Analogue Chic

Posts Tagged ‘green’

'Tis the season… for a revolution.

(Unfortunately, I can't properly credit this photo because the website I found it on is defunct, and the squawkbox url has since changed hands. But it's darn clever.)

Do you know how many proverbs there are in the English language having to do with money? Exactly 253.* 

Have you ever wondered why there are so many monetary proverbs? It's because they're all true.

Money talks, it makes the world go round, and you should seriously consider putting your money where your mouth is.  It also ended apartheid in South Africa.

But I'm not going to rant or preach here.

I'll just pass on to you these online shopping sites that will help you do some good if you choose to spend money this holiday season.  Whether you want to choose sustainable products and support the environment, or buy products made with traditional techniques and fair labor, these links will be a great starting point for you.

Cosa Verde

An online showroom of sustainable, handmade items, categorized by environmental and ethical impact (recycled, vegan, etc.).

National Green Pages

A directory of all kinds of businesses that are dedicated to the environment, audited by Green America (consumer advocacy group that also works with Ebay on World of Good, below.)

Equal Exchange

Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, cocoa, and gifts.

Ten Thousand Villages

Well known company, with brick & mortar stores, that offers fairly traded gift items.

Ebay's World of Good

Ebay's marketplace for environmentally and socially positive products.

SmartlyGreen.com

A portal for all of the brands and online shopping sites you already use, which donates a % commission to Cool Earth, a rainforest initiative.

Don't forget non-tangible gifts as well– there are lots of ways to make a donation to a cause, or support the environment and sustainable economic development, in honor of your loved one.  Be sure to check the organization's ratings before sending a payment.

*This statistic is based on nothing but my very active imagination.  Who has time to go counting money proverbs?…

Ideal for poor college students, birthday parties, pre-prom prep …

Let's redesign the sewing circle, and re-imagine your wardrobe!

Get the details here!

A counter-example, if that wasn’t clear. Image via Art in Liverpool. Sorry.

Lots of interesting links in fashion news this week:

The Wall Street Journal tells us about a new cable channel with a Home Shopping Network premise, but featuring handmade housewares and indie designers, and informs us that there is a huge market out there waiting to be tapped.

At the same time, consumers are increasingly hungry for independent designs. In part, brand fatigue is to blame. Big fashion labels sell the same products the world over, diminishing their logos’ cachet. Their designers work on collections a year or more in advance of the clothes’ appearance in stores and rarely—if ever—meet the people who eventually buy them. Moreover, many consumers lost faith in luxury brands after watching prices soar during the boom, then plummet during the crash in the fall of 2008. The slashed sales prices raised questions about the true value of branded goods.

[...]  Now, even the huge brands are striving to establish authenticity—sometimes trying a bit too hard. British authorities recently banned Louis Vuitton ads that showed an artisan laboring on a bag, saying the ads suggested, falsely, that its bags are handmade.

The article gives a shoutout to CT’s own Trish Ginter, co-founder of the indie designer showcase Smashing Darling, and designer at Frock in Chester.

The Business of Fashion had more to add on Louis Vuitton:

A month earlier, Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH [Louis Vuitton's parent company], told investors at the luxury group’s annual shareholders meeting in Paris of his plan to take a 49 percent stake in Edun, the sustainable clothing label founded by Bono and Ali Hewson. “LVMH shares the vision and ethical values of Edun, a pioneer in ethical apparel, and its founders,” he said later. “LVMH is committed to advancing both the social and environmental aspects of sustainable development, which plays an intrinsic role in the development of our brands.”

The BoF article also discussed the struggle to balance good design, profitability, and sustainability:

Stella McCartney became known as a chic designer label that’s convincingly green, not as a green designer label that is convincingly chic. Speaking to The Business of Fashion, McCartney was clear about her priorities: “Obviously, I don’t use any animals which has a huge impact on the planet. But my first job is to make desirable, luxurious, beautiful clothing for women to want to buy. Then I ask myself: can I do this in a more environmental way without sacrificing design? If I can, then there is no reason not to. I think that women buy my product because they like how it looks, feels, fits and being sustainable is an added extra bonus.”

This emphasis on desirability and design may come as no surprise from a graduate of London fashion college Central St. Martins. But interestingly Ali Hewson, who founded Edun primarily as a means to do good, sees it no differently. She told BoF: “In the fashion business desirability is sustainability! This point has taught us over the years that we must produce quality clothes. Fit must be right, design details correct.”

Julie Gilhart, influential fashion director at Barneys New York, and an early proponent of sustainable fashion, sums it up bluntly: “Consumers respond to good design. Design and desirability must come first.” When deciding whether to spend on fashion, the consumer looks, above all, for good design. Ecological or ethical considerations are still very much secondary.

You can see Julie Gilhart riff on design and sustainability in this video.

You can also read my thoughts on these subjects in two previous posts, here and here.

Lovin’ my peeps at Cosa Verde.

My Mr. Bing Foldover Clutch has been featured on their homepage today!  Click over and peruse all the sustainable handmade goodness over there!

Click the link in my previous post about this bag to learn more about the name and the inspiration.

Photographers documenting street fashion have been getting a lot of press lately: The Sartorialist, Garance Dore and others are the newer kids on the block; New York Magazine has The Look Book; Bill Cunningham has been at the game for much longer at the New York Times.  (Video interview here. I was introduced to Mr. Cunningham’s work by this great New Yorker article.) 

And there’s a "democratization" process taking place, I think, in fashion in general, to the point where designers are actually using the street as their venue of choice for shows.

Given my dormant aspirations to be a photographer, and my current fashion projects, I’ve come up with the scheme of putting a similar street-fashion feature here on the blog. 

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