Eight eco-friendly dresses, in flattering shades of red.

The holidays are here and that means a lot of parties. This year skip the standard LBD and put on a LRD (Little Red Dress) instead. Dressing in brighter colors just seems more festive, doesn’t it? But, instead of Santa-red, go for a darker shade, such as ruby, bordeaux, rust or maroon this year. Here are our top eight eco-friendly LRDs, in no particular order. Of course, you can also use them year-round.

1. Feral Childe’s Goldbird Shift
Elegant with personality, this shift dress by Feral Childe will take you through any day and night with great style. Made in New York, from 100% hammered silk, this lovely piece works just as well as a dress as it does a tunic.
$242, Embodies

2. Prairie Underground’s Fringe Tribe
This one is for those nights you know you’ll end up dancing to the wee hours. The three tiers of fringe in front (and two in the back) will move with you. Made in Seattle from 100% Organic cotton.
On sale for $185, Embodies

3. Prairie Underground’s Basque Dress
Sweet and flirty, this dress by Prairie Underground will carry you through the seasons in ethical style. Features a soft draped neckline and close fit. Made ethically in Seattle from 100% organic cotton.
On sale for $79, Equita

4. Clothes by Majestic’s Button Down Charlie Dress
For the more casual family gatherings, this comfy dress from Clothes by Majestic is a perfect fit. Made in Portugal from a fabric made up of 40% Linen, 40% Lyocell, and 20% Cashmere. The check pattern gives it a hint of that Lumberjack Girl style we talked to you about last week.
On sale for $185, Juno & Jove

5. H. Fredriksson’s Drip Dress
Featuring a great pattern and skillful draping, this dress can easily take you from a day at the office to a night of festivities. Designed by Helena Fredriksson of H. Fredriksson, it’s made in New York from 100% silk.
On sale for $260, Juno & Jove

6. Indigenous Designs’ Organic Cotton Little Knit Dress
Perfect for a holiday party, or a hot date, this pretty little dress is hand knit by a women’s weaving cooperative in Peru. Indigenous Designs has a longstanding commitment to the environment and to the communities in which they work, which means everything they make is Fair Trade. This dress is made from organic cotton and tencel and dyed using certified, eco-friendly dyes.
On sale for $89, Jute & Jackfruit

7. Suzabelle’s Alexandria Dress
Suzabelle creates timeless pieces that are guaranteed to make every woman feel a little bit more like a lady. Each piece is ethically crafted by hand and to help offset the impact of production and transportation, designer Suzanne Jaberg donates a portion of all profits to Conservation International.
$189, Olivine

8. Stewart + Brown’s Jersey Gown
The simple, elegant draping in front and back and a subtle side slit makes this maxi dress by Stewart + Brown a good choice for the most glamorous of holiday parties. Made from 96% hemp and 4% spandex jersey it’s also insanely comfortable. Stewart + Brown are members of the 1% for the Planet Foundation, which means that 1% of total sales is donated to charity.
$210, Beklina

10 Holiday dresses that will take you from the company party to year-round glam girl.

Holiday dresses can be the bane of our December existence. If you’re lucky, you’re able to swap frocks with a friend or know of a fabulous consignment boutique that helps justify buying something new for a single party. Why not think even further with your purchase this year and how you could wear it year round? We’ve found 10 dresses that can do just that and with just a spark of creativity, can be the dress that keeps on giving.

Carrie Parry’s Red Bow Dress

Carrie Parry’s Red Bow Dress made from 100% organic wool is a feminine, shift dress with a removable bow collar that “transitions easily from a day at the office to a night on the town.” We love the festive red tights for the holidays as they add a fun style element to what could otherwise be a boring shift with safe, black tights and shoes.

(Also available in black.)

Camilla Norback’s Butterfly Sleeve Dress

If you opt for a LBD this year, try stepping outside the straight and narrow you’re seeing in popular department store windows and add a little flounce and flair. Swedish designer Camilla Norback offers up this lacy dress that is just as much country as rock and roll.

Feral Childe’s Pleated Prokofiev Dress

Known for their graphic prints and seamless melding of color and shapes, Feral Childe always produces collections with at least one truly  stand out dress. This Prokofiev Dress in their Orchestra Print is that one. What can’t you do with this dress for a holiday party or, better yet, year round?

