For the second season at New York Fashion Week, the Green Shows featured a range of global eco designers and brands sending a very clear message that New York can do green with style. The collections featured a range of ecofriendly fabrics including recycled and upcycled, organic and sustainable fabrics.
The Green Shows opened with an extravagant and elaborate couture , inspired collection, by London designer Gary Harvey featuring recycled clothes made into beautiful full skirted outfits.
Another fresh and charming collection was by Samantha Pleet whose organic cotton and wool clothes are made in a wind powered manufacturing facility in New York. Her designs are young and fresh and worn by a number of indie bands. This time her collection featured some very desirable pieces, simple but with a touch of fantasy.
JoAnn Berman’s colourful and eclectic collection was made using recycled and upcycled materials.
There was plenty more in terms of creative and wearable eco fashion at The Green Shows. John Partick Organic showed his collection at the main fashion week and has long been a shining example of Eco fashion in New York. His collection featured elegant and timeless pieces inspired by Lady Di and Joni Mitchell. Classic and nostalgic with some great tailoring.
Timberland and fashion recycling charity TRAID have collaborated on a project to supply customers with a range of bags made from 100% recycled denim, leather and reconditioned Timberland shirts and jackets.
The collaboration involves the design and production by the recycled TRAIDremade fashion label (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) of a collection of limited edition, handmade ‘eco bags’ exclusively for sale in Timberland stores.
According to Timberland, the new initiative is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to socially responsible retailing. Working closely with TRAID, the company already offers in store recycling points in its London stores and under the ‘Change Your Wardrobe, Change Their Lives’ scheme, it also offers customers 20% off new purchases when they recycle clothes they no longer need or want. TRAID then transform these clothes through their charity shops into funds to fight global poverty.
“Timberland is proud to partner TRAID, as both companies have similar goals of producing fashionable and functional products whilst maintaining a strong social conscience and positive community interaction,” said head of Timberland Marketing UK Jo Fisher.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have created this collection of TRAIDremade bags for Timberland,” added head of TRAIDremade Paula Kirkwood. “We’ve reincarnated old jackets, leathers, shirts and denims into must have bags that are fashionable, functional and ethical.”
My first reaction to this picture of of two suited men at New York Fashion Week is to laugh. I found the picture on Lela Luxe and on further reading realised that all is not as it seems. The clear plastic suit made from recycled bottles is not actually a fashion statement but more an elaborate statement to show how a suit made from recycled bottles is not what you would expect. The man on the right is wearing a suit made by Bagir, an Israel-based tailored apparel manufacturer that specializes in high-tech suiting innovations. It is made from ECOGIR™ a fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. The fabric is machine washable and can be tumbled dried so is also eco friendly in that it does not require dry cleaning.
This is another great example of ways that you can help the planet without compromising on style.
Glove Love is an initiative by Green Thing, where they take lonely single gloves that have lost their original partners, wash them and then pair them with brand new glove lovers. You can either donate single gloves, or buy a matched pair for a fiver. This shirt film/ commercial featuring the voie of Emma Thompson was filmed by Michael Wright and Mustard. A really fun way to recycle and cut down on waste, we love it. Alternatively, you could swap your old gloves on Posh-swaps.com.
Green Thing is a public service that inspires people to lead a greener life. With the help of brilliant videos and inspiring stories from creative people and community members around the world, Green Thing focuses on seven things you can do - and enjoy doing. Join people from 202 countries doing their green things and making a difference
Sam Ubhi is launching its recycled leather bag range for SS10. The eco-chic range of recycled leather bags will be on show at Pure in August. Since its interception twenty-one years ago, Sam Ubhi, the accessories label, has utilised eco friendly materials such as African horn and bone, bi-products from the world’s food industry. Now they are using yet another animal product but as the leather will be recycled, it will be helping to reduce the problem of waste and landfill.
The brand is already known for it’s use of recycled materials. Their bags made from scraps are both functional and stunning pieces which are made to last. Sam Ubhi is also showcasing a new horn and bone jewellery collection from Indonesia. The natural materials will be recycled and moulded into chunky cuffs, low hanging necklaces and chain link earrings all combined with sterling silver featuring a Sam Ubhi twist.
The Sam Ubhi brand has maintained an eco friendly ethos from the outset with all jewellery being handmade in the UK, and this year’s focus has been on moving all production to the UK.
Eco fashion is quite a general term that is bandied about quite a lot lately. As with any green or eco product their are different levels of environmental credentials and different ways that fashion and clothing can be Eco friendly. Basically Eco fashion is anything that lessens the environmental impact of clothing and fashion in some way and is more sustainable than conventional clothing. It is up to the individual buying to decide exactly how Eco friendly each piece of clothing labelled as Eco fashion is.
Organic Clothing
This is clothing made from natural fibres that are grown without the use of pesticides. Conventional cotton is grown using a lot of chemical pesticides which are damaging to the ecosystem and pose health hazards to humans. Organic cotton offers a much more sustainable option but there are also a whole host of other organic fibres including bamboo, hemp and soy which may be even more sustainable than organic cotton. There are a variety of different certifications and standards which are applied to organic fabrics, it is always worth checking that your organic clothing is certified by the relevant body. There are more details about organic clothing and certifications on Adili.
