What we wear defines us…and may save our lives, or at least, charge our phones.

Clothes serve a function. They protect us from the elements, keep us clean and warm, and oh yes, as far as Anna Wintour is concerned, the most critical reason: they keep us looking fabulous, which has become a near necessity of the modern world. We identify with what we wear as much as the world identifies us by our garments, particularly urban fashion. But what about clothing that say, charges your iPhone or detects cancer? What does that say about who we are? Meet wearable technology.

Technology has long been a part of clothing—from the creation of synthetic fabrics, to everyone’s favorite: Velcro—science is no stranger to style. Our foray into the futuristic gadget-driven hi-tech era is now seeing innovation become a driving force in fashion. You can get lost in the Pinterest boards for wearable tech, which I most certainly did. Somewhere between Tron and Lady Gaga, you have wearable technology. Here’s a glimpse…

Clothing

image: treehugger

1. Flutter Dress: Wearable technology isn’t just about getting online faster. The Flutter dress is designed for the hearing impaired. Created by Halley Profita, Nicholas Farrow, and Professor Nikolaus Correll at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Treehugger says the Flutter dress, “gives vibrotactile feedback in the direction of a loud sound or alarm to help those with hearing loss respond more intuitively to their external environment. The team also says that development of this wearable technology would also cut down on e-waste created by discarded hearing devices.”

image: first warning systems

2. Breast Cancer Detecting Bra: With a 90 percent success rate, it’s definitely a miracle bra. A Reno, Nevada medical technology company has created a bra that detects temperature changes in breast tissue, which can help discover tumors years before some mammograms.

image: ecouterre

3. Air Quality Detecting Dress: How about a dress that can tell you how clean the air is? This designer works with dyes that respond to subtle changes in the environment which will change the color of the dress.

image: ecouterre

4. LED Dress: Here’s a double whammy: Emily Steel’s “Little Slide Dress” is recycled from old film scraps and lit with LEDs that highlight the film images.

image: ecouterre

5. Thermoelectric Galoshes: Charge your iPhone with these galoshes while working or relaxing.

Accessories

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image: pebble

6. The Pebble: It’s a smart watch you synch with your wireless devices to see text messages, email alerts, phone calls. Oh yeah, it tells time, too.

image: google

7. Google glasses: Wearable computers that can record videos and take photos. Not available yet but Google plans to have them out this year.

image: everpurse

8. Everpurse: Don’t fumble around for your car or desk charger—just drop your iPhone into your Everpurse and it charges it for you.

image: designbuzz

9. Portable Washer: All your wearable technology will need a good warshin’ while you trek it around the globe and this little portable washboard is pretty darn nifty.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

The post Fashion Forward: 9 Wearable Technology Trends For Your Closet appeared first on EcoSalon.

In the last of this 4 part series, undercover industry writer, Louise Lagosi address the history of fashion marketing, the strategies used to build the perfect consumer while covering up poor quality, and how those tactics have effected us as a society. We also look at how the fashion industry and marketing is changing with the times to keep up with an evolving society of people.

If you read the first three parts of this series, you might be in the mood to avoid the media, shut off your TV, stop shopping, and just give up on fashion. But, other than offering you peace of mind, what would that accomplish? As easy as it is to point fingers, the leaders of the fashion industry are not the only ones responsible for the state of fashion. Society as a whole bought what was being sold without stopping as individuals to question the motives behind the advertisement or wondering if our “consumer” habits were good for us, our neighbors, or the planet.

Unless you want to go back to wearing burlap bags, and go Medieval, we all need something to adorn our bodies. And let’s face it, beautiful clothes, beautiful anything for that matter, really does make life more joyful. That said, nothing can be beautiful if it has a dirty, rotten underbelly it’s hiding. So let’s just get to the core of this thing.

Taking Responsibility

Now that the phrase “Think Globally, Act Locally” has been imprinted on our brains, we all know that shopping with small mom and pops stores, as well as supporting local designers and supply chains is the best thing we can do for our immediate environment, but how can we be effective on a global level? Have you read any articles, or signed any petitions requesting that corporations clean up their acts? Written to your government representative asking for higher international labor standards lately? Not sure who your representatives are? Well, it’s pretty easy to find out. In this age of information sharing with a little due diligence and research it’s becoming increasingly easier to figure out who’s doing business right, and who’s doing business wrong. And it’s even easier to find a petition or even to start a petition asking companies and the government to do business responsibly.

