to note that products made from bamboo can be recycled, incinerated or digested in sewage. The fiber will usually degrade completely in just eight days in waste treatment plants.

Thorough investigations by the folks at the Organic Clothing blog yielded an opposing viewpoint…

Bamboo clothing marketers have found a variety of ways to put the most eco-friendly and sustainable face on the manufacturing of bamboo fabric. The dominant manufacturing process of hydrolysis alkalization and multi-phase bleaching is generally referred to as a rather benign process utilizing caustic soda and bleach. The chemicals used are known to create a variety of health problems and neural disorders which can be hazardous to the health of fiber manufacturing workers. If the manufacturing facility lacks adequate pollution control systems – all too common in developing countries where regulations and enforcement are nearly non-existent – then these toxic chemicals can escape into the atmosphere through air vents and smokestacks and into waterways through inadequately treated waste water disposal systems. (more…)