Dahl by Alison Kelly

Alison Kelly’s dresses are just as pretty as she is. Feminine, playful and at times glamorous, Dahl dresses come in a variety of colors (see site for more), and with 10 styles to choose from, you’re bound to find a style just for you.

Kelly Lane’s Galaxy Dress

Kelly Lane’s Galaxy dress is part funk, part lady. While the top part of the dress echoes the lines of a built in shrug, the rest of the dress is a basic shift that flatters. Worn with black opaque tights for a holiday party or teal tights for a night out, this dress will shape shift its way into your style universe.

Popomomo Palazzo Pantso

H

It’s not a dress or a skirt, but these Palazzo Pants from Popomomo are a perfect fill in for holiday parties with a sexy cropped top and statement piece of jewelry or, just kicking back. The drawstring waist is an additional selling point for those holiday parties don’t come without their fair share of eating (and stomach expansion).

H Fredriksson’s Drip Dress

H Fredriksson’s Drip Dress drapes where it should and is made from a buttery soft silk. Contrast the shine of the fabric with a knitted tight post-party, add boots and a fitted black t-shirt and you have a whole other date in your Drip Dress.

Prairie Underground’s Austen Blouse

Not all parties you go to this holiday season are going to be under dim lights with a live band playing Duke Ellington. This Austen Blouse by Prairie Underground is actually long enough to wear as a dress (albeit mini), and looks great with patterned tights and a pair of shimmering flats or after your holidays are over with purple tights and heeled brown booties. This is also a great neckline to show off your favorite necklace.

Allison Parris’ Sammi Feather Dress

This is the dress that is made specifically for everything fun and fabulous that you do. Made from a raw organic silk, the Sammi Dress from Allison Parris will elevate you to a new level of sustainable with a fashion-forward feather crinoline skirt to balance out the industrial, exposed zipper on the back. Can you wear this dress again? Of course, but it better be in another state.

Lina Rennell Check Cocktail Dress

You didn’t wait all year to make a New Year’s resolution to start working out or intensifying your yoga practice, no, you did it faithfully – all year. Slip that toned body into Lina Rennell’s Check Cocktail Dress and watch how the other party goers keep using you as a gauge for how much they shouldn’t eat. This dress is for year-round and has so many possibilities for cardigan sweaters and boyfriend blazers, sandals and platform heels, this dress just brings it.

Top image: Allison Parris

Sustainable style news from EcoSalon’s West Coast Fashion Editor.

Africa Outlook – Shop San Francisco-based Wildlife Works’ Kukhanga collection, the recent relaunch features extracted elements from the vibrant prints found on the traditional Khangas worn on East African Women. The easy-to-wear line of tops, jackets and accessories are certified organic, handmade and hand screen printed by local women at their carbon neutral EcoFactory built next to the wildlife sanctuary Wildlife Works started. Thought that was impressive? The conscious company also offsets their carbon emissions throughout the entire manufacturing process through REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), which aids local wildlife preservation.

Hot Childe In the City – There’s a reason why we can’t stop loving on Feral Childe, they’re talented, original and prepared to put their money where their mouths are. Meet delectable designers Moriah Carlson and Alice Wu at their fall trunk show at SALA Boutique in Berkeley on Saturday, October 15^th. My advice? Snap up one of their flattering silk georgette dresses in the orchestra print, sure to be the sustainable must-have of the season.

LA Stories – There’s just something about California (and its not the cheese). A new exhibition “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980″ at L.A.’s Getty Museum explores the eternal appeal of the Golden State, which influenced celebrated artists like David Hockney and Ed Ruscha. But wait, there’s more… the exhibit kicks off 60 further shows all over Southern California over the next six months, including a massive public sculpture and performance art event that will take place during an 11-day festival in January.

ExclusiveFeral Childe and EcoSalon partner to create a limited edition t-shirt designed to make you feel rebellious for fashion.