It has become more and more common to share our opinions and knowledge of this kind freely among our friends and associates, on Facebook, Twitter, and various social media sources. As a favor for your sharing the information, they in turn go on and share it with their friends and pretty soon the news has gone viral. Some of your conversations on Facebook might look something like this:

“There’s a joke going around China today that you can tell what colors are going to be in fashion next season by looking at the rivers.“

“I think I’ll opt for a nice neutral, beige from now on, thanks.”

 “Time to Stop the Fashion Pirates again. Forever 21 has gotten caught stealing yet another design from independent designers.”

“I stopped shopping at Forever 21 after my last purchase from there smelled like magic markers and fell apart in the first wash. But I do buy clothes from the local designers in my own town.“

 “Why does Disney still carry polyester jammies for kids coated in fire-retardants? Didn’t they get the memo that it’s been repeatedly proven that both the synthetic fibers in clothing and formaldehyde based fire-retardants are carcinogenic, cancer causing, hormone disrupting, and/or can cause damage to our nervous systems?!

“I wouldn’t know, I avoid both synthetics and Disney like the plague.“

 “Did you hear that Victoria’s Secret were caught slashing and throwing away garments that were returned because donating them to charity was too much of a hassle to organize?”

“I wouldn’t wear Victoria Secret, even if it were free. Let’s just say that I don’t know a single 16 year old whose boobs naturally sit directly under her chin, so why, at any age, should mine?”

Whether or not these conversations in social media and on the street actually sway the decisions of those in power to create a change in the industry, for us to be aware enough about these issues that we feel a little whistle blowing is in order can make us better, more informed, people.

Word gets around fast in this Internet Age and in no time at all, Walmart has a publicity crisis for abusing their laborers, and the Gap is making public apologies for promoting red,white, & blue flag waving products that are made in China. H&M and Nike claim they too are doing their parts, all while receiving raised eyebrows from the sustainable community, for making lofty corporate responsibility initiatives mandated for 2020 that promise unprecedented standards with little or no suggestions on how they might go about doing so. Perhaps H&M & Nike could borrow from their multibillion dollar marketing budgets to fund reaching their 2020 goals.

Are initiatives enough? Hardly, but when you’re a company that’s big enough to consume one third of the planets organic cotton supply, even a small initiative, like H&M’s organic cotton initiative can keep large amounts of fertilizer and herbicide from going into our water, provided it’s an honest effort. “Good” is questionable when you take into account that their organic cotton is not all that organic after all.

Recent New York City H&M window

With their greenwashing marketing efforts these companies still do not get the green light for sustainable shopping. In the same way we shop for food, if we can’t find clear and certifiable labeling on the product, many of us are not buying it. Some consumers are even going so far as avoiding stores with bad track records altogether, regardless of their “eco” initiatives.

In 2009, The Hartman Group’s report, titled Sustainablity: the Rise in Consumer Responsibility stated that 88% of consumers engage in what they consider to be sustainable behavior. Are people hearing concerns about water contamination or global warming and choosing to cut back where they can to help? Are fast fashion fans growing annoyed that their clothes fall apart after a couple washes when the hand-me-downs from their mother’s wardrobe seem to last forever? Have people suddenly realized that they have enough stuff in their closets that they could probably go for years without shopping and still maintain appearances?

Author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Elizabeth Cline, describes the pivotal moment in her consumer mindset, “When I piled up all of my clothes in the middle of my bedroom, I was astonished that there wasn’t much variety within the mound of poorly made clothing. It was mostly all one color, and I had bought more or less the same few items over and over again. I wasn’t using most of it, and most of it was cheep crap that I didn’t even like very much. Overall, I was unsatisfied with what was in there.”

She explains the transformation that occurred in that moment of realization, “It made me more mindful. I shop my own closet now. I have stopped buying repeat garments. I don’t crave having a million tops. That doesn’t really interest me anymore. I want one or two good garments for each category to make complete outfits within my wardrobe. I want to save my money to buy really nice items to fill in the holes.”

Signs of Change in Mainstream Fashion Media

CFDA Leader, Diane Von Furstenburg, and American Vogue Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour, recently released that they support encouraging a cleaner Fashion Industry through an initiative presented by the NRDC called Clean By Design. We’re still waiting to see how they do clean up, but they have taken the first step, which is openly acknowledging the elephant in the room. This is nothing short of a miracle.

