An interview and visit with Kelly Drennan, founder of Fashion Takes Action.

I recently headed north to Toronto and had the opportunity to meet up with Fashion Takes Action’s Kelly Drennan who is hands down, the most connected women in Canadian sustainable fashion. From her Distillery District showroom, Drennan runs part education/retail for the public and base operations for the eco fashion industry grooming designers to be better at what they do, and raising public awareness for the benefits of sustainable fashion and responsible consumerism.

Busy as she may be, we nailed Drennan to her seat to ask her some questions. Here’s what she had to say.

FTA seems to do everything for designers including helping them be more sustainable to selling from your showroom. Are there many places in Canada doing what you’re doing?
FTA is the only organization that does this kind of work in Canada – both from working with designers and retailers in helping them along their sustainability journey, and also with respect to raising consumer awareness. We provide our members with the tools and resources to help them become more successful. To us, this means helping them gain a genuine understanding of sustainability and how it relates to their business, being transparent with their branding and messaging, accessing eco friendly fabric, certifications and other services, as well as getting their product in front of the media and general public.

Sole Rebels footwear

Tell us how the showroom came to be.
We poll our members regularly to ensure that we are on the right track and are delivering the kind of services that they need – that are both timely and that will help them achieve more success. We would continually hear, from our more established members, that they needed help with sales. These are, for the most part, the designers who already had a solid grasp on their sustainability plan, and who had a credible product on the market, but who needed help reaching the media and the consumer.

As a non profit organization, finding the most affordable space was a bit tricky, until the opportunity to move into the Distillery District came about. We share the space with one of our members, Lara Bazant which has enabled us to deliver even further on our mission to support our members. The showroom is currently focused on retail sales, however we have plans to grow our relationship with buyers. Our goal is to soon be supporting our members on the wholesale side of their business as well.

Miik founder and designer Michael Gaughan

How hard is it for designers today to produce sustainably? Do they need to pick a niche within the eco-fashion realm or can they do it all?
We realize perfection doesn’t exist, but that even the smallest steps can make a huge difference. We encourage our members to do whatever they can. In order to help out with their increasing costs, we provide various discounts with preferred suppliers ranging from eco friendly fabric to FSC certified business cards. We are seeing more creativity and diversity with emerging designers who are taking the term “sustainable” and making it their own. The past year or so has seen a boom in reclaimed, rescued and upcycled collections and some more established designers who were using only organics or closed loop fabrics, are now also adding in reclaimed pieces. We love to see experimentation as this movement is constantly growing and changing. What was considered to be sustainable 5 years ago is quite different today. Certification is also one of the biggest challenges that our members face, and we hope to address this in the coming 12-18 months by making it both more accessible and more affordable.

Anne Pringle of Local Buttons and Fashion Takes Action founder, Kelly Drennan

Can fashion be a portal for people to think differently about how they consume?
Absolutely. Our tagline is “Changing the way we create and consume fashion,” so we spend a great deal of our time trying to make this shift happen. It has to be about more than just the fashion alone. We rely heavily on the support of the media to continue to spread the word. We also believe that designers also have a responsibility to provide more information to their customers about why sustainable is better. It isn’t good enough to just say that it is organic or recycled, but why that is important. What are the conventional alternatives, and how are they negatively impacting our planet and its people.

When consumers are empowered with the knowledge that something fashionable was made from something else and thus saved from its otherwise destined landfill, or that a stylish dress was made from quality eco friendly fabric and not mass produced in a sweatshop, then it is that very knowledge that can help people change the way they consume. I at least like to think this is true.

Monica Mei of AIME and Melanie Ferrara of Device

What is the #1 bit of advice you’d give a designer just getting out of design school?
It’s hard to think of just one bit of advice, but I do think that if a young designer can secure an internship with a small independent designer, then they will learn so much from that experience. It will provide a huge learning opportunity, and with a the right kind of leadership and mentoring, can prove to be invaluable.

