The first synthetic material gets a major makeover.

First introduced to the world by DuPont in the late 1930s, nylon rushed into the textile market as the perfect material for ladies stockings with its form-fitting, stretch and easy-to-wash and wear qualities. Women in the U.S. went crazy over the new leg wear that rendered their skin, knees and calves near perfect to the point that nylon sales reached 64 million pairs by the end of 1940.

After the onset of WWII, nylon production moved into military supplies such as rope, tents and tires, causing the price of nylon stockings to skyrocket from $1.25 to $10 a pair. Nylon production re-focused on women’s hosiery after the war ended, and millions of women lined up at department stores to buy stockings made from the “miracle material.” Thus began the “nylon riots,” triggering calamitous behavior such as witnessed in Pittsburgh in June of 1946 when a reported 40,000 people stood in a mile long line to compete for 13,000 pairs of nylons. Soon the entire synthetics fiber market shifted towards civilian products as industries like carpeting, home furnishings and car upholstery caught on.

By the 1950s, nylon made up more than 20% of the fiber produced for textile mills in the U.S., marking the beginning of our lasting affair with petrochemical textiles. With the onslaught of chemical manipulation and large investment into crude oil harvesting and management, acrylic, polyester, aramid, and spandex, alongside several others soon followed. These materials were soon incorporated into nearly every type of garment from underwear to socks, coats, mock-wool clothing and even men’s drip-dry suits, not to mention all of the other industries they entered.

The nylon production process uses a combination of coal, water, petroleum and natural gas as the main resources for performing a series of chemical reactions that produce a substance called caprolactum. The caprolactum is polymerized through a steaming process to produce a molten solution that is flaked and then processed through a spinneret that looks like a shower head, solidifying and spinning it into filaments of fiber.

Now nearly 8 million pounds of nylon is produced annually, meaning that the fiber accounts for approximately 12% of the synthetic fiber market. Although this is a small percentage considering the domination of synthetic fibers in several modern industries, we nonetheless have a bevy of nylon material already in existence with several million pounds added each year. So what to do with it?

What we’ve learned best to do with the toxic excess that we have created is to recycle it. Hyosung, a Korean company, has developed a method for recycling discarded nylon items into a textile grade fiber called Regen. As textile grade yarn is the finest achievable form of the fiber, the recycled material is not inferior to virgin nylon in any way, and can be used for a number of applications.

A whole range of pre- and post consumer’s nylon waste is utilized to create the recycled material, such as fishing nets, carpet, clothing, tires, rope and even instrument strings. Although the re-processing method is not entirely environmentally efficient or sustainable, recycling nylon keeps a rather large percentage of petro-chemical waste from going into the landfill or being incinerated, releasing toxic emissions into our atmosphere. It also uses 27% less natural resources than the production of virgin nylon, reduces greenhouse emissions by 28%, and can be processed over and over again.

Several companies worldwide recycle waste nylon into virgin grade material, such as Nilit in Israel, Unifi in the U.S., Toray in Japan and Nuriel in Spain. This retrieving routine has attracted a plethora of clothing and accessory designers so that a range of consumers can access and experience products made from recycled nylon. Patagonia is a devotee as one of the first apparel companies to incorporate the material into its athletic gear and backpacks, alongside the likes of running gear manufacturer Nautilus in its Thoni Mara line.

Christopher Raeburn A/W 2012

Even apparel giant H&M has taken on the use of recycled nylon in its Conscious Collection, while the material has also been cited in the collections of Christopher Raeburn, Organic by John Patrick and DKNY Pure. As no apparent danger of another nylon riot is in the near future with our abundance of material to work with, hopefully more manufacturers will see the beauty in rejuvenating the experienced versus the virgin version.

The post Fiber Watch: Nylon Gets a New (Recycled) Life appeared first on EcoSalon.

A list of the top sustainable designers currently on the fashion scene.

Sustainable fashion has come a long way since its humble beginnings with more and more designers taking chances with fabrics, silhouettes and collaborations. Here we offer you an extensive list of what we consider to be the top designers in the sustainable fashion field.

A.D.O. Organics, New York, NY: GOTS (global organic trade standard) certified fabrics, chemical-free herbal dyes, Fair Trade.

Afia, New York, NY: Sustainable women’s clothing line sourced and sewn in Ghana, West Africa.

Ajna, New York, NY: Certified organic and sustainable textiles, collaborates with indigenous textile artisans.