Fashion Labels Evolving With the Times

Eileen Fisher

This privately owned company has always taken a holistic approach to designing clothing. The brand carefully chooses fibers for their sustainable, community based, growing methods, natural content, longevity, and feel. They work with collectives and factories around the world that pay fair-trade wages. They design clothes that are timeless and that do not relate to any trends, allowing the clothes to survive as long as their high quality materials do. And through their recent initiatives like Ampersand, they have been educating their customers on why choosing their products supports a sustainable environment here on earth for everyone involved.

Patagonia 

Patagonia also keeps their marketing to a minimum, but when they do promote something, the message is unusual for a clothing company. They promote clean water initiatives, such as Our Common Waters, in their recent Common Threads Initiative, they tell people to stop buying more than they need. They also provide transparency in their supply chain like in The Footprint Chronicles, with this interactive map on their site showing exactly where their factories are located with stats, reports, and a brief on Patagonia’s history with each one. This brand ultimately puts their dollars in recycled materials innovations, such as polar fleece made of recycled bottles, and maintaining factory standards, so they can provide more responsible products to their customers.

Timberland

Timberland is a brand that is committed to the outdoors. Which is why they have made  developed TIMBERLAND RESPONSIBILITY, their plan for significantly reducing their companies emissions through the research, evaluation, and investment in company structures that will allow them to run cleaner and produce products that have a smaller impact on the earth. The company reports are transparent and available to the public on their home site, grading their efforts and describing all the methods used to achieve their challenging goals to reduce their company wide climate impact.

Levi’s 

Levi’s has been doing business with the goal of striving towards sustainability and excellence for over 100 years now. They give cash credits to customers who return their old Levi’s in for their denim recycling programs and they have been working on increasingly finding ways to reducing their water use in their denim production processes. Are they singing about their exceptional practices in their ad campaigns to help better educate their customers? Let’s just say this is one of the places where they still have room to improve.

Pendleton

This nearly 150 year old American company produces much of it’s premium products, from fibers grown, spun, dyed, and woven in America. They keep marketing to a minimum and keep their funding aimed at doing business responsibly and offering the best quality products possible to the customers they serve. Their product’s are so beautifully made, by  that they end up heirlooms in most of the fortunate homes that they grace.

Change is indeed happening all around, but most of all it starts with each one of us. We have to make up our own minds. What type of consumers are we?

Image: oxfam, Fashionista, Last Night’s Garbage,Amy DuFault

The post Fashion Marketing 101: From Social Media to Social Responsibility, Fashion Evolves appeared first on EcoSalon.

Take a look at some of the Met Ball’s most memorable looks.

Last night’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala (or the Met Ball, as it’s popularly known) is known as the event of the season for NYC’s fashion brigade. Along with the Oscars and Cannes film festival it’s one of high fashion’s most glamorous nights of the year with every photogenic fashion designer, model and starlet vying for the title of wearing the evening’s most photographed outfit.

The event has been an annual occurrence since 1948, when the Costume Institute was founded at the Met. It started as a rather dull affair until the legendary Diana Vreeland took over and injected the parties with their now signature flamboyance and flair.

Every year the gala is themed in accordance to an exhibit at the museum, this year is Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. It’s a theoretical “discussion” between the late designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and Miuccia Prada. You can count on lots of the the shocking pink invented by Schiaparelli and plenty of Prada.

Take a look back at some of the most unforgettable looks from recent years:

Diana Princess of Wales & Liz Tilberis, 1996

When Princess Diana went to the Met Ball in 1996, her stunning navy blue silk sheath with black lace detailing was a marked departure from her more demure eveningwear. The dress was John Galliano’s first creation as creative director at Dior.

Sarah Jessica Parker with Alexander McQueen, 2006

In  2006, Sarah Jessica Parker celebrated the opening of the Anglomania: Tradition and Transgression exhibit in British Fashion by wearing a strapless gown made with layers of tulle and tartan by UK designer, Alexander McQueen.

Anna Wintour in Chanel couture, 2008

If you thought Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief was powerful enough, note Queen of the Met Gala herself, Anna Wintour harnessing the superhero power of Chanel couture for the Met’s Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy theme in 2008.

Model muse Kate Moss, 2009

It was fitting that Kate Moss, arguably the decade’s most famous model, was the night’s main attraction for the opening of the Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion exhibition in 2009. Moss wowed in a gold lamé dress by her designer date for the evening, Marc Jacobs. She accessorized with a matching pair of YSL Tribute’s and a eye-catching turban by British millinery star Stephen Jones.

Livia Firth with husband, Colin Firth 2011

To celebrate the groundbreaking Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit in 2011 eco fashion pioneer, Livia Firth wore Stella McCartney’s first-ever sustainable gown. Embroidered with reclaimed vintage beads, the skirt was made from Manila hemp, a fiber that requires very little water to harvest. Beneath the dress was a jumpsuit made from handspun organic silk, all her accessories were vegan.