The sustainable fashion community was infuriated when fast fashion giant Forever21 knocked off indie eco-label Feral Childe – and as word spread online, so was everyone else. Petitions were signed, Facebook pages were started and mainstream audiences actually took note. It wasn’t hard to see why they garnered so much support: With Feral Childe’s devoted following, Forever21 had picked the wrong little guy to pick on.

Jezebel wrote: “Forever 21 has been sued for copying more than 50 times by designers including Anna Sui and Diane von Furstenberg.”

A lack of originality is nothing new to Forever21. EcoSalon and Feral Childe collaborated to create this limited edition print. With it, we say, “Screw fast fashion!” And hello to empowering independent designers.

The organic cotton t-shirt comes in small, medium, large and extra large and features Feral Childe’s stolen print with “Stop the Fashion Pirates,” sprinkled throughout the pattern. Supplies are extremely limited! They are being sold exclusively through EcoSalon for only $30. Support real, independent, sustainable fashion and celebrate Feral Childe today.

To purchase, please inquire by emailing us: editor@ecosalon.com

Here’s a quick look at some of the fabulous ladies who proudly sport them already!

Anna Brones, EcoSalon’s Marketing Manager

Bright Young Things Designer, Eliza Starbuck

Eco-Chick founder and eco fashion It Girl, Starre Vartan

Green House of Fashion founder, Zanna Schumacher

Highlights from our event.

To kick off a green Fashion Week, EcoSalon was pleased to co-host a (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out party Thursday, September 8th in partnership with New York’s Textile Arts Center, Of Rags, and the New York City Fair Trade Coalition. Over 500 guests came by to nosh on raw, vegan brownies, swig delicious organic bubbles, talk eco fashion and check out new looks from some of New York’s rising green talent at the TAC’s new West Village location in Manhattan. We loved meeting with all the designers, artists, nonprofit folks, fair trade entrepreneurs and fashionistas in attendance.

Party goers also scooped up goodie bags and EcoSalon’s exclusive Feral Childe “Stop the Fashion Pirates” tee shirts, partial proceeds of which help to support Feral Childe, the indie brand currently embroiled in a lawsuit against Forever21. Scroll down to see some of the highlights of the event, which culminated after 10 p.m. in a surprise birthday celebration for Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost (who broke down in a shameless frenzy of gluten glory to eat at least two delicious frosting-topped cupcakes). Photo evidence, oh yes.

While we were all there to shop and support eco fashion and participate in Fashion’s Night Out, of course, these two editors have to say it: Damn if we don’t have some good looking’ readers. (Special thanks to stylish vegan man-about-town and EcoSalon’s favorite ethical raconteur Dan Mims for swinging by, as well.)

Jewelry and fiber designer Erin Considine and Textile Arts Center Co-Founder Owyn Ruck

Of Rags crew: Liz Westendorf, Liz Ricketts and Branson Skinner

Event guests mingle and talk eco-fashion

Knitwear designer Kaelyn Garcia, New York City Fair Trade Coalition’s Pamela Alimurung, Lori Imbesi, writer Alyssa Alimurung and Afia designer Meghan Sebold

EMpower’s Virginia Dooley

Designer Eliza Starbuck, EcoSalon Managing Editor Amy DuFault and EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief, Sara Ost

Our (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out bags were chock full of great goodies!

Nature vs. Future designer Nina Valenti and social media and marketing guru Camille Marchand

Designs by Feral Childe, Ohm-Mongo, and more

Kaelyn Garcia shows us knits are hot

EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost and writer and social media maven Alyssa Alimurung

Co-Founder and Editor of Green House of Fashion, Zanna Schumacher

Guests at our event were invited to cut the tags from their clothing and pin the tags to the corkboard. The Textile Arts Center will then trace the origin of their clothes, helping party attendants learn more about where their fashions come from.

Fashion writer and founder of Greta Guide and FASHIONmeGREEN, Greta Eagan

Designer Nina Valenti, Buddha Nose founder Amy Galper, RESTORE co-designer Celeste Lilore, Social Media expert and writer Anandi Premlall and the ever fabulous, RESTORE co-designer and mayor of New York, Anthony Lilore

Kestrel Jenkins, writer for Ecouterre and founder of Hoverstyle and Jill Danyelle, Occupational Therapist and founder of FiftyRX3

Erin Considine Jewelry

The feisty Eliza Starbuck ready for war wearing her exclusive Feral Childe for EcoSalon “Stop The Fashion Pirates” t-shirt

Shabd’s luxe maxi dress

Rachel Miller, Sustainable Fashion Professor at Pratt, Rhea Alexander, Founder and Designer of DIGS, DIGS architect Ali Soltani

Each designer provided an interactive statement for guests to learn more about the inspiration behind their brands.

