(I just realized looking around for a couple of images to illustrate this post that Deborah had recently been interviewed on this blog by Jenn Breckenridge. She’s such a popular girl! I hope I can put a new spin on the line of questioning… RemyC.)

(10500 Magnolia Boulevard, NoHo)

Deborah, you can fairly be described as one of the doyennes of sustainable fashion, having been one of the first designers to do it at this level. Yet, you based yourself in LA when at the time the epicenter of fashion was still New York. Was it the rock & roll lifestyle vs. the wear nothing but black crowd which made you settle in the City of Angels?

I agree about you view of New York. That is why I decided to attend Parsons School of Design and then start my business in Manhattan after having worked almost 10 years, and I love the city so much and consider it such an important part of not only my education but a part of who I am today. It was a different city in many ways when I lived there in the 80’s as we all know. I relocated to Los Angeles because of many reasons. Part of which is that I’m a farmer’s daughter from Minnesota and I really wanted a more personal space, gardens, flowers and trees, and the ocean. And a dog who could have a yard.
 
LA and Hollywood being one and the same, has there been as much concern for green costume design in films and music videos as there is with the community of actors and performers now urging the world to go green?  

I think there probably is a concern for that idea. I have personally met and worked with some actresses who are very visible in the green lifestyle, such as Daryl Hannah and Wendie Mallick. Some of the actresses who wear my clothing I don’t meet personally but I would like to meet them personally of course. It’s easier to get a sense about someone when seeing them in person. Many times their stylists request clothing for them.

I find that people like my clothing on a personal level but the added benefit is that I’m eco.
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Hi Starre, you’re Eco-Chick, one of the most widely read, prolific and respected green fashion bloggers on the web. Yet, you’ve been writing about hard core environmental issues for many years… you have a BS in Geology, a minor in Biology from Syracuse and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia. What made you pick sustainable fashion, of all things, as your preferred avenue to chronicle green change?

I am a total science nerd and I love being outdoors, learning about rocks, plants, insects and ecology. I taught environmental science to kids and worked as an environmental scientist when I first got my undergraduate degree. But I feed on change, and I’ve always loved writing, and creative endeavors seem to be endlessly challenging and they keep my restless mind entertained. I come from a family of artists and scientists, and I’ve always wanted to combine the two (and am fascinated by those few souls who also look at the world this way). So how could I bring together science, design, visual art and show my love for this amazing planet?

Fashion seems ideal to me since it has the science (fabric and fibers, production and dyeing of textiles, growing plants sustainably–or not) combined with design and artistry. I have a very strong aesthetic sense even though I was never a visual artist (my father and stepmother are illustrators and painters though). I was raised by my grandmother who taught me to sew and fostered an appreciation for clothes and design and as a child. I wouldn’t really go shopping for clothes- we would go to the fabric store and I would pick out - even when i was just 5 and 6- fabrics and dress patterns and she would make them with me. When I wasn’t making clothes and quilts with her, I was off in the woods, covered in mud, exploring the wetlands that my house was built on.

My grandmother also designed our home herself, and it was built in 1967 so it was super-modern, but at the same time totally integrated into the environment it was sited on; she was inspired by Russell Wright (no relation to Frank Lloyd Wright) who produced the iconic American Modern dishware line and also built an incredible house in the town I grew up in called Manitoga. Every room in the house has an indoor and outdoor component (even the bathrooms!) and a tree trunk is a main support in the center of the house. Rock floors, and seasonally-changing cabinets were design elements. The house I grew up in had similar features and was built on a rock ledge, so we were totally integrated into our surrounding landscape. We kept huge organic gardens and ate local meat and eggs from our neighbors. All of these influences and dichotomies- a modern house on a dirt road, art and design coupled with fresh food and the real physical labor of gardening, freedom to create and respect for the local ecosystem….It was an incredible place to form an aesthetic!

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Honestly, the concept of disposable plastic items has got to be one of the most stupid ideas in human history. On par with nuclear energy, disposable plastics are made for a one-time use, then end up as toxic waste that lasts almost forever. It’s “convenient” and cheap in the short term, and polluting and cancer-causing in the not-so-short term. A shocking factoid: Americans use 2.5 million bottles every hour. Oh my.