Now & Then: The History of the Breton Shirt

Now & Then: The History of the Platform Shoe

Now & Then: The History of Fitness Wear

Now & Then: The History of the Pencil Skirt

Now & Then: The History of the Cocktail Dress

Now & Then: The History of Skinny Jeans

Read more Now & Then articles here.

The post Now & Then: The Met Ball’s Most Memorable Dresses appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnVogue, Clean by Design and the CFDA collaborate to clean up the fashion industry.

In a new initiative, leaders of the mainstream fashion community from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Vogue have joined forces with the NRDC’s Clean By Design program in an effort to reduce the impact of the textile industry on the globe’s environmental state. With the backing of Vogue’s “Nuclear Wintour” herself and the CFDA’s President Diane von Furstenberg, could Clean By Design now have the potential to push the issue and bump environmental and social issues associated with the textile industry toward the front of prominent designers’ methodologies? The NRDC’s National Media Director Jenny Powers tells EcoSalon that engaging industry opinion leaders gives them a powerful and enhanced edge.

“Clean By Design aims to make the way we produce our clothing more sustainable by cutting water and energy waste and reducing pollution,” Powers tells EcoSalon. With the intention of utilizing the buying power of multinational corporations as a lever to reduce the environmental impact of their suppliers abroad, Clean By Design is stepping up their media presence and future goals with this recent collaboration. As shown by the above diagram, the spectrum of Clean By Design’s approach to bettering the textile industry’s impact starts with the raw materials and goes full circle through to addressing the way consumers are caring for their finished garments.

Spearheading the research abroad, the director of the NRDC’s health and environment program, Linda Greer has traveled to Asia in hopes to better understand the four core impact areas of the supply chain. Through visiting a range of factories that create clothing for major retailers, Greer has been able to secure pilot programs with The Gap, Levis, H&M, Target, and Wal-Mart, who are all now exploring ways to clean up the factories that supply their clothes. As companies that produce massive quantities each season with loyal global customers, the impact these pilot programs could have on the environment is vast.

Waste water from the discharge pipe at the Youngor Textiles Factory

By focusing on China to begin, the possibility to make a big change exists, as many of these factories produce a large percentage of our mass retail clothes.

“Transforming the way the major players do business can have a ripple effect throughout the industry. Fashion leaders can play an important role in this effort by shaping popular attitudes and creating demand for sustainably produced fashion” says Powers.

One massive waste example that was prevalent throughout Greer’s travels in Asia was leaky tubes. Textile pollution is often associated with the chemical emissions from fabric dying or the number of dirty dozen chemicals that are utilized in conventional cotton production. While these are key issues to address in the raw materials and manufacturing sectors, another often forgotten problem involves tubes with leaking steam that can be found everywhere in fabric dying and printing mills. For instance, a hole in a steam pipe only 2 mm in diameter can cause a textile mill to waste energy equal to more than 10 tons of coal a year.

DVF’s Spring 2012 Collection

With higher profile initiatives like Runway To Green in the past, the NRDC has been on a consistent mission to bring these environmental concerns related to the textile industry to the forefront of high end and mainstream fashion houses. While the CFDA/Vogue/Clean By Design initiative is strongly focused on the environmental impacts and the effects of environmental pollution on human health, it doesn’t focus on social or labor issues.  Powers tells EcoSalon, “Dirty water and dirty air affects us all – humans and critters alike. And the reality is that by cutting waste and making factories run more efficiently, these factory owners are actually saving money in the process.”

With the environment as a starting point, the transparency and exposure of these realities could potentially open designers’ eyes to the way people connected to their supply chains are affected as well. By continuing to work with individual designers on ways in which they can apply the Clean by Design principles to their own operations, the future affects of upcoming and established designers on the globe’s flora and fauna is hopeful.

Image: Greenpeace, H&M

The post THREADED: Cleaning Up The Fashion Industry From The Top Down appeared first on EcoSalon.

2011 was a landmark year for eco fashion: EcoSalon had it covered.

From more mainstream designers exploring sustainability and declining fast fashion sales to record numbers of museum goers enjoying a non-consumer fashion experience, 2011 was a game changer in the way we consume and think about fashion. Recognition for the need to slow down the fashion juggernaut created by fast fashion, compelled new approaches to how we can become more connected to fashion as a way of improving our lives and the global environmental crisis. Our top 10 fashion stories encapsulate the year that proved, once and for all, that eco fashion is not simply a trend.