Designers Meiling Chen and Eliza Starbuck

EcoSalon Managing Editor Amy DuFault and designer Nina Valenti

Exclusive Feral Childe for EcoSalon “Stop the Fashion Pirates” t-shirts

Source 4Style’s Elizabeth Cloyd and Afia Designer Meghan Sebold

The Textile Arts Center’s Manhattan Manager Addison Walz and TAC co-founder Owyn Ruck

Wool and the Gang takes knitwear to new heights

New York City Fair Trade Coalition’s Pamela Alimurung and DIG’s Rhea Alexander

Happy birthday to EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost!

Countdown to sugar high in 3, 2, 1…(please don’t tell Marketing Manager Anna Brones about the cupcakes).

At EcoSalon, we love our events and goodie bags – and surprises, too.

It should come as no surprise that we’d want to have a fun shindig during New York Fashion Week. So this Thursday, we hope you’ll join us for (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out at the Textile Arts Center with co-sponsors Of Rags and the New York City Fair Trade Coalition. Our event will feature fair trade and sustainable designers and shops carefully curated to tempt the tastes of all. The collaborative event, co-sponsored by EcoSalon takes place on September 8th, from 6-10 p.m. at TAC’s new Manhattan location and will gather sustainable and mainstream style purveyors under one roof.

For something extra special for Fashion’s Night Out, we decided to collaborate with eco-fashion label Feral Childe for a Feral Childe for EcoSalon t-shirt. For anyone following the story on Feral Childe with Forever 21′s knock-off of their Teepee print, we all thought a proper fashion week send-off would be to recreate the print with “Stop The Fashion Pirates,” sprinkled throughout.

And as for the goodie bags? The first 30 get them. Here’s a sampling of most of the items with more to come:

La Bella Figura Hair Perfume

NAU Wool Scarf

Pawling Print Studio cards

VivaTerra’s Yellow Jade Necklace (longest one pictured here)

Hand/Eye Magazine

20% off coupon for Be Sweet Yarn

Organic Basil Sage Mint Candles by Caterpillars (with this super cute EcoSalon label on top)

And more!

But don’t you dare just come for these goodie bags. We’ll sniff you out in a heartbeat.

Editor’s note: The shirt image at top is graciously provided by American Apparel. We’re thrilled to be using their organic tee shirts for this exclusive EcoSalon Feral Childe shirt.

EcoSalon, the Textile Arts Center, the New York City Fair Trade Coalition and Of Rags present a sustainable spin on NYC’s big night out.

For three years, Fashion’s Night Out has united designers, party-goers, retailers and shoppers alike who want to ride the wave of fashion hysteria that is New York’s famed Fashion Week. We at EcoSalon believe that for some who want to be a part of the week and yet can’t gain access to shows, this night is their one stab.

And guess what, we’re happy to oblige.

Enter (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out, a unique collective at the Textile Arts Center in Manhattan co-sponsored by Of Rags and the New York City Fair Trade Coalition and featuring fair trade and sustainable designers and shops carefully curated to tempt the tastes of all. The collaborative event, co-sponsored by EcoSalon takes place on September 8th, from 6-10 p.m. at TAC’s new Manhattan location and will gather sustainable and mainstream style purveyors under one roof.

We’ve just enjoyed looking at the RSVP list to see who’s coming!

We’re also more than a bit excited to meet you too, so stop in and meet a bevy of EcoSalon writers and editors including: Sara Ost, EcoSalon’s founding Editor-in-Chief, Managing and Fashion Editor (that’s me!) Amy DuFault, K. Emily Bond our super-hero Shelter Editor, Beauty Columnist Kristen Arnett as well as a host of writers we know you’ve read at one time or another on EcoSalon (some under false names as well). You know who you are Lagosi.