Another very important bit of advice would be to focus. I see too many young designers who lack focus – their collections are not cohesive and they are clearly still experimenting. I have also seen collections drastically change form season to season so that they in no way appear to be made by the same brand (but they are). Finally I think young designers need to just slow it down and take the time to really understand who their demographic is and thus how to properly price their work. Research and testing is one way to do it. It will save time and money in the long run, instead of learning through trial and error, which is not only expensive but often results in an excess of dead stock – this is a problem both financially and environmentally!

Images: Amy DuFault

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Canada’s sustainable fashion growth is a healthy sign of the times.

With easily more than 50 Canadian designers now working various sustainable practices into their collections, it was difficult to highlight just these five. Canada has seen tremendous growth in the number of eco fashion designers over the past few years. The following designers represent both those who have been leading the movement in Canada, and also some up-and-comers that you should be watching. Their A/W 2011 collections are sure to impress even the most discerning.

Nicole Bridger, Vancouver

Nicole was the first winner of Canada’s Fashion Takes Action award, Design Forward. Her A/W ’11 collection is entitled “Safe to Love,” aptly named after a personal experience she recently had. “Every season I reflect on life lessons that I’m learning”, Bridger says of coming out of a painful relationship. In addition to earth tones, we can expect to see passionate colours from Bridger this fall including reds, purples, and blush pink.

Thieves, by Sonja den Elzen, Toronto

Continuing on the theme of consciousness, Thieves’ A/W 2011 is entitled “Reflection,” which according to designer den Elzen is the embodiment of seasons layered and loved.  “It is about the seasons and years blending together, erasing the lines of time and offering genuine lifelong pieces that become the foundation of a wardrobe for those who are reflective and conscientious of their surroundings.”

This fall, we can expect to see more of the highly tailored look den Elzen achieves with beeswaxed organic cotton and hemp/wool/tencel suiting blends, combined with soft draped jerseys, organic wool knits, and lush, hand-knit wear.

Adhesif, by Melissa Ferreira, Vancouver

Newer to the scene but becoming known for their use of reclaimed and recycled materials, Adhesif recently rocked the runways at Vancouver Eco Fashion Week . For A/W 2011, we can expect to see more vintage tweed, wool suiting and printed cotton twill.

“The colour palette reminds me of a sunset on an open field in the Prairies,” states designer Melissa Ferreira. “Many pieces have a draped feel to them but I have added in some pieces that have a ‘sack’ or box-cut look as well”.

 Harricana by Mariouche, Montreal

For more than two decades, luxury fur designer Mariouche Gagné has been ethically recycling fur made in Canada. She claims to have recycled over 50,000 coats, saving 400 metric tons from landfill. The Harricana A/W 2011 collection features three themes: Femme Fatale, giving rise to elegance and femininity; Military, urban, unisex and streamlined; and Timeless, evoking the wild and untamed nature of the great Canadian outdoors.

Device by Melanie Ferrara, Toronto

Since 2008, designer Melanie Ferrara has produced a series of vintage-inspired modern classics, made in Toronto using tencel, organic wool and organic cotton. For inspiration for her A/W ’11 collection, she looked to the period of the 1940s. “Fashion at that time was influenced by wartime austerity measures, and was characterized by tailored silhouettes with an emphasis on the waist and shoulders,” says Ferrara who adds she used a neutral color palette of navy and black as the base, paired with greys, cream, plum and plaid.  “The result is a collection of timeless, wearable pieces which range in style from modern casual to sophisticated elegance.”

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Designers tend to have a variety of visions when it comes to their lines, but the most important part should be to simply design well thought-out lines. Nixxi does just that and juggles fit, high quality sustainable fabrics and production methods like a seasoned pro.

According to the Fashion Takes Action’s website – where Nixxi was recently a nominee for a Canadian Design Forward award – “Nixxi recently presented their designs as an “˜Eco & Ethical Ready-To-Wear Label’ at the EcoChic Fashion Show and Exhibition in Geneva in January. By presenting at EcoChic Geneva, Nixxi has partnered with Green2Greener, and aligned their designs with the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity.”