We got acquainted with bamboo’s true environmental impact. 

1. For years the eco movement centered around finding more alternative materials to cotton, the production of which accounts for 2.6% of annual global water usage. Grown without chemicals and as one of the fastest growing plants on earth, bamboo, in particular, initially seemed like the go-to eco fabric. “Bamboo seemed like a miracle fiber – and in a sense, it is. It’s turning it into fabric that’s the more complicated issue,” Kelly Drennan wrote in her article Bamboo, We Hardly Knew Ye, getting to the bottom of an issue that’s responsible for the majority of greenwashing accusations leveled at the industry.

A condom hat may be great for clicks, but it’s bad for eco fashion progress.

2. A further image problem faced was the reliance on gimmicky “trash to treasure” designs and stories that trap eco fashion in its worst stereotype and ultimately, shortchange the production of clothing we do want to wear. Abigail Doan’s call to action “to move beyond the glorification of trashion and recycled art projects,” in Why Anna Wintour Won’t Green Vogue reminds us of the  need “to address long term solutions for waste reduction and sustainable economic development.”

Vilte’s February 2011 collaboration with designer Josephus Thimester for his AW2011 collection, illustrated the exquisite potential of recycled materials.

3. While the trashion has to go, recycled and found materials can be beautiful. In her eye-opening round up of designers using recycled materials to create unimaginably gorgeous clothing in The Wilder Side of Fashion Fashioning Self and Environment Abigail Doan shows us what is possible when we start looking at what we already have.

Luxury Shift: Recycled products that rival those from the best fashion houses in the world.

4. By the time summer was in full swing, reports of numerous eco initiatives and green clothing launches showed that eco fashion is an idea that luxury designers finally caught on to. In Hooked on Recycling we reported the “buzz is that fashion retailers are turning to reusable materials and some innovative techniques to get mainstream fashion consumers hooked on recycled fashion.” Our fashion forecast for next year: expect to read more stories about high end fashion houses recognizing the benefits of going green in 2012.

Shopping Made in the U.S.A. isn’t really so patriotic…or is it?

5. While luxury will always have an audience, the continuing concerns for the economy and high unemployment put the Buy Local/Made Here movement front and center. In her two part series, Made In The U.S.A. Isn’t Cause For Patriotism (Or Is It?) and What Goes On Behind The Business Of American Fashion industry insider, Louise Lagosi, dares to ask, “Aren’t there still values and standards that we as Americans believe are worth saving? If you can’t find what you want with a ‘Made in the USA’ label in it, is it wrong to buy it if it is made elsewhere?”

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

6. The increasing awareness of what has been lost in our appetite for fast fashion made by mass corporations turned to growing support for the “little guys” who fight valiantly against having their designs copied. In Amy DuFault’s passionate championing of an indie designer’s cause in Fashion Giant Forever 21 Steals Sustainable Label Feral Childe’s Design, EcoSalon drew readers into the discussion for greater protection of intellectual property rights in fashion.

Undercover writer Louise Lagosi helps us track our cast-off clothing.

7. Unlike traditional fashion which concerns itself chiefly with buying new clothes, eco fashion devotees consider fashion holistically. With roughly 75% of our discarded clothes ending up in the trash and in landfills, we lifted the lid on what happens when we throw away our clothes in EcoSalon Investigates: What Happens to our Castoff Clothing?

It became clear to cultural programming committees across the country that we want to see more fashion.

8. One of the most thrilling developments of 2011 was our culture’s deepening ability to enjoy fashion beyond the act of consumerism. EcoSalon covered the growing popularity of fashion exhibits in 4 New Fashion Exhibits Translate High Style For The Masses. Our coverage of the Alexander McQueen exhibit at New York’s MET included Abigail Doan’s thoughtful take on Why We Need More Savage Beauty in Life And Fashion which examined “those fashion conventions that genuinely stifle our creativity and ideas about self in relation to the environment.”

EcoSalon’s look at the art of  slow fashion launched a knitwear line, became required reading in some knitting groups, and even got a few off their meds.

9. Valuing the lost art and craft of fashion and its many psychological benefits was examined in a special 3 part series by Amy DuFault in her fascinating journey to inner peace when, Using Your Hands to Soothe The Brain.

