Shopping with a conscience  for wild(ly) charitable fashion finds that give back.

Giving back is an important part of the sustainable fashion philosophy, and the first P in the triple-bottom-line philosophy (People, Planet, Profit). It’s one of the many ways that fashion can help contribute to a better world and you can vote with your dollars and support companies that are doing great work to help people across the globe. Charitable fashion is anything but boring, just take a look at these wilderness-inspired picks.

ASOS Africa Printed Hot Pants in Geo Print
These printed knicker shorts from the ASOS Africa collection look to traditional East African fabrics, including Kitenge and Kanga prints and hand-woven Kikoy, reworking them with a modern sporty aesthetic in a punchy acid color palette. These feature a vintage-inspired high waisted design with a contrast geometric print and neon colored trims. ASOS Africa is produced in collaboration with Soko and several small communities in Africa, enabling underprivileged communities to establish sustainable business through their local craftsmanship.
$43.49, ASOS

Not For Sale Limited Edition Leather Motorcycle Jacket
This limited edition leather jacket has been exclusively designed for Not For Sale, and proceeds from the line will benefit the organization’s work to combat human trafficking globally, prevent forced labor and end human trafficking. Exposed zippers toughen up this sleek two-tone leather jacket, while a classic notch lapel and epaulets lend structured details.
$599.99, Made For Good

Lemlem Mekina Roll Up Pants
Supermodel, actress and former World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Liya Kebede started Lemlem in 2007, after discovering that traditional weavers in her native Ethiopia were losing their jobs due to a decline in local demand for their goods. Through producing fashions like these casual-cool roll up pants, she inspires economic independence in her native country and helps preserve the art of weaving. Hand made in Ethiopia.
$200, Lemlem

Rain Tees Tree of Life Tee
Rain Tees are ethically manufactured in the U.S. and Peru, providing stable jobs and great working conditions for those who make them. The company also donates school supplies to NGOs and schools in need across the world. This Tree of Life tee is illustrated by eleven year old Mariela of Peru. The tee displays a rain forest tree crying leaves that symbolize its tears because so many trees like this one are cut down for logging. She has also drawn fish that have died and lay floating in water polluted with oil from pipelines that leak illegally into the jungle and poison plants, animals and villages.
$36, Rain Tees

Rachel Roy Heart of Haiti Double Circle Hoops
The devastating earthquake of January 2010 has made it virtually impossible for Haitians to make a living. Proceeds from the sale of these delicately handcrafted earrings directly benefits the Croix-des-Bouquets Haitian artisans by allowing them to support their families with dignity and purpose. No two pieces are alike.
$32, Rachel Roy

Havainas and Baby Buggy Limited Edition Sandals
Flipflop company Havaianas has teamed up with Baby Buggy, a charity founded by Jessica Seinfeld, and celebrity moms like Courteney Cox, Nina Garcia, Rebecca Romijn, and Tori Spelling, to collaborate on this limited edition collection. Each pair is available in both adult and childrens sizes. 10% of sales will be donated directly to Baby Buggy to help provide families in need with essential equipment, products, clothing, and educational services for their infants and children.
$26, Havaianas

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The balance of sustainable fashion lies within your every purchase.

A year or two ago this article would have been entitled “Fashion Giants Ride Sustainability Wave.” At this stage in the game talking about companies like Wal-Mart, Target, H&M, Gap Inc doing their bit is like greenwashing the chairs on the Titanic. With climate change officially confirmed, fashion companies have an irrefutable responsibility to green their manufacturing and products. But, given the choice, would they?

We often go back and forth discussing the future of the fashion industry here at EcoSalon. I don’t know if the model is broken and needs to be dumped on its stylish head, or if we can fix it with some earnest action and better designed products. Maybe both need to be happening at the same time. You can do both by going ahead and protesting against the concentration of wealth among the privileged few by shopping local fashion from small independent merchants this holiday season, but also check out the fruits of the big brands’ eco initiatives. Their partnerships to minimize energy waste and hazardous chemicals help to encourage eco-fashion at reasonable prices too. Well, some of them.

Here are the latest developments from three of fashion’s well-known brands, Levi’s, Havanianas and Manolo Blahnik.

Levi’s goal is to support the 300 million people currently engaged in cotton farming around the world.

At a cocktail reception last week, Levi Strauss & Co. announced that 2 million pairs of its Denizen and Levi brand jeans now contain a blend of cotton certified by the Better Cotton Initiative. In partnership with other leading brands such as H&M, Adidas, IKEA and organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, Solidaridad and PAN-UK, they’re adhering to the standards of Better Cotton – cotton grown in a way that is less harmful to both the environment and some 40,000 farmers in India, Pakistan, Mali and Brazil. Levi’s executives say their goal is to eventually support the 300 million people engaged in cotton farming around the world.

Sales of Havaianas limited edition “Conservation International” collection have raised approximately $100,000 per year for the Brazilian marine organization.

According to an article in the New York Times yesterday, Havaianas, the Brazilian company that makes about 200 million pairs of flip-flops each year, has just introduced Eco Havaianas that are made from scrap materials incurred during regular production. Other products include Havaianas IPÊ, which designates 7 percent of its revenue for the Institute for Ecological Research in Brazil. Another style, the CI-Brazil, funds projects for the protection of local endangered species and in its first year sold more than 500,000 pairs.

The shoes are sustainable. Is the price?

Fish skin is very much the medium of the moment with Alexander Wang unveiling a collection of sneakers with fish skin detailing for Spring 2012 and Sex in the City favorite, Manolo Blahnik, announcing recently that he was using the “fish leather” in his new range of eco shoes. Made from sustainable tilapia skin, raffia and cork, the collection is part of a collaboration with eco designer Marcia Patmos. Patmos told Womens Wear Daily, “I love the idea of Tilapia skin because it is a by-product of the food industry that would otherwise be discarded, but it’s actually a beautiful material perfect for small leather goods’. The shoes will be sold at Manolo Blahnik shops for $895, WWD reports.

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