We love how they employ not just organic cotton and bamboo as so many designers do, but also knits and wovens made from hemp, bamboo, soy, lyocell, organic wool, silk, and linen.

On their production facilities Nixxi says: “We choose to work with a local production house that employs fair wages and a comfortable working environment for their employees, thus sustaining a positive working relationship which also results in a more quality finished, longer-lasting garment.”

We were more than thrilled when Nixxi offered the Empire Dress to us for this week’s giveaway. Though the image above shows the dress in white, you’ll also have the choice of a beautiful Italian linen in either a faded blue or a misty gray if you win.

Drooling yet? I sure am. Leave a comment below to try your hand at snatching up this pretty frock.

(For complete giveaway guidelines click here. All offers are FTC compliant.)

Good Luck!

The post Ooh La La: Nixxi’s Empire Dress Giveaway appeared first on EcoSalon.

Fashion Takes Action, led by Kelly Drennan, recently hosted their first Canadian designer award called Design Forward. Each designer was hand-selected by FTA based on a set of criteria including materials used, carbon footprint, ethical production practices, design aesthetics and any extra “eco-initiatives” they’ve implemented, like energy efficiency and organic hang tags.

After the first round of judging by over 4,000 visitors to the FTA site, the top three went on to an even more scrutinized judging by three judges including model, activist, writer and TV personality Summer Rayne Oakes, sustainability consultant Lorraine Smith, and yours truly.

The judges rated the top three (Laura Chenoweth, Nicole Bridger and We3 (twigg &hottie) in various categories including:

• Materials Used
• Production
• Design
• Special Features
• Transparency
• Accountability

All scorecards were then emailed to Price Waterhouse where they were tabulated. And this past Thursday the winner, Nicole Bridger, was announced.

What did Nicole win? A lot. $50,000 worth of prizes including a three-month national PR campaign, provided by Third Eye Media, participation at Nolcha Fashion Week’s Ethical Fashion Preview in NYC this September, $1000 in eco-friendly fabric supplied by Telio (to make a sample collection to show in NYC) and a look book photo shoot with full creative team including photographer, models, a stylist and a hair and makeup team.

I caught up with Nicole Bridger over the weekend and asked her a few questions. Here’s what she had to say:

Being under such scrutiny suddenly as a sustainable designer, were you worried?

Worried about what? I guess that would mean no. I just do my best to make our clothing as eco as I can and I feel secure in that. I can only do my best and our motives are authentic, so what’s to worry?

Did you start out as a designer designing sustainably or was it something you evolved into?

I started out in University as a designer who used natural fibers because I was conscious of the impact synthetics have on the planet. The term “sustainable designer” didn’t come up until later on.

Do you think it’s important to be a role model to other designers, to show how things can be done? That it can be done eco-friendly but also very fashion forward?

Absolutely! I believe it will eventually be the norm. It is so important to show that it can be done and the more people that jump on board the better, the industry will grow and more fabrics will become available.

How do you feel this award will now help you?

It certainly helps with getting noticed and with the trip to New York City, that means getting recognized on a global level. Our company is ready now for growth and we are looking for more clientele.

What is your favorite part of the award?

That it exists now, it is a sure sign that things are evolving.

In a perfect world, how do you see your line evolving?

Eventually we will be a lifestyle brand that people can rely on to be sustainable and Fair Trade no matter what the product they are purchasing. We will have global retail outlets and create co-operative fair trade factories in third world countries to help those in need.

The post And the Design Forward Winner Is? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Earth Day gets us thinking about our first.

You know, our first beach garbage pick-up, Earth Day concert, camping under the stars, organic meal – and for us fashion gals, clothing!

My first? A beautiful embroidered, organic cotton dress from designerEmily Katz who was then known as Bonnie Heart Clyde. I still own the dress and only wish we could see more from Emily (stop being such a foodie and get designing girl!)

