Eco Chic | Fashion Pulse Daily - Part 2

Eco Chic

August 6, 2010

Eco-Brand LooptWorks Turns Scraps into Upcycled Style

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For FPD’s eco-conscious readers who are consistently torn between saving the planet and doing it stylishly, you’re in for a treat. LooptWorks was launched in September 2009, when some apparel industry veterans merged Pacific Northwest eco-sensibilities with their love of fashion. The line takes the top-quality scraps from big fashion brands and creates cool, contemporary separates. The city girl with an outdoorsy heart can find sleek hoodies, menswear-inspired shirts, jackets with playful pops of plaid and whimsical graphic tees that retail from $24-$180. Done in half the time, with half the resources, the finished product is a hand-numbered collectible that’s one of about 500. Better yet, each piece is double-needle and triple-needle stitched to last way into next season.

There are some crafty accessories too, like laptop sleeves made from upcycled wetsuit material (a match for Ra’mon’s avant-garde neoprene dress from Project Runway’s Season 6, perhaps?)

LooptWorks has inspired us to coin a new adage: one man’s scraps is another’s sartorial savvy.

-Kaci Hamilton

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April 29, 2010

A Week After Earth Day, You Can Still Be Eco Chic: Brands to Know

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Earth day may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be environmentally friendly and chic with your fashion-related options 364 days of the year! I recently attended a Robert Verdi Tweet This event entitled ‘Eco -Chic for Earth Day,’ and found out about some cool products that I had never heard of before! Here are my favorites, that I thought you’d like to know about:

Oboe Bags (pronounced oh-beau)  -stands for ‘One Bag One Earth’, made of reclaimed, recycled materials, are re-usable, and can fold up super small! Bags start out at about $5, depending on color and print.

Sprout Watches these watches range from 80-86% eco-friendly, and include materials such as corn resin, recycled fibers, organic cotton, bamboo,and a mercury free battery. The coolest part – it’s biodegradable! Watches retail for about $30.

Green Planet Search You can buy acreage and view all of the vegetation and animals on the land — in a rainforest reserve!  I may not be able to afford a square inch of land in NYC, but hey — at least I have a bit of rainforest to show off!

Essence of Vali Situated in the West Village, this brand takes aromatherapy to a whole new level — they are 100% natural and smell so great – terrific to mist in the air before you go to sleep!

Naya Shoes Made of recycled and sustainable materials, while maintaing a sense of style!

April 21, 2010

Celebrate the 40th Annual Earth Day (April 22nd) with Great Deals & Products!

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Burt’s Bees is leaving the hive this month with the launch of their new All-Natural Toothpaste line. Made with plaque-fighting cranberry extract, PH-balancing mineral compounds, xylitol and peppermint oil, the bees have created a buzz-worthy all-natural product that, unlike other existing brands, does not use artificial additives, like sodium for foam. The natural formula has earned the product the honorary title of the first-ever NPA (Natural Product’s Association) sealed toothpaste, boasting two versions – fluoride and fluoride-free  – of the three types: Multicare, Whitening and Kids-friendly. available in the aisles of Duane Reade, Wholefood’s, Target, Walmart and Rite Aid and hope to reach the international markets in the future. Browse burtsbees.com for free samples and $1 off coupon.

In addition to their new toothpaste, Burts Bees is honoring its co-founder who left the city and his job as a photojournalist to epitomize the simple lifestyle of a modern transcendentalist in rural Maine. A true environmentalist, he attended the first ever Earth Day and is a passionate supporter of the eco-movement. Refresh your eco-friendly status here and burt-ify yourself with an interactive survey that speaks to your environmentalist side.

Gilt Groupe is donning green too, offering an exclusive Earth Day sale on Thursday, April 22nd to benefit the National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy. Not only will the sale vend designs from Loomstate, Matt & Nat, Leigh & Luca, Dr. Hauschka and Edun, but the Gilt ‘Gift Tab’ permits shoppers to be extra eco-chic with sales of organic totes, tees, soy candles, recycled scarves and environmentally friendly make-up. Still, we’re most excited for gifting bundles of trees through American Forests – at a dollar each, why not sponsor a forest?

Rachel Roy: Recycled Reused is a new program taking off in honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, headed by this snug eco-soft cardigan available at Macys.com. Its official, dear reader, green is the new black.

-Maria Eilersen

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April 15, 2010

Green Toes, Simple Shoes (for spring 2010)

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Doing good is definitely the new chic. To be more precise, sustainability is on the minds of many brands these days —  H&M just released its first sustainable, organic collection, but before the massive chains jumped onto the environmental bandwagon, Simple Shoes was already pioneering green shoes with its dedication to using recycled and organic materials. The plastic it uses is from the water bottles you thoughtfully left in recycle bins, the squishy touch insoles in some Simple styles are from used carpet padding, and even their shoe boxes find their origins in recycled paper. To take a step further, Simple Shoes’ latest development is making biodegradable shoes: while normal shoes might take over a thousand years to degrade in landfills (incredible, right?), the brand’s new technology turns your abandoned Simple Shoes into nothing in twenty years.

All this talk of sustainability might be making you think plain or utilitarian rather than chic or cute, but Simple Shoes knows the true meaning of eco-chic. Their sneakers come in bright, contrasting colors for those of you looking for a pair that can spice up an outfit and pull you through a long trek. For Fall 2010, Simple Shoes released its Take On Ribbon shoes (picture above), which feature soles made from recycled car tires and ribbon laces made from…recycled soda bottles! Comfortable, chic and sustainable, Simple Shoes makes you feel good in every single way.

Julia and I both put our Green Toes into Simple Shoes (excuse the corniness…). They were truly comfortable and – before the rain became depressing – perfect for spring!

– Justina Lee

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