Current designers on tap for (Sustainable) Fashion’s Night Out include (below) Feral Childe who we’ll unveil a special secret about tomorrow in a separate post.

Shabd

Of Rags

The Sock Hop

Wool and the Gang

Erin Considine jewelry

Ohm-Mongo

Tompkins Point Apparel

A.D.O. Clothing

Kaelyn Garcia knitwear

Afia

Love is Mighty footwear

Digs Scarfitecture Project

Digs

A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

It’s like some dirty soap opera: An indie designer label gets knocked off by an omnipresent, fast fashion chain. The result? Copied designs are then worn by the unknowingly complicit thousands all over the world, amounting to stolen artwork never meant to be anywhere but on eco-fashion lovers’ backs. In Fast Fashion Giant Forever 21 Steals Sustainable Label Feral Childe’s Design, we scoop the unfortunate back story, speaking with the designers about the theft and pending lawsuit.

Foodie Underground columnist Anna Brones is on vacation in Sweden right now, almost off the grid – in this week’s Foodie Underground: Appreciating Simple Food, we get to sit alongside Anna as she’s forced to take the time to eat in quiet and steps away from everyday life. (She even inspired this editor to eat outside and not at the computer for lunch.)

EcoSalon columnist Abigail Wick advises that eating in is a league apart during the getting-to-know-you phase of dating. Eating in ushers a new level of intimacy to a budding relationship. “Maybe he’s dropped by your house for an aperitif before going out to dinner, which is all well and good, but preparing him a meal is a sensual and spiritual act that lends a new level of meaning to dating,” says Wick. This week’s Sex by Numbers: At Home Dinner Date offers you guidelines, tips, and even menu suggestions for your first date dining in together.

The art of a window is that it is both useful for living and metaphorical for life. In Windows to the Soul, Shelter Editor K. Emily Bond writes: “But what, if anything, is wrong with a healthy dose of window-gazing? We look to windows not just to spy on our surroundings and passersby. We look to and out of them for inspiration, color, insight – an appetizer of the world when the main course is solitude. In the spirit of our staircases worth pondering, here are ten windows into the souls of beloved thinkers, writers, artists, musicians and more.” Be prepared to be inspired.

In Is Haute Couture The New Diversity In Fashion?, Abigail Doan writes that after attending the most recent summer fashion shows in Europe, she found herself asking whether an artier side of couture might be creating “a watershed moment in the future of a more aesthetically and culturally diverse fashion?” Doan further expounds: “If we can work to preserve fading architectural monuments, tracts of pristine park land, and indigenous folk traditions globally, then we can also labor to sustain the diversity of garments and the role of haute thinking as an agent of change. It’s the business of fashion that we should be weary of, not the persistence of the imagination or the seemingly foreign nature of biodiverse materials. “

EXCLUSIVEAnother designer knock off in the halls of fast fashion leads to a lawsuit for beloved indie brand Feral Childe.

It’s like some dirty soap opera: An indie designer label gets knocked off by an omnipresent, fast fashion chain. The result? Copied designs are then worn by the unknowingly complicit thousands all over the world, amounting to stolen artwork never meant to be anywhere but on eco-fashion lovers’ backs.

Feral Childe, one of EcoSalon’s favorite fashion brands both for its sustainability and style, has released this statement expressing their disappointment at Forever 21 stealing their original textile design: “Without any consideration or respect for the origin of the artwork, Forever 21′s mass reproduction of our textile design without our permission is extremely unethical, and in direct violation of the law.  It’s frustrating that this enormous company, with over a billion dollars a year in revenues, would dare to poach the artistic creations of a small company such as ours.”

Feral Childe designers Alice Wu and Moriah Carlson’s “Teepees” design is protected by law, and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Because of compelling evidence that they have in fact been victims of design piracy, the duo are taking appropriate legal action to address the copyright infringement by Forever 21.

The fast fashion retailer has had countless problems in the past including controversial knock-offs of larger designers like Trovata and Anna Sui.

As featured in NY Magazine in May 2009. The Forever 21 shirts are on the top row, Trovata’s are on the bottom.

Anna Sui spring 2007 RTW on left and Forever 21′s Maven Top on right.