Alabama Chanin, Florence, Alabama: Slow design, organic fabrics, recycled materials, minimal waste, made by local artisans in Florence, Alabama.

Alder, New York, NY: Part of the Pratt Design Incubator, all made in the U.S., materials sourced locally.

Allison Parris, New York, NY: Recycled materials, end run fabrics, organic silks, made in Manhattan.

Ambika, Catskills, NY: Made from shorn and brushed Angora rabbits on Ambika Conroy’s own rabbit farm in upstate New York.

Auralis Herrero, New York/Puerto Rico: Organic fabrics, promotes sustainable economies in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Avery by Wang, Vancouver, Canada: Recently launched, organic cotton, hemp.

Awamaki Lab, New York and Ollantaytambo, Peru: A Peruvian non-profit working with impoverished Quechua women weavers.

Carrie Parry, New York, NY Produced ethically and locally in the New York Garment District, sourcing environmentally conscious materials and textiles supporting artisanal communities worldwide.

Christopher Raeburn, London: Christopher Ræburn has become known for his utilization of re-appropriated military fabrics to create garments that are functional, intelligent and meticulously crafted.

Clary Sage Organics, San Francisco, CA: Clary Sage Organics is committed to using 100% organic or ecologically sustainable products.

Costello Tagliapietra, New York, NY: Uses AirDye waterless technology to create all their prints, made in New York City’s Garment District.

Crop by David Peck, Houston, TX: Manufactured with textiles dyed in the United States and select fabrics imported from fair trade co-operatives in India.

Curator, San Francisco, CA: Made in San Francisco, organic cottons, hemp, minimal waste.

EcoSkin, Los Angeles, CA: EcoSkin uses only environmentally sustainable luxury fabrics woven, dyed and sewn in the U.S.

Eko-Lab, New York, NY: 100% organic materials, natural vegetable dyes, all made locally by New York City artisans.

Elroy, Vancouver, BC: Uses organic cotton, bamboo, tencel, linen, hemp, wild silk, pineapple, wool and upcycled fabrics, manufactured by a small, family-run cottage industry in Indonesia, designed in Canada.

Eva Zingoni, Paris, France: Made in France from recycled materials, limited edition, surplus fabrics from Parisian fashion houses.

Feral Childe, New York City/Oakland, California: Organic textiles, recycled textiles and accessories, made in New York City.

Frei, Chicago: Organic cottons, natural dyes, and locally manufactured textiles.

Gretchen Jones, New York: Sustainable fabrics, made in New York City’s Garment District.

Harricana by Mariouche, Montreal, Canada: Recycled fur, recycled materials.

H Fredriksson, New York, NY: Silk, made in New York City.

Honest By, Antwerp, Belgium: 100% transparent company from production to sales, organic fabric, certified organic wools.

Indigenous, Santa Rosa, CA: organic fabrics, Fair Trade, low impact dyes, free range alpaca.

IOU Project, Tamil Nadu, India: The IOU Project makes unique, handmade, traceable apparel, Fair Trade.

Isoude, Newport, Rhode Island: Made in the U.S.A., silks, hand dyeing.

Juleselin, San Francisco, CA: Created from organic cotton and recycled fabrications, sweatshop free.

Kelly Lane, Pittsburgh, PA: Created from sustainable fabrics, made in New York City’s Garment District.

Koch, Dallas, TX: Sustainable fabrics, made in Dallas and LA.

Lara Miller, Chicago, IL: Multi-functional clothing, organic cottons, hand-loomed bamboo, hemp and vegan silk, made in Chicago.

Lavuk, Los Angeles, CA: Sweatshop free and made locally in Los Angeles with sustainable materials such as organic cotton, tencel, hemp and dead stock silks, multi-functional clothing.

Lina Rennell, Northern California: The Rennell line is an art brand with a heavy focus on original print work, U.S. production, sustainable textiles, craft and high-end tailoring.

Loomstate, New York, NY: Organic cotton, tencel, reduced water consumption, reduced waste, pursuing a closed loop product life cycle.

Loup Charmant, New York, NY: Organic cotton, natural dyes, silks, made in New York City’s Garment District.

Made By, Peruvian Highlands: Eco-friendly Alpaca yarns, hand knit by the local highland Artisans of Peru, Fair Trade, organic colorants.

modaspia, Placerville, CA: Organic fabrics, end run fabrics, made in San Francisco.