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

10.  As the year draws to a close it’s time to think about the next steps towards a greener 2012. Alongside Amy DuFault‘s The Post-Recession Fashion Industry Series, which provides an excellent starting point, was EcoSalon’s report on a remarkable runway show in Flowering Of Fashion’s Consciousness. Reminding us that all the inspiration we need to make better fashion choices in 2012 is right outside our doors.

The post Looking Back, Looking Forward: EcoSalon’s Top 10 Fashion Stories of 2011 appeared first on EcoSalon.

It takes courage to be a style icon. Do you have it in you?

It seems like everyone wants to be an icon, but few actually reach this status. Yet there are ways we can be legendary. Forget being Madonna – we have so much power over our own material world, based on purchasing power, to attain almost anything we can think of with just a few moments’ search.

While designers are skillfully trained in the art of building a fantasy around their collections, not everyone will understand. In fact, most people tend to buy what they see others wearing, because they want to fit in or emulate someone they admire. A rare few are bold enough to actually strut in something more individual and self-expressive – and have that confidence to pull it off.  Here a style icon is born.

The actual process of putting an iconic outfit together and wearing it outside of your bedroom takes courage. There will always be some point in the day you hear something along the lines of, “How creative you are!” or “I could never pull something like that off!” Are these kudos for your bravery or a back handed compliment? Best to consider the source.

Sustainable stylist Bahar Shahpar gives us a little hint on how to deal with this.

“Learn the word ‘Bollocks!’ and practice saying it to yourself every time you hear the voice in your head limit you with some random story about what you should or can look like,” says Shahpar. “There are ways to finesse every sort of look on every sort of person – you certainly do need to learn those skills to make it work, but you’ll never even start that lesson if you stop yourself from even being open to the idea.”

Of course, if this commentary is coming from anyone within the fashion media, it would most definitely be suspect of someone suggesting that you’ve gone too far with your outfit, as some are occasionally accused of doing.

Posh steps out in a less-than-ordinary hat and catches hell.

“If Victoria Beckham quits fashion, she could be a limo driver,” pokes whyfame.com regarding a mildly theatrical hat Beckham wore out on the town one day. The fashion media is infamous for hurling insults at unknowing victims or anyone in society who has the guts to stand out in the crowd, even when they’re as highly polished as Posh.

Understandably, no one wants to be caught or accused of trying too hard with an outfit that was not meant to be a costume. What’s the fix to this? Either decide to go all out in a full-on costume or work to cultivate a look that is so individual that no critique is valid.

Pop icon Lady Gaga gone wild.

Pop icon Lady Gaga is a woman who fully intends to baffle, tease, and entangle viewers in her personal style. How’s that for social artillery? Her intention of putting on a full persona each morning generally goes along with the get-up, and it always comes off confidently. These are not looks to be tried by someone who prefers to be invisible in company of others, nor are they looks that we would suggest anyone try to copy.

Her outlandish costumes are as clever a disguise as they are entertaining; few would recognize her if she ran into Starbucks in jeans and a tee-shirt, and her hair and makeup undone. By wearing opposite disguises, she can separate her public and personal personae, all the while dodging or attracting the paparazzi when she so chooses.

Not everyone is ready to take on the effort or attention that a costume attracts. But most people do have an inner desire to express themselves and clothes can be an excellent medium. Style icon Lisa Mayock, one half of the genius behind Vena Cava, says she’s felt uncomfortable about expressing her personal style in public in the past.

Lisa Mayock of Vena Cava is no shrinking violet. She can put on a loud dress and still stay above the noise.

“I was totally that person growing up. I was always afraid to wear things that I loved, and I would buy or make things that I never had the balls to pull off,” says Mayock. “What I took a long time to realize is that it doesn’t matter if people hate your outfit. If it makes you happy, then it’s worth it.”

After starting her own line with partner Sophie Buhai, she certainly got over the fear.

“Being too serious about fashion really bogs it down in my opinion. They’re clothes, they’re meant to be fun! Levity is a really important quality in dressing,” says Mayock.

This isn’t exactly the sense of style one can easily give tips on or package and sell in a magazine. This is the stuff individuality is made of.

Vogue Editor-In-Chief, Anna Wintour

Our billion-dollar fashion industry is built on the concept that women need to be told what to wear because industry experts know best. What do fashion magazine editors know? Apparently, how to sell some really expensive clothes. If an item makes it into the pages of Vogue, it will sell out immediately. Meanwhile, make note that even though she’s pimping how to get the newest look to those who wish to remain en vogue, Anna Wintour has had the same iconic haircut for the past 20 years.

I asked Eviana Hartman, a former Vogue stylist, and now sustainable designer behind the line Bodkin, what her take is on buying beautiful things.