For some of us, eco-fashion based finds were due to frugal funds as college students, for others, a conscious choice to do something different. We caught up with some of our favorite sustainably-minded fashion mavens and asked the question “Do you remember buying your first piece of sustainably designed clothing and did you buy it knowing what it was?”

Here’s what they had to say.

Anna Griffin CocoEco Magazine Publisher and Editor-In-chief

“Yes, it was a lilac and pink Deborah Lindquist recycled cashmere scarf, with a skull and crossbones that I bought three years ago from a store in West Hollywood. I had had my eye on it for ages, and was so thrilled when I finally bought it that I put it on, even though it was 80 degrees outside!”

Jasmin Malik Chua Ecouterre Managing Editor

“Yes, a sleeveless organic-cotton wrap dress from the now somewhat defunct Canadian label Twice Shy. It was purchased circa 2006, sometime after I learned about the ills of conventional cotton farming.”

Sara Ost EcoSalon Publisher and Editor-In-Chief

“I don’t remember the first sustainable piece I ever bought, because looking back there were plenty of eco-friendly things I would buy but I didn’t realize it at the time. Things started to click for me several years ago when I bought a pair of Serfontaine jeans on vacation in Marin County (I lived in L.A. at this point). They aren’t perfect, of course, but the Made in USA and natural dyes message caught my attention. I was so careful about what I ate, it suddenly struck me as odd that I was not being more conscious of what I wore: in short, a whole lot of petroleum and chemicals.”

Kate Black Magnifeco Managing Editor

“Yes, I remember by the time I started to get really interested in sustainable clothing I was living in Tokyo (and running the blog) and couldn’t read any of the clothing tags. Then along came a 50 percent off offer from Envi – and I stocked up! Organic cotton (yay!) shipped from Boston to Tokyo (nay!)”

Greta Eagan EcoSalon Fashion Writer, filmmaker, founder of gretaguide.com, fashionmegreen.com

“Hmm, I think my first sustainable fashion piece was from Buffalo Exchange when I was in college in Boulder, CO. As a student on a budget and also at a time when I was exploring my fashion identity I would go to the famous thrift store and swap out old clothing for ‘new to me’ pieces. I can’t quite remember the first article of clothing, but I do remember this one dress that was made of silk scarves and crafted in a very artistic way. I definitely didn’t know that I was participating in sustainable fashion back then – but I did like the idea of re-using clothing and exchanging what I no longer wanted for something that held more appeal.”

Bahar Shahpar Sustainable Style Expert

“Four years ago, I snagged this inky black oversized hand-knit scarf at Atrium – I saw the hulking pile of chunky alpaca amazingness from across the room and had it wrapped around my neck before I even thought to look at the label. The thing is, having just started my trial-by-fire introduction into sustainable design with the launch of my womens wear line, I already knew what to look for and what to avoid, but that day I was completely engulfed by the “Feelgood Quotient.” I may have lucked out, because the scarf was by Edun and I was able to march up to the register without much guilt – but I think that only goes to show that things that are made better actually do feel better. Shopping can be simple, if we spend more time listening to our instincts instead of the advertising.”

Rowena Hutchinson Ritchie EcoSalon Fashion Writer, Publicist and Blogger for the Innovative Fashion Council

“As a teen, I bought a champagne-colored silk brocade 1950’s shirt-waister with a full skirt from a stall at Covent Garden. I treasured that dress and would mooch around my Mother’s living room pretending to be Grace Kelly. Last year (and two decades later), I took it into a La Rosa Vintage in San Francisco and swapped it for a 30’s cocktail dress whose diamante deco-designed sleeves are a topic of conversation at every party I attend. The idea that an item of clothing can still be relevant and beautiful more than 80 years after it was made speaks to the new fashion ethos. We need clothes designed to be treasured and timeless and to foster an emotional connection with its wearer and, hopefully, multiple wearers.”