Nau, Portland, Oregon: Organic cottons, silks, tencel, recycled materials, cruelty-free wool, partners for change with Ashoka, Ecotrust, Kiva and Mercy Corps.

100% NY, New York, NY: Organic, recycled, and ethical materials, produced entirely in New York.

Organic by John Patrick, New York, NY: Handmade metallic lace, sustainable recycled wool, organic cotton, biodegradable cotton cupro, vegetable-tanned leather, hand-loomed Angora, digitally printed silks,

M. Patmos, New York, NY: Eco-friendly merino wool and alpaca, faux fur made from wool and alpaca, and vegetable tanned leather, handwork techniques from women’s artisan collectives in Nepal and Bolivia, as well as zero-waste seamless knitting technology from Japan.

Portland Pendleton Collection: Portland, Oregon: Pendleton fabrics are woven exclusively in Pendleton’s Northwest Mills and all of the apparel is sourced and produced in the U.S.

Partimi, London: Digitally-printed silks, organic wools, modals, milk fibers, and luxurious cashmere.

Piece x Piece, San Francisco, CA: The fabric used in each piece is selected from a changing stock of luxury discards.

The Podolls, San Francisco, CA: 100% organic Supima Cotton, made in the U.S.

Popomomo, Los Angeles, CA: Organic cottons, Cupro, recycled materials, made in Los Angeles.

Prairie Underground, Seattle, Washington: Organic cotton, hemp, designed and manufactured in the U.S.

Raleigh Denim, Raleigh, NC: Handcrafted denim on vintage machines from the 1920s, sustainable cotton, organic cotton for Fall 12.

RESTORE Clothing, New York, NY: Repreve® Recycled Nylon, made in the New York City Garment District.

Rogan, New York, NY: Silks, organic cotton, alpaca, wool, bamboo, made in the U.S.

Samantha Pleet, New York, NY: Organic cottons, silks, Made in the U.S.

Soham Dave, New York, NY: Soham Dave focuses primarily on using biodegradable fabrics, recycled materials, and hand embroideries.
 

Stewart+Brown, Los Angeles, CA: Organic cotton, organic pima cotton, hemp, surplus fabrics, Mongolian Cashmere produced through a sustainable supply chain, Fair Trade.

Study NY, New York, NY: Organic cotton, linen, recycled materials, zero waste, made in New York.

Suzanne Rae, New York, NY: Silks, organic cottons, other sustainable materials when possible, made in New York City’s Garment District.

Thieves, Toronto, Canada: Soy, hemp, organic cotton, bamboo, Tussah Silk, organic wool, Seacell, tencel.

Titania Inglis, New York, NY: Japanese organic cotton, French vegetable-tanned leather, and dead stock wool from New York’s garment industry, made in New York.

Vaute Couture, New York, NY: Vegan, fair trade.

Did we miss someone? Email amy@ecosalon.com with your tip!

The post The Ultimate List of Sustainable Fashion Designers (From A-Z) appeared first on EcoSalon.

How to knock off Alexa Chung’s style, in true eco-fashion.

We love this casual cool ensemble worn by TV personality/model/all around “It Girl” Alexa Chung to a Stella McCartney holiday party in London. Here’s how you can copy her look, with all sustainably savvy pieces.

Washed-out Gray Denim
For obtaining that perfect washed-out gray denim look you can either wear your black skinnies until they fade into perfection or pick up a pair of these Denim Street Girdle jeans by Prairie Underground. Made in Seattle by designers Davora Lindner and Camilla Eckersley.
$145, Juno & Jove or Prairie Underground

Navy Blue Knit Sweater
This silky merino wool sweater from Stewart + Brown strikes the same perfect balance between delicate and tough and is Fair Trade made. Do like Alexa and wear it over your favorite white tee.
$178, Stewart & Brown

Textured Nude Clutch
This limited edition clutch bag by designer Lina Rennell is ethically made by hand in Northern California, from recycled leather.
$145, Beklina or Lina Rennell

Parka with Attitude
This cool jacket is really the detachable inner of a parka by British designer Christopher Raeburn. It’s made from reappropriated German parka liners while the outer part that comes with it is made entirely from dead-stock cotton (i.e. factory waste).
Approx. $1557, Christopher Raeburn

Alexa Chung photo: Zimbio

The post Celebrity Knockoff: Alexa Chung’s Casual Cool appeared first on EcoSalon.

