Yesterday, I met up with Joshua Katcher (profiled a little while back in my Fashion Love Stories), who has very recently launched a range of superethical footwear, clothing, and eyewear — his products are not only vegan but organic and fair-trade.
We discussed all the reasons that it’s crucial the fashion industry follow a sort of protocol to ensure the clothing we buy isn’t being produced, without our knowledge, in sweatshops from harmful materials. It’s shocking to think that the majority of the cotton clothing we’re wearing is the product of farms where the workers, and nearby residents, are exposed to the harmful effects of pesticides. It’s scarier still to consider that this is just the first phase of environmental and social havoc with regards to textile and garment construction. With all the mass-produced clothing we can buy on almost any high street around the globe for the price of a cheap lunch, it’s little surprise that 70 percent of all clothing produced (often in very poor conditions) ends up as landfill — but it still blows my mind. Give your clothes to charity at the very least, not the garbage bin!
It’s statistics like this that make me feel a lot better about being a thrift obsessive — and thank goodness it seems most of the fashion industry is similarly loving vintage! It really is the most sustainable way to shop. But it is also heartening to know that here in the States we have some incredible ethical fashion labels creating chic and cool products that don’t have that potato-sackish/vegetable-dyed/New Age hempish vibe — just because it’s ethical doesn’t mean it has to look like dead stock from a random world-music festival (’90s-era hippies from Bellingen Global Carnival, I do love you, though!). Here are some affordable ecologically sensitive alternatives to high-street shopping. It’s inspiring that these are just a few brands I have come across, and there are so many more based in New York alone. It would seem this is a trend with traction.
Brave GentleMan
An online store for “the indulgent heroes, protectors, defenders, adventurers, and men with lionhearts,” curated by Joshua Katcher. Everything available on bravegentleman.com is cruelty-free and sustainably produced in fair-labor conditions. Katcher’s Novacas of Moo Shoes for Brave GentleMan, a fall 2011 collection of four vegan shoes and boots, is available to order now, as are custom-made suits and chino pants, among other gems.
Organic by John Patrick
“Organic is fashion first,” says designer John Patrick, and his designs for his label Organic by John Patrick are proving the statement to be true. Fashion-forward and superchic, the label has been steadily picking up a solid fashion fan base since launching in 2003, this season winning over NYFW with a prairie-inspired collection of chunky knits, floral dresses, lace skirts, plaid blazers, and leather shorts.
Artists and Revolutionaries
Designer John-Michael Schlotter’s eco-friendly fashion label, based in Brooklyn, uses organic cotton and hemp, low-impact dyes, and hand-dyeing techniques to create unisex, one-size, entirely unique garments. All Artists and Revolutionaries garments are locally produced in Greenpoint, and the flagship store is at 200 Franklin Street.
Veja Sneakers
Veja’s cute organic-cotton canvas preppy sneakers with sustainably harvested Amazonian-rubber soles are the perfect fit for summer. All styles of Veja shoes are made in Brazil from ethically sourced materials in a FLO-CERT and EcoLabel certified factory.
Bodkin
Bodkin’s designer, Eviana Hartman, was the fashion features editor at Nylon, a fashion writer at Vogue and Teen Vogue, and the founding columnist of “EcoWise” in The Washington Post before launching her ethical clothing line. Studying under the incredible architect (and personal hero of mine) William McDonough inspired her interest in sustainability — something that manifested itself as a women’s collection manufactured in the U.S. using organic cotton, organic wool, artisanal dyes, recycled polyester, closed-loop cellulosic fibers, and dead-stock fabric. Seems people have taken notice: Not only has Bodkin become a well-loved New York label, but it was named the inaugural recipient of the Ecco Domani Sustainable Design Award.
Le Labo
Le Labo fragrances are 100 percent vegan — as are founders Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi (all “musk” and other ingredients are synthesized). The two are changing the fragrance industry through their commitment to aesthetic olfactology, the environment, and animals, and all of their perfumes are unisex.
Samantha Pleet
This Brooklyn-based womenswear designer proves without a shadow of a doubt that eco-fashion has moved well beyond its New Age, grassroots beginnings. Pleet’s whimsical, retro-inspired mod-rocking designs are just about the cutest things around — and they’re all created locally from sustainable materials.
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Tags: Ethical
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