Eviana Hartman of Bodkin

“I really try not to accumulate too much stuff, for sustainability reasons and also because I am already overwhelmed by trying to get dressed. I worked in fashion magazines long enough to see so many bright, clever, beautiful, must-have wearable objects come in and out, racks and racks of it each day, to know better than to get attached to anything,” says Hartman. “I would look at Grace Coddington, who works with these things all day, and wears basic black turtlenecks and pants. I like a little more personal expression than that, but I’d rather spend substantial money on, say, furniture, or a vacation. I really only buy things if I know I’ll wear them a ton. And I’m more likely to go with what might be considered ‘overpriced’ for a subtle, amazing vintage military men’s mesh T-shirt in the perfect oversized fit (as I did yesterday) than, say, an it bag. I hate it bags!”

I’d wager the reason Hartman hates “it bags” so much is because of the tired marketing strategies behind selling them. These bags are meaningless even to the icons associated with them, and yet millions of women buy into the dream the bag has to offer.

Take for instance, the Birkin Bag.

Jane Birkin was photographed carrying a basket more often than carrying the “it bag” that was named after her.

The concept of “icon” gets thrown around a lot in fashion as something to aspire to. But icons aren’t made up of clothes or accessories that can be bought or sold. They’re made up of the lives lived by the individuals who end up being labeled “iconic.” In fashion, you see images of icons offered with tips on how to copy the look which seems impossibly contradictory. You can’t imitate an icon. They stand out in a crowd because of who they are, not because of what they’re wearing.

Hartman gives some insight into how it feels to recognize being different.

“I definitely feel different from the vast majority of people, maybe it’s alienation, and I guess I like to choose items or combinations of items that don’t look like things I’m accustomed to seeing,” she says. “But I’m quiet and don’t like being the subject of a lot of attention, so I do this in a subtle way, not a ‘look at me, I’m quirky’ way.”

We all have it in us to become true icons if we choose. Cultivating and experimenting with our individual spirits through personal style is always just waiting to be tapped. Do you have it in you?

Image: elle.com, Huffington Post, NY Magazine, les anti-modernes

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Christie’s auction house sets the stage for eco fashion gone upscale.

Despite the paralyzing traffic congestion due to President Obama’s visit to NYC yesterday, key movers and shakers in the philanthropic and (green) fashion community made their way to Christie’s at Rockefeller Center last night for the star-studded Bid to Save the Earth gala auction and the Runway to Green event styled by Vogue’s Fashion Director, Tonne Goodman. Funds raised from the luxurious lot items generously exceeded the organizers’ expectations and with twenty six participating fashion designers who met the challenge of greening the runway, the message seemed clear that sustainable fashion has now made its way downtown, uptown, and all around town for women and men who are willing to redefine the cost of luxury and the role that they might play.

Vogue.com was rather clever to open this event up to a global audience by creating an online invite and then live-streaming the auction and runway presentation on their website at 8:30pm EST last night. Viewers were able to see the paddles flapping and even catch auctioneer jokes about the sartorial details of bidders’ attire. Actor and comedian, Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live, was particularly witty and added a bit of spunk to the affair, tossing out the promise that he would bike the loop of Manhattan’s Central Park as part of one bidding lot.

Michelle Harper dons some millinery greenery for Bid to Save the Earth

Noted guests for the evening included names such as: Anna Wintour, Chevy Chase, Salma Hayek, Michelle Harper, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu, Thakoon Panichgul, Michael Kors, Rachel Roy, Coco Rocha, Karolina Kurkova, Kate Dillon, Lauren Bush, David Lauren, Angela Lindvall, and many more.

Stella McCartney patchwork wool and alpaca-blend sweater dress available on Net-a-Porter

In addition to $1.26 million raised last night, the added good news is that looks from the 26 participating fashion designers are now available for purchase at Net-a-Porter, with proceeds benefiting the National Defense Resources Council, Oceana, and the Central Park Conservatory. These items and accessories are not green in terms of materials per se, but a portion of the proceeds from each exclusive Runway to Green piece will go to leading environmental organizations.

The buzz post-runway presentation is that, in addition to the lush vegetation divider that rotated as each model stepped on to the stage, attendees were totally on board with the idea that eco fashion is no longer a marginalized phenomenon. One of the show-stopping pieces was the finale, Oscar de la Renta’s one-of-a-kind 100% organic natural ivory cotton-tulle bridal gown, all hand-embroidered with 100% organic, natural ivory cotton ‘guipure’ lace flowers. Proof that sustainable textiles can transparently translate to luxurious couture and the best of what high-end fashion houses can generate.