So, what to do my friends?  Make a resolution to stop using them. It’s easy. Get yourself the most fabulous water bottle you can find and carry it with you wherever you go. Concerned about water quality? Pepsi’s brand of bottled water, Aquafina, is the best-selling brands of water in the country. It’s tap water. Coca-Cola’s brand Dasani, tap water. If we have filtered tap water at home and the office, why don’t we just fill up our reusable water bottles when we’re there? Much cheaper. Much chiccer. Concerned about what your friends will think if they’re not doing it yet? Believe me, they will be in a few months and then they’ll be so impressed about what a trendsetter you are. And with all the fabulous choices for water bottles on the market, the most difficult thing about getting into the habit of using them is picking which one you want!

OUT…………………………………………….IN
Plastic Shopping Bags……………….Fashionable Canvas Totes
Poland Spring and Evian…………..SIGG and Klean Kanteen
Plastic Utensils……………………………Reusable To-Go Ware
Disposable Party Plates……………..Mismatched Vintage Dishware
Styrofoam Takeout…………………….Eating In

Is the trend apparent? With Peak Oil on the horizon, our petroleum-based products are naturally headed OUT. Conscious and cute everyday tools are very much IN. Let’s change the number one selling item at Whole Foods from plastic bottled water to stainless steel water bottles, and turn our future landfills into future land trusts.

What does this sign in the middle of a field have to do with sustainable fashion? Well, it’s a long story… To those of you with cable TV, paying a premium to view Discovery’s newly launched Planet Green channel, you recognise the name of the town in Kansas that was destroyed by a tornado last year and now the topic of a reality show produced by Leo DiCaprio, chronicling its reconstruction as a LEED certified community.

Here is where it all gets a little confusing. Fashion sets trends, and trends set fashion. In the 90’s we experienced a 70’s revival. This new century the 60’s are back in vogue, along with it a feeling we never had a chance to finish what we started during the Woodstock era. Suddenly a fresh crop of internet billionaires are discovering the hippies were right, investing in what we should have invested into 30 years ago.

Green technology is on fire… Green architecture a religion… trickling down to all forms of design… photovoltaics, wind power, nano this and nano that… organic agriculture… sustainable fabrics, fair trade, electric cars, huge sails for cargo ships, bio-fuels for Virgin Airlines, we’re all rediscovering our connection with Earth and Universe, seeking balance. It’s a good thing, at long last.

But here’s the glitch, fashion waits for noone, fashion only lasts a season, and to who knows which way the wind blows, comes the spoils of the next revolution. Feels to me green jumped the shark, not that it should, or that it would, because we need to fix the mess we made, but the whole idea of “green” needs to evolve beyond crass commercialism, into something much more subtle, subdued, with nuances and undertones, so it grows new converts, and doesn’t lose the hardcore element that brought it to life in the first place.

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Courtney Dailey is based in LA where she does double duty as a fashion photographer and a professional make-up artist. We met on Model Mayhem, or Myspace, can’t remember… I pride myself having become the green conscience of Model Mayhem, tracking new talent to see who the next green stars are going to be. Courtney and I shared a singularity of vision. She joined GreenMUA, a project we started to assist professional make-up artists to green-up their kits. I asked her to be my first interview victim on the Greenloop.

Lips Nvey Lip Lustre Armor Rose, Eyes Alima Cosmetics-Azure Model Amie

Hi Courtney, where are you from originally, what brought you to LA? Couldn’t have been clean air!

Ha, Yes, it was most definitely not the air quality! I was born and raised in Detroit. I made the “big move” in November ‘07. In recent years, Detroit’s economy had been in a serious and vicious decline. Despite my love for the Motor City, I needed to find an outlet for my creativity, where I could still survive as an artist. I thought about New York, but my prerogative is, if one is going to pick up their lives; pack their cats and rabbit for a road trip, the destination should be somewhere warm.

Is it true what the mayor says, Los Angeles is fast becoming the capital of green fashion? There’s such a buzz with Hollywood celebrities going green, how does it affect professionals in your industry? What changes does it bring?

There is a lot of Buzz about the green movement, and it’s refreshing. I think LA has long been ahead of the game. Coming from the Midwest where post consumer recycling isn’t a cost efficient option, Los Angeleno’s recycle everyday. (more…)

Due to numerous stigmas surrounding the herb marijuana, hemp fabric has been a tough sell in the fashion market until just recently. Though “industrial hemp” is legal to use in the US, growing it is not. Hemp fabric is generally imported to the US by China, Hungary, Thailand, Romania and Chile. The farming of hemp requires no pesticides or herbicides, requires little water, and actually helps clear soil of toxins by a process called “phytoremediation,” making it far superior to cotton production. As sustainability struts to the forefront of fashion, designers have started taking note of this fiber, once thought of as the type of material found in flour sacks, not Sak’s Fifth Avenue.