Starre Vartan Founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick, author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life, managing editor of Greenopia and a contributor to The Huffington Post

“After years of creating my own upcycled clothing (I specialized in inserting castoff fabrics into my cords and jeans to make them super wide-leg…yes it was the 90’s!) I then moved to shopping at mainstream stores and thrifting about 30 percent of my wardrobe for many years. My first piece of sustainably designed clothing was a pair of hemp trousers from The Hempest in Burlington, VT in probably 2002. They are black, read as linen (but don’t wrinkle), and I still wear them as they are supersoft and worn in perfectly.”

Kelly Drennan EcoSalon Fashion Writer, Founder of Fashion Takes Action

“I have been buying second hand and vintage clothing for years, dating back to university. However, then it wasn’t about being sustainable as much as it was about being frugal with my non existent student income. From there I was introduced to the concept of locally made clothing, having worked with a few local designers in Toronto. Annie Thompson in particular was one of my favorite local designers as she was also known for incorporating recycled fabrics into her designs.  But my first piece of clothing made from a sustainable fabric, is a bamboo kimono style jacket from Thieves that I purchased in spring 2007. Back then I, like mostly everyone else, thought bamboo was a sustainable fabric. And I wore that jacket everywhere! I still own it, and yes, I still wear it. But my reasons for wearing it have changed. When I first got it, I wore it because it was sustainable first, and stylish second. Now I simply wear it because it is a timeless and stylish piece. And it is still a conversation piece, only the conversation has changed. Rather than talking about what sustainable fabrics are and how they are better for the planet, I now talk about the reasons why bamboo is not sustainable.”

Shannon Lorraine Founder of online boutique Found Future

“I remember mine! It was five years ago and I was working as a buyer and buying high-end denim – Citizens, Ag etc… And we picked up loomstate and I did know much about the line. I bought myself jeans and an perfect tee – which I still wear!”

Image: rzacakes

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Kelly Drennan and her crew over at Fashion Takes Action are movers and shakers (we’ve known this for a while), but we are delighted to hear of their FTA Design Forward contest for Canadian designers. (That’s Kelly, above.)

Drennan says FTA’s first annual award is being created in recognition of the many talented eco fashion designers in Canada.

Designers include: Thieves, Elladora, Elroy, Paper People Clothing, Laura Chenoweth, Revolve Clothing, Nicole Bridger, Salts Organic, Preloved, Lav & Kush, deux fm, Nixxi, Flora & Fauna, We3 (twigg & hottie). You can learn more about each of these designers by visiting the FTA site.

Thieves

“There are a number of fabulous designers working toward a sustainable fashion future,” says Drennan, “And we believe that our fourteen nominees represent the driving force of the movement in Canada.”

Each designer has been hand-selected by FTA based on a set of criteria including materials used, carbon footprint, ethical production practices, design aesthetics and any extra “eco-initiatives” they’ve implemented, like energy efficiency and organic hang tags.

We3 (twigg&hottie)

The lucky winner will receive a $50,000 package including: a three-month national PR campaign provided by Third Eye Media, participation at Nolcha Fashion Week’s Ethical Fashion Preview in NYC in September 2010, look book photo shoot with full creative team including photographer, models, hair & makeup and stylist along with $1,000 towards Fair trade and Organic certification to be provided by Ecocert.

FTA wants you to vote by April 16th. Go and review each nomination (see the site’s side bar for list of designers), and vote based on your favorite Canadian sustainable fashion designer.

Nixxi

Each of the profiles created includes images of the designs, how they are meeting each of the four eco criteria, and FTA’s comments on how the designers can improve. This is good for you to see as it can help with your decision making.

Of course, all of these designers are talented and hard-working in their own right. They’re sustainably-minded entrepreneurs who are making a tangible, positive impact in the fashion industry by virtue of their efforts.

From your votes (one vote per person), FTA will gather the top three finalists, who will then face a jury of recognized leaders with fashion and corporate sustainability backgrounds including yours truly, author and eco personality Summer Rayne Oakes and sustainability consultant Lorraine Smith.