As part of our ongoing examination of what the future of fashion genuinely looks like, it appears as if the increased dialogue with celebrated luxury and ready-to-wear designers continues to create new standards for how to design and be more environmentally-minded. With all of the recent concern about designers also burning out due to demanding fashion week schedules and the pressures of running multi-faceted global brands, perhaps it will continue to be the case that future designs are presented in contexts where consumers and supporters might be more involved in the good that can come from their purchases and fashion “needs.” This can only be a positive development as we band together to create lasting solutions on all fronts, be they environmental or social in these challenging times.

Lead Image: Karolina Kurkova in Prada (photo: Elizabeth Lippman) for Vogue.com, all others courtesy of Vogue.com and Net-a-Porter

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

Bienvenido Balenciaga – The opening of the 120-piece fashion retrospective Balenciaga and Spain at San Franciso’s De Young Museum last week was celebrated with a $2,500 a ticket fundraiser attended by fashion’s elite. Guests included the exhibit’s guest curator and Vogue European editor-at-large, Hamish Bowles, Anna Wintour, Gwyneth Paltrow, Miranda Kerr and Pasadena-based Rodarte designers, Laura and Kate Mulleavy. Underscoring the De Young’s standing as a world class West Coast venue for fashion and textile arts, this don’t-miss megawatt show runs through July 4^th. The influence of Spanish culture on the designs of Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972) reminds us of the enormous potential for the enlightening expression our clothing can have. Catch last weekend’s sold-out symposium on a pay-per-view online broadcast on FORA.tv.

Wearable Wisdom – At this weekend’s Craft Forward symposium in San Francisco, it’s not a garment’s designer that will be celebrated but its wearer. Kate Fletcher, author of Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys invites attendees to take part in her ongoing eco fashion project that celebrates the “craft “ involved with garment use. If you have a piece of clothing that has been creatively repurposed or has special meaning to you, stand up and be counted for Fletcher’s ground-breaking Local Wisdom project. By sharing the story of your garment, and be photographed wearing it,  you’ll be participating in what is sure to become seminal research for reevaluating the future of sustainable fashion.

Fashion Passion – Ever wondered why the green fashion coverage you love is best found online? Head down to The Hub in  San Francisco’s SOMA district tonight for Global Action Thru Fashion‘s latest event. Ecofabulous.com Creative Director, Caitlin Bristol, and yours truly will discuss the role online media has played in the rise of the ethical fashion movement. From 7-8 p.m.

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These recycled Wayfarer sunglasses from Modo Eco will have you locked in timeless style.

Do Wayfarers ever go out of style? I think not. These Modo Eco sunglasses aren’t just classic, they’re sustainably made from 95% recycled materials and certified by UL Environment.

Wearing them you can channel Debbie Harry, Anna Wintour or Chloë Sevigny all the while perfecting your own shady vibe.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

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Take five. Here’s an at-a-glance chance to reconnect with or catch top stories you might have missed this week at EcoSalon:

1. Mixed and very strong reactions to new writer Libby Lowe’s article, Jesus, Enough With The Chicken, highlighting the new Chick-fil-A location in Chicago. Should there be a separation of chicken and state? Are human rights involved when it comes to a simple chicken patty? Read and weigh in on this “heavy sandwich.”

2. Abigail Doan on trashion: Condoms and Candy Wrappers: And We Wonder Why Anna Wintour Won’t Green Vogue has us all asking whether creative reuse is fraying the lines of sustainable design and glorifying “less than marketable fashion.”

3. Fears over child bullying, kidnapping and standard-issue psychopaths preying on our children are challenged with senior editor Luanne Bradley’s piece, Are The Kids Alright In 2011? Not If You Buy Into The Hype. Bradley writes: “Was it really safer back then? If you buy into recent statistics, kids are actually as safe or safer now.”

4. Can you green me now? Have you ever thought about how sustainable your phone network is? Stephanie Rogers investigates in her Digg-topping article, Verizon Vs. AT&T: Who’s Greener (We Know Who Works Better). Want to know who wins? Click and see.

5. Sea sluts and plastic patches. Foreign correspondent Stiv Wilson is a self-proclaimed two-timer, but not for what you’re thinking. Reflections from a Two-Timer, a thoughtful conclusion to the exclusive 14-week series chronicling his sailing journey in the South Atlantic Gyre may be over, but you can catch the entire series here.

Above image helloturkeytoe

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