Natural Clothing
Natural clothing is made using natural fibres such as wool, silk, cotton or linen. It is better alternative to synthetic fibres which are difficult to dispose after their useful life, use petro chemicals which are a limited natural resource and have a relative large carbon footprint due to the energy used to manufacture them. Natural clothing is not necessarily sustainable, for example cotton is grown using large amounts of pestcides.
Recycled Fibres
Clothing can be made from fibres that are manufactured using recycled materials. This can include anything from rags to plastic bottles. This is a great way to reuse materials that have passed their useful life in their current form and prevent them ending up in landfill. There is also less energy used with producing synthetic fibres in this way than starting from scratch.
Recycled materials or clothes
Second hand, vintage and reworked or recycled clothing can be included in this category. It is probably the most Eco friendly type of Eco fashion as the materials do not have to be manufactured and so it is carbon neutral (or almost). It does not cause pollution as no or minimal manufacture is required and it helps to reduce waste and landfill. A really sustainable form of Eco fashion. Even better, it is usually cheaper to buy than conventional clothing, where most other forms of eco fashion are more expensive.
There are some other labels such as fairtrade and ethical clothing that are often associated with Eco fashion. Whilst these clothes often have more eco credentials than conventional clothing, they are not necessarily Eco fashion.
We are so excited there are yet more exciting activities in the refashioning, DIY, customising and restyling of vintage and second hand clothes. It is such a great way to recycle old clothes into something really new, unique and exciting. A pass time that is becoming really popular lately.
Oxfam has lauched a DIY competition with a prize of a custom garment designed by Mrs Jones and their winning garment will be featured on the online pages. Mrs Jones is the designer that Oxfam has recently brought on board to design the Oxfam DIY collection, a limited edition of 30 pieces, created using second hand clothes. Previously, Fee Doran AKA Mrs Jones has worked with some of biggest names in the industry and celebrities including Kylie and Goldfrapp.
You can enter the competition by submitting photographs of your creation to Flickr or by emailing them. Full details of the competition are on the Oxfam website. There is also a gallery of entries, great for inspiration.
Don’t forget, you can also sell your recycled, refashioned and restyled creations on www.posh-swaps.com.
Another great idea is to buy clothes cheap online, for wholesale clothing prices. After you wear them a bit, then refurbish them, to save even more money!
This week from June 22nd to 28th is Recycle Week. This is an event organised by Recycle Now each annually and is now in it’s fifth year. The theme this year is to waste less and the Recycle Now website encourages individuals to pledge their commitment to recycling more and saving less. Amongst the suggested ways to reduce waste are reducing textile waste, recycling bottles and cans whilst out and about, home composting kitchen and garden waste, reusing carrier bags and using leftovers for lunch the next day.
We can’t think of any better way of recycling clothes than by selling them or swapping them on posh-swaps.com. It is an easy to use website, free to use and best of all you either get some money or some swapped clothes as a reward for your efforts. You can also recycle your clothes by donating to charity shops and taking to clothing banks. Another great way to recycle clothes is by making them into something new. You can turn old jeans into shorts, shorten a dress or embellish a jacket.
There are so many creative ways that recycled items can be made into jewellery, here are some of our favourites:
Who would have thought of using old bicycle inner tyres to create beautiful and unique jewellery? Sasja Saptenno a designer from Holland did. She makes a range of delicate and intricate jewellery from bicycle inner tyres aswell as 3d shawls from recycled materials.
For fun colourful and stylish jewellery, I love Recycled Newspaper Jewellery. It is made from Bracelets, Brooches, Earrings and Cufflinks made of Recyclable Paper Materials including Newspaper, Sweetener Packets and Loser Lottery Tickets.
This gorgeous vintage looking bracelet made from recycled floral biscuit tins is just one of the beautiful pieces of jewellery made from recycled materials on www.the-green-apple.co.uk.
They say that diamonds are a girls best friend but for a recycled alternative to diamonds these sparkly necklaces by Kumvana Govmani are a great choice. They are made from recycled PET plastic.
If you love vintage jewellery then why not try something new made from vintage. This vintage clasp and recycled chain necklace is just one of a range of one of a kind jewellery on http://uncommonlybeautifulrecycledaccessories.bigcartel.com that is made from recycled and reclaimed materials including scrap leather, clock parts and suitcases.
The 3 R’s are used a lot to explain how you can reduce your waste and live a more sustainable life. Of the the thousands of tonnes of rubbish that are produced by UK households and business each year, only a relatively small proportion is recycled. There is still a large amount of waste that ends up in landfill when it could be recycled. In 2006, UK clothing and textiles produced up to two million tonnes of waste, 3.1 million tonnes of CO2 and 70 million tonnes of waste water. Textiles and clothing is an area where the 3 R’s can be applied very successfully for increased sustainability:
Reduce - buying higher quality clothes in classic styles that will not go out of fashion quickly is a great way to reduce your clothing waste and the environmental impacts associated with the manufacture of new clothes. Buying second hand clothes is also a great way to reduce your environmental impact.
Reuse - Always look after your clothes and repair them when they get damaged. If you get bored with your clothes or they no longer fit, you can also alter, customise them or rework them.
Recycle - Try swapping, selling or donating your old clothes to charity. If it is no longer wearable you can also take it to a clothing bank and it can be recycled as rags.