Good luck to the designers!

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This holiday season, avoid succumbing to advertisers brainwashing us to believe that Best Buy and Macy’s are the only acts in town because of rock bottom sales and coupons. Instead, think local. Sure, we’re a global people, but neighborhood businesses need our support to survive.

The backbone of our small towns and cities is local business, and without them, we have main street vacancies, dark buildings, for lease signs, and people moving elsewhere. It all adds up to a good reason to  shop locally this year.

Kelly Drennan, Founder of ShopSustainable and Fashion Takes Action

Kelly Drennan of Toronto’s Fashion Takes Action knows the win-win of shopping locally, and has taken it a step further by  initiating her own program this holiday season called ShopSustainable.

Drennan’s city-wide initiative challenging consumers to shop locally as well as ethically this holiday season has a clear goal: Raising a general awareness of eco-friendly products while promoting Toronto-based products and online retailers who carry them. The program is a collaboration of Fashion Takes Action and Evolution Green.

Drennan says for these industries, it’s vital to transmit the message about where the sustainable businesses are,  and to get local people to shop them.

“Most people are now doing what they can to lighten their footprint, whether it means driving less, turning down the thermostat, or carrying reusable shopping bags,” says Drennan. “However, if consumers purchase just one gift or stocking stuffer this holiday season that is sustainable, then collectively it can have a very significant impact. Shop Sustainable challenges consumers to put their wallet where their heart is, for the planet.”

The notion of mindful consumerism has everyone wondering whether saving money this holiday season outweighs quality, ethics and investing in a more authentic buying experience. Will consumers see that pumping money into local businesses recirculates the wealth in their communities?

Check out this MSN article featuring tips on how to shop locally and see if you’re up for the challenge. And of course, if you’re in Toronto, ShopSustainable!

The post Your Green Holiday Challenge? Shop Sustainable in Your Hood appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s that time of year again.

All around us, springing up like buttery daffodils, are the eco-fashion shows slated to saturate Earth Day venues.

Here are a handful that caught my eye:

The 3rd Annual Project Earth Day Runway Show and Student Competition

Held at the Openhouse Gallery, a vanguard multipurpose exhibition and installation space located on Mulberry Street in the heart of trendsetting NoLIta.

Supported by the US Green Building Council, and co-produced by the Creative Director of The Four Hundred, Bahar Shahpar. The show will feature an exciting student competition judged by an esteemed panel of judges from the worlds of fashion, beauty, architecture, and sustainability, and of course presenting the best in sustainable fashion on the runway.

Project Earth Day provides a platform for green-minded leaders and future leaders in the building and fashion industries to collaborate and experience the best in sustainable fashion. Join top names in the design industry and a panel of celebrity judges for this exciting eco-conscious event.

Fashion Takes Action is celebrating its launch as a members-based organization and throwing a party at the Burroughes Building.

In partnership with Earth Day Canada, this event will feature a great line up of DJs: Brendan Canning from BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, Dirty Dale, Andycapp (Bang The Party!, Motown, Slinky Music) & Dali (Slinky Music).

Also Ryerson fashion students will participate in a live eco-designer challenge creating garments made from packaging.

This is a signature FTA GREEN event, which means you can count on there being no bottled water, little waste, LED lighting and more. And, it is a fundraiser event to support Earth Day Canada and Fashion Takes Action.

Stanford University’s first-ever Sustainable Fashion Show is a groundbreaking event on campus promoting a sustainable lifestyle on all fronts in the surrounding Bay Area. Showcasing the work of around twenty unique professional designers in individual sets, and as well as the designs of several student designers from the Stanford Community. Some of the featured designers include: Moda Spia, Feral Childe, Covet, She-Bible, Pi Organic and Aoki Jeans.

Know of any others?

Link to this article so other eco-fashionistas can find information on your show and just what you’re doing to celebrate Earth Day this month!

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