FASHION INDUSTRY STRUGGLES TO CREATE A LUXURIOUS LIFE USING
SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS, CLEAN PRODUCTION METHODS, AND FAIR TRADE POLICIES

Environmental entrepreneur, journalist, author and all around eco super-hero Paul Hawken recently said, “green consumerism is an oxymoronic phrase . . . fashion is the deliberate inculcation of obsolescence.” Mr. Hawken you are absolutely right . . . but according to today’s consumer spending reports, Vogue, and Women’s Wear Daily, “fashion” isn’t going anywhere soon.

As the prosperous continue to spend a large amount of environmental resources on the latest, it makes sense to offer eco alternatives . . . and to make them desirable. Yes, the following designers are still catering to consumerism, but they’re doing so with sustainable materials, clean production methods, and fair trade policies. Enjoy this slideshow for the latest in beautiful environmentally conscious and responsible fashion.

Linda Loudermilk (www.lindaloudermilk.com) uses fabrics made of sasawashi, bamboo, sea cell, soya and other exotic self-sustaining plants. All fabrics and subsequent garments are created by meticulously researched sustainable business practices and fair labor standards.

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Everyone has a secret splurge item, that one non-necessity you’ll go to the mat defending your right to spend good money on. My friend Alison has been known to buy herself a good purse or three. My dad throws his wallet at tools and gadgets. My husband spares no expense on vented summer sneakers that look unfathomably like crushed bugs. Me, I’ve got it bad for jeans.

I am obsessed with jeans. I love the shadow of them hanging on a clothes line, and the tidy weight of them folded in a drawer. I love their comfort, their reliability, and—now that the East Coast has caught up with the West and denim officially qualifies as eveningwear—their versatility. Growing up East Indian in New Mexico, blue jeans were the easiest way for my brother and I to shed our masala geekiness for what the Shaun Cassidy Fan Club newsletter informed us was “Californian Cool.” Better yet, jeans last for years, which is good news to a klutzy girl, and better news to a grace-deficient woman.

But my heart started breaking a few years ago, when I found out about the havoc that denim production wreaks on the environment. The dangers of conventional cotton are no small shakes, and include permanent damage to the soil, water, and farm workers exposed to a toxic cocktail of pesticides. And that’s to say nothing of the elaborate washing process most jeans go through, using dyes and chemicals and pumice stones to get the most coveted rock star finish.

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SOURCE: Lime

Policymakers and legislators often fail to consider the law of unintended consequences. The latest example is their attempt to reduce the United States’ dependence on imported oil by shifting a big share of the nation’s largest crop – corn – to the production of ethanol for fueling automobiles.

Good goal, bad policy. In fact, ethanol will do little to reduce the large percentage of our fuel that is imported (more than 60 percent), and the ethanol policy will have ripple effects on other markets. Corn farmers and ethanol refiners are ecstatic about the ethanol boom and are enjoying the windfall of artificially enhanced demand. But it will be an expensive and dangerous experiment for the rest of us.

On Capitol Hill, the Senate is debating legislation that would further expand corn ethanol production. A 2005 law already mandates production of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012, about 5 percent of the projected gasoline use at that time. These biofuel goals are propped up by a generous federal subsidy of 51 cents a gallon for blending ethanol into gasoline and a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on most imported ethanol to help keep out cheap imports from Brazil.

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MAJOR FASHION LABELS PRODUCING CLOTHES USING FABRICS MADE FROM SUSTAINABLE PLANTS LIKE BAMBOO AND CORN

It used to be that eco-conscious clothing meant hemp t-shirts and organic cotton yoga pants – fashion hadn’t yet entered the equation.

Now, not only are there smaller niche designers to choose from like Linda Loudermilk and Elisa Jimenez, who have long used eco-friendly fabrics and production methods, but major fashion labels like Stella McCartney, Versace and Diesel are also producing clothes with Mother Earth in mind, using fabrics made from sustainable plants like bamboo and corn.

“It doesn’t have to be an aesthetic sacrifice just because it’s eco-friendly,” said Jimenez at an Ingeo NatureWorks “Earth Month” event in New York on April 24. Ingeo is a synthetic fabric whose selling point is that it is made from a 100 percent renewable resource, corn, which Jimenez has been using in her collections for the past three years.

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U2 frontman, Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson are among the latest individuals to enter the highly competitive clothing business with their collection, Edun, which for the uninitiated is nude spelled backwards.

Edun’s earthy but chic chemises, jeans and dresses are created from organic materials in family-run factories in South America, India and Africa.

Together with their designer/partner, Rogan Gregory of the boutique jeans line, Rogan, the Hewsons venture is different than most in the rag trade in that their company guarantees their employees humane treatment and a fair wage. This sets them apart from so many clothing companies today that think nothing of exploiting their workers while failing to provide for their safety and well-being.

Like her famous pop star husband, Ali Hewson has for years been quietly campaigning behind the scenes for fair trade with Africa as well as working with anti-nuke causes. Edun is her first foray into the spotlight.

We at EarthWatch wish her well and name this fair-trade clothing entrepreneur our first Eco Warrior.

LIB

SHOP: EDUN