The quest for sustainable textile sourcing is surely front and center on every conscious fashion designer’s agenda for 2011. Thanks to new resources like Source4Style, identifying and acquiring sustainable fabrics is becoming less time consuming and arduous in terms of research and supply checks. In addition to recycling and upcycling textiles that are all ready in the waste stream, several resourceful fashion designers have targeted the massive global stockpile of military surplus garments and fabrics. Heather Heron and Christopher Raeburn are standouts in this latest phenomenon, as their chic and functional designs transform high quality fabrics into timeless signature pieces that just might out maneuver sustainable strategies of the past.

Heather Heron  For Environment Furniture

We are not talking about “military chic” here, or the glorification of war-mongering attitudes, but given the fact that our troops have been deployed somewhere at some time for as long as hemlines have been shifting, it is inevitable that there is a hefty surplus of military fabrics on standby for reuse.

As British fashion wunderkind Christopher Raeburn described in an interview with Fiona Sibley of The Guardian, it makes sense that a designer looking for durable (often waterproof) fabrics would choose to tap into a cache of military ponchos, parachute fabrics, and field tested canvas/woolen gear.

“…The military always has to overproduce its garments, so there are warehouses with thousands of square feet of military surplus sitting around. For me, giving that a new lease of life is very interesting. What is available depends on political issues: I use fabric from the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic, but also from the former East Germany, which has a post-cold war feeling. After the first Gulf War there was a fall-out of desert camouflage. I spend a lot of time researching the supply, and now my challenge is to find quantities to make my production scalable, to be able to make 100-200 garments, not a handful.”

Raeburn, who studied at The Royal College of Art and was a February 2009 recipient of the Ethical Fashion Forum’s Innovation Award, works first and foremost as a precision-driven craftsman who artfully transforms military garb into beautifully tailored garments that Vogue, Barneys, and numerous fashion glossies have latched onto. All of his designs are made in Britain, something that allows him to monitor scalable production as well as maintain ethical standards. In the end, Raeburn’s designs are first and foremost about fashion with a production process that just happens to be ethical and conscious in its smart use of materials and built-in functionality.

Comme des Garcons

As the folks at BurdaStyle recently pointed out, designers like Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons have been working with reclaimed garments and dry goods for years. Khaki fatigues patched together with military tent fabric and jackets serve as iconic collage elements for street style dressing. Designer Heather Heron might fall into this camp with her eco-luxe accessories that highlight the raw beauty of vintage military fabrics transformed into sleek clutches, computer sleeves, and totes that are ideal for modern living.

Heather’s most recent collection on view at Environment Furniture’s New York showroom demonstrates the beauty of transforming one basic style of vintage army sack into five functional and smart looking pieces. A pleated clutch crafted out of Swiss army textiles definitely sends a message that sustainable style is more than an attitude; it’s a gorgeous testimony to accessories that just get better with age and personal adventure. Add to this the fact that Heron produces all of her designs locally in California with skilled artisans, and the reports from the field just seem more and more promising. The military “trend” is here to stay and it is up to us to find the most sustainable way of addressing and demobbing the issue.

Lead Image Christopher Raeburn

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I’ve watched eco-fashion’s sizzling new designer Christopher Raeburn‘s film for his Spring/Summer Dazzle collection of jackets made from redeployed parachute silk, over and over again. It’s a nebulous fashion moment that I can’t quite put my finger on.

There are fashion moments we’ve all connected to. When I first saw Alexander McQueen’s amazing hologram of Kate Moss, fat tears heaved out of me. And Jackie Kennedy’s decision to keep on her blood-splattered pink Chanel suit for Lyndon Johnson’s swearing in, affects me even as a Brit. Then there are personal fashion moments. The first time I laid eyes on an Ossie Clark dress, for instance. The genius in its bias-cut intuitively understood how to flatter my shape before even I had it figured out.

I went down to San Joaquin Valley to look at California’s cotton farms last week. My neighbor on the bus and I were talking about our emotional connections to our clothes. At first, she’d insisted her clothes were just a uniform. Then, she remembered a special piece that had some significance. Would she ever throw it away, I asked? Her eyes delighted me, as they fixed onto a far away gaze.

Back to the point, and there is one – although I’ve warned you this is pretty nebulous stuff. Another memorable personal fashion moment occurred this year, when I opened up Vogue’s August issue to see Blake Lively wearing Christopher Raeburn’s battledress wool inuit parka (shown below). Not only was it my first introduction to the talented designer. I realized that the eco-fashion movement had produced something that stood on its own design merits, a lone eco note among conventional fashions in the industry’s bible. That parka was really cool. And, I really, really wanted one.