In the case of Feral Childe, the familiar scenario is the same with the Teepee print at Forever 21 at exactly the same scale and type of mark making as their original. As of publishing time, Forever 21 had responded to the cease and desist letter, but has denied liability and stated that perhaps Feral Childe copied the design from another source. Once the designers received that response, they filed a lawsuit which is currently pending in Federal Court in Los Angeles.

Feral Childe Teepee Print

Forever 21 print

Fast fashion is still a fairly fresh word in mainstream America, but even through our own articles here on EcoSalon chronicling some of Forever 21′s oops moments, the mega brand continues to push a whole new wasteful trend to the masses, mostly teens. The message: $14.99 is plenty to pay for a pretty dress or tunic top. The repercussions of these fast fashion choices are felt throughout the world whether in the form of slave labor, severe environmental degradations or yes, the copying of a design that two young women worked for months on to perfect for a sustainable collection.

According to WWD, the House Judiciary subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet is expected to reveal that a hearing on the bill has been slated for today, July 15. The house subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) is “slated to consider a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), known as the ‘Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevent Act,’ industry sources said. It would expand copyright laws for the first time to include fashion designs that are often the target of knockoff artists who profit from another’s design creation.”

We caught up with designers Alice Wu and Moriah Carlson for an exclusive interview on their copyright infringement and what they’ve learned from this experience.

How do you know for sure the design was yours?

The first sighting was on a passerby in Brooklyn in June: Moriah did a double take when she saw a woman wearing a tank top with what looked very much like our print, but it was from afar and we couldn’t be sure. Then someone we know showed up a few days later wearing a dress in our print – but it wasn’t our dress design! She said she had purchased the dress at Forever 21. Sure enough, it was easy to find the garments at the Forever 21 stores and online. We purchased a few, and compared them with our fabric and garments. The design on the Forever 21 garments had clearly been copied – if you put the Forever 21 garments and Feral Childe garments side by side, the textile design is unmistakably the same Teepees.

The Feral Childe Teepees print idea was developed over several months, starting from sketchbook drawings and then refined and edited in countless email exchanges between us until we perfected the image. This type of markmaking reflects the very particular philosophy of drawing taught at the New York Studio School, where both of us studied. I studied there briefly, and Moriah completed her graduate work in drawing and painting there. So both of us are intimately familiar with this visual language. With that art training as a basis, we have made the image very personal and particular to Feral Childe. There are hidden pictures of teepees and crowns and pennants in the drawing that aren’t necessarily apparent at first glance. How could anyone else come up with that combination?

How could a company like Forever 21 copy you so blatantly and think they can get away with it? Can they?

Whoever at Forever 21 discovered our print and decided to co-opt it wasn’t looking closely and probably just assumed this was just an abstract “scratch print” and didn’t notice our hidden pictures. Our Teepees print screams Feral Childe, if not by name, then by our eccentricities. Feral Childe’s prints are the soul of our collections. Meanwhile, Forever 21′s “designer” was too lazy to come up with an original print idea. Forever 21 is not going to get away with this, because our design Teepees is registered with the Copyright Office and we’re not going anywhere until justice has been served.

Have other designers reached out to you to tell their own knock-off stories?

During the first week we discovered the copying, we researched what other companies have had their designs copied by Forever 21. We reached out to Virginia Johnson, who discovered her prints on some of Forever 21‘s skirts; they settled. We contacted Virginia Johnson about her experience with this matter and told her our story and she was very sympathetic and helpful.  Another designer friend of ours has had her coats knocked off by a San Francisco boutique that ordered a couple of pieces from her, then had them copied cheaply and labeled with the boutique’s name.  There is a lot of lookalike jewelry out there. Copycat cases seem to pop up in the news every few months or so. We just never thought this could happen to us.

If companies like Forever 21 get away with this, what does it mean for other small designers?

Forever 21 isn’t going to get away with this one. We have faith in the law.

Right now there is very limited copyright protection for fashion designers, and it’s never easy for small companies. It costs money to file your designs and to pursue the copycats so we felt totally helpless at first, but our community has been really supportive so far and we are confident in our lawyers. It’s because of copycats that there are some new fashion copyright bills in the works which we hope will benefit designers whether they are just starting out or working for large companies.