During the California Gold Rush of the 1850’s, this extremely durable fabric was used for the very first pair of jeans by Levi Strauss. Even with all the cultivation challenges, hemp still makes its way into plenty of American closets today. Simple, Adidas, and New Balance are using this strong, biodegradable material for their super fly sneaker styles. Eco fashion lines like Habitude and Mountains Of The Moon have sexy,

sophisticated dresses and tops of hemp and silk blends. Recent collections by fashion giants Armani and Dolce & Gabbana have featured fiercely taylored hemp suits. Green bag designers Helen E. Riegle and GreenOne utilize this fabric for their handbags and totes, and emerging brands like Hoodlamb are using uber warm hemp-based fake fur in their urban wear.

Though the DEA may still find the use of industrial hemp controversial, the eco fashion world has embraced it for its durability, not its smokability.

Treehugger has interviewed Kate Fletcher, a highly respected pioneer in the eco-fashion industry about her new book, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys. According to Treehugger, she has worked on developing sustainability in fashion and textiles since the early 1990’s, she is widely published on the topics of ecodesign in fashion and textiles, she has advised many well well known eco labels, including: Marks and Spencer, Chelsea College of Art & Design, People Tree, Intermediate Technology Development Group and The Salvation Army. Kate has also deep dived into the topic on her own via her pet projects 5 Ways, Demi, and The Perfect T-shirt. Most recently, she published her first book, ‘Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys‘, which hit shelves earlier this year. The book grapples with the importance and complexity of eco-fashion from the ground up (literally) and takes our understanding of this subject to new levels. Read the interview here. You can also read TH’s review of Kate’s book here. Kate also consulted extensively for a group called Leaf Certified, (you will not be able to view their site yet until they go live) a group Greenloop will be working with very closely in near future. Stay tuned!

Though I have yet to meet her, I think Kate Fletcher and I have long been on the same page. When I founded Greenloop, before I even knew Kate was out there, I did it based on the notion that fashion can be a powerful vehicle for change and market based environmental advocacy. It is a highly visible, accessible way to start a conversation about a topic that is a part of our every day lives and self expression. Wear it. Share it. Give it. Talk about it. It’s working…

It is with a heavy heart (though FAR from a discouraged one) that I share with you, and I am sure I am not the first, that Nau, Portland based sustainable retailer, announced on Friday, May 2nd, just 14 months after launching the business, that they will be ceasing operations. Read below for more details from the Oregonian.

May 2, 2008:

Portland-based retailer Nau closes after 14 months

“Shortly before noon on Friday, the Portland company posted on its Web site a statement, ‘Goodbye for Nau,’ indicating it was ceasing operations. In near indignant language, company officials blamed its failure not on its ambitious business plan but on tight U.S. credit markets

‘At this time, investors are loath to invest in anything; especially, it appears, a company like Nau that has the audacity to challenge conventional paradigms of what a business should be,’ the statement said.

Industry experts and local venture capitalists said the company also suffered from a flawed business model and possibly missteps along the way. Nau’s plans, mostly rooted in the name of environmental stewardship, ate through lots of cash, required an ambitious rollout of stores and relied on consumers to change their shopping habits, critics said.

Its closure casts a pall on Portland’s drive to be a leader in sustainable business practices, something Nau had come to symbolize nationally.

‘It’s not a good day for Oregon, actually, said Mike Edwards, former CEO of Portland-based apparel retailer Lucy Activewear. ‘Portland is the activewear apparel capital globally. A lot of new companies are moving in to take advantage of that labor pool. We don’t need to scare them.’

In an interview, Nau vice president for marketing Ian Yolles declined to say how much Nau fell short of its fundraising goals. The closure will eventually put 60 people at Nau’s headquarters in the Pearl District out of work. It also employs 35 in its five stores, which include one opened less than two weeks ago in Los Angeles.

‘It doesn’t mean the ideas we’re associated with are unattainable and it doesn’t mean they aren’t important,’ Yolles said. ‘There’s an urgency for businesses to operate in a way that demonstrates leadership to a sustainable future. But it is a very sad day.’

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