Three months later – I still really, really want one, by the way – and Vogue is seemingly foaming green at the mouth with articles on Marni’s recycled drinking bottle necklace, a locally-made skin care line and Stella McCartney’s enchanting country estate. I think it’s really great. I noted the somewhat flimsy eco-provenance of some of the looks in the “Naturally Refined” layout, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, but I’ve decided that undermining ‘baby steps’ is not the point either.

Ironically enough, the environment isn’t the only victim to fashion’s mass market appetite. The industry’s creative talent suffers too. The “mega-corporations are making creativity more difficult every season. The struggle between the demands of marketing and the freedom and needs of the creative process, the pressure to constantly sell more and to keep upping the ante on the shows with more celebrities and always more press coverage, these are the things that are literally killing fashion” – someone else’s point, by the way.

There are lots of great ideas about what sustainable fashion needs to be defining and some inspired critical thinking – like this – about how to maneuver the luxury goods market.  If we want to produce  “heirlooms-in-waiting” as “an antidote to throwaway fashion,” we’ve go to embrace our emotional connection to clothes, and celebrate the industry’s creativity and aspirational fashion editorial – and the enduring desire it induces. It all matters. It’s all the point.

Back to Christopher Raeburn‘s cute little fashion moment – what do you think? I still haven’t really figured out why, but it makes me happy every time I watch it. And maybe, that’s the point too?

The post Happiness Is Fashion: What’s the Point? appeared first on EcoSalon.

For five weeks beginning January 13th, I’ll be working with a small group of 7th and 8th grade girls interested in fashion. My assistant is a fashion design student from the local high school, a 16 year-old honor student who has already showed me her 23-piece collection.

Together, we’ll engage the kids with recycling and reusing everyday items like milk jugs, candy wrappers, toilet paper rolls and cereal boxes, fashioning them into dresses, skirts, innovative hats and whatever else they come up with. It’s Eco Fashion 101 for budding designers.

Not only do I hope the class is fun and a refreshing change of pace from their regular academic routine, I hope they learn something about sustainable design and reusing.

While we have a multi-generational work force now in the sustainable design, field pushing the boundaries of fabric and form,  these younger kids are our future. What they learn now matters.

I take inspiration for the course from a few fascinating people and groups working to make their own fashion mark.

In November, the British Fashion Council launched an ethical clothing initiative called esthethica. Six designers, including Ada Zanditon, Christopher Raeburn, Goodone, Minna, Nina Dolcetti and The North Circular were selected for a mentoring program to make their businesses greener.

All six designer businesses have been selected to receive one on one expert support from one of three industry mentors: brand consultants Susanne Tide-Frater and Yasmin Sewell and buying consultant Bev Malik.

Another grooming venue, the Chicago Fashion Incubator, which meets at the city’s Macy’s on State Street, provides six emerging Chicago-based designers with workspace and education about the business of fashion and mentoring. The Designers in Residence are provided office space, including computers and software, a workshop room with sample production space and a resource section as well as a showroom (not to mention the help of of Chicago’s eco-darling Lara Miller).

Just south of where I write, New York City’s own Nolcha has fast become the platform for emerging and independent fashion talent. Securing their inaugural Ethical Fashion Preview of Spring/Summer 2010 last September at New York’s Carlton Hotel (a true success for the participating eco-designers), Kerry Bannigan at Nolcha says, “We’re super excited about our first step into the ethical fashion world. It’s absolutely on trend in the industry, yet there’s never been a professional hub to showcase ethical designers in New York before now. This is a peak time to launch our Ethical Fashion Preview.”

Nolcha’s success linking the fashion industry has helped new fashion entrepreneurs learn what it takes to evolve in the challenging industry from all angles. Here’s to hoping they do even more in the sustainable design realm.

In the back rooms of high-end department stores, in the dusty brick buildings of cities and studios near and far, these young men and women are being groomed for big things. Seeing as we’re a society that defines ourselves through what we wear most of the time, we should pay heed.

My New Year’s wish? That we all make a conscious effort to support them. Take some time today to learn more about groups in your city or town that are engaging our future designers and see how you can help. It’ll be way easier than starting your new diet and exercise regiment.

I promise.

Main image: esthethica

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