What learning experience from you and for others do you hope comes from this?

Document your creative process, and be prepared to defend your authorship.

Image: Wall Street Journal

What if all fashion runways were mossy paths through redwood groves?

The Mather Redwood Grove Amphitheatre at UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens was the setting for the Flora Meets Fashion Show at this year’s Green Gala, a fundraiser for the gardens. Named “A Celebration of Diversity” and curated by Sasha Duerr of the Permacouture Institute —which is leading the way for integrating natural dyes into the mainstream fashion industry —the event was conceived to show original eco textiles and fashion designs inspired by the garden’s 2,200 rare and endangered plant collection.

Introducing the beautiful setting, the compeer said, “You could quite happily sit here without a thought in your head, which is rather the point.” While I’m sure he was referring to the meditative nature of our surroundings, I couldn’t help but consider the “empty-headed” accusation that is typically leveled at fashion lovers. And yet what most people don’t realize is that the fashion industry is one of the world’s largest polluters. Clearly, caring about fashion is vital.

Caring about Ethical Fashion: Adie+George’s Darby maxi skirt

Unlike mainstream fashion, ethical fashion has the enviable ability to transcend those negative perceptions. Bringing together style seekers and designers who are open to change, prepared to revaluate and who appreciate what is involved in protecting the beauty around us. Duerr introduced the ten amazing Bay Area-based designers whose work was selected for their use of sustainable methods. According to Duerr, the participants were all developing “ongrowing” connections to the garden as a result of their work, she’d meant to say, “ongoing,” but in the lush setting the slip made perfect sense to the audience. She continued, “Plants not only provide us with food and shelter and clothing, but as you will see they can be a really profound design inspiration too.”

As the models emerged on their runway through the trees, the setting was transformed into a forest-fashion wonderland. Our imaginations aided by the stunning makeup and hair styling by Shawn Burke. Evoking this season’s bright eyeliner trend as seen at Derek Lam’s Spring 2011 show, the models resembled mythic wood nymphs with ferns plaited into their hair.

Perfect for a stroll in the woods: Feral Childe’s Fornasetti Pinafore + Abalone Dress.

The designs that followed were lovely, the standouts include: The hand-painted silk dress with oak gall to resemble the bright white with black markings of a paper birch, by Sarah Borruso of Stars+Ravens; Adie+George’s Darby maxi skirt with seamless blocks in graduated depth of avocado pit dye: Mollie de Vries of Ambatalia’s reclaimed denim Summer Halter daringly cut and dyed to a remarkable blue achieved from distall thistle, an invasive weed; the languid and layered appeal of Moriah Carlson and Alice Wu of Feral Childe’s Fornasetti Pinafore + Abalone Dress, a look that couldn’t have been more perfect for a stroll in the woods; and Ariel Bishop of Spikit, whose hand-smashed flower prints and Liana tunic and legging combo cemented the modern fairy tale feel of the fashions.

After the show, I joined up with fellow green-fashion-gals, Global Action Thru Fashion’s Domenica Peterson and EcoFabulous’ Caitlin Bristol to discuss the inspirational show. We agreed that every fashion show must take place in this setting. And certainly every show for Bay Area greenies. San Francisco’s unique egalitarian sense of fashion has long resisted either a traditional fashion week format or a defined fashion district, despite our best efforts over the years. Last week, Stella McCartney, a designer who is known for her ethical fashion approach, threw a secret party in St. Luke’s church gardens in the West village for A-list celebrities Liv Tyler and Naomi Watts, U2 frontman Bono and Vogue editor Anna Wintour to see her latest spring 2012 collection. Lets hope this marks the beginning of a trend.

I do believe it was actually McCartney’s mother, Linda who said, “If the abattoir had glass walls we’d all be vegetarians.” Like wise, on parallel with slow food as a route to encourage people to slow down and consider the way they consume, if all fashion runways were mossy paths through groves of rare blooms and 90 year old redwoods —we’d have a profound opportunity for change.

Liana tunic and legging combo from Spikit. A modern faerie tale feel to the fashions.

PHOTO CREDIT: All images by Paige Green Photography