Whether you tip toed through the end of 2010 holiday parties with a naughty or nice outlook is really something between you and the man with the untamed white beard. We are already gazing ahead to spring/summer 2011, particularly with numerous fashion week line-ups now at our slush-saturated heels. An upcoming fashion trend that might surprise you in this era of recession-studded austerity is an increasing fascination with macramé, crochet, and hand-made lace. Both Fashionising and Style.com have announced that caftans and hippie-chic ponchos have been upgraded to luxurious and supremely feminine offerings for 2011. A testimony perhaps to our desire for fashion that demonstrates the labor of love that goes into quality ethical construction and accessories that also tell a story?

Mark Liu, A/W 10′

As a fiber artist I am always looking for evidence of stunning handwork in key fashion investment pieces. I have also admired how both indie and sustainable fashion designers were the first to go “knotty by nature,” ahead of celebrated names like Celine, Catherine Malandrino, Gucci, or Pucci. London-based zero-waste designer Mark Liu even created a knotting system as a way to eliminate textile waste in the creation of his Winter 2010 collection, “Singularity Point.”

Eko-Lab, A/W 10′

There is definitely something alluring about donning fiber-crafted fashion – as the cord, yarn, or ribbon simply gets softer and more malleable with wear. Knotted couture is actually an ancient phenomenon. The earliest skirt on record is a Paleolithic mini-skirt made of knotted strings that were weighted with tiny pebbles that went klickety-klack as women swished in front of the campfire. We have evidently come along way, ladies, if Roberto Cavalli is now keen on creating body-hugging string gowns for the rock-chick Venuses of our times.

Eko-Lab Crochet Panties

Xing-Zhen Chung Hilyard and Melissa Kirgan of Eko-lab have incorporated some wild and knotty crochet into their sustainably minded fashion designs, principally as organic trim elements but also as a head-to-toe testament to their slow design alchemy. I loved the crocheted top hat and fringe shawl from their AW 2010/11 collection. These “conscious fashion” pioneers also know how to whip up some superfine and sexy crocheted bikinis that rival anything that our Stone Age counterpoints might have crafted.

Michelle Lane’s Japanese cord jewelry collections twine mysticism and the patterns of physics into sculpted wearable art that creates a certain intimacy between the wearer and the object. Lane views her necklaces and bracelets as being more of an extension of clothing than jewelry, and given that she crafts each piece by hand, there is no doubt that this designer has a healthy-preoccupation with organically generated and mindful, small-scale production.

Michelle Lane

Similarly, award-winning Brit designer Tanvi Kant explores wild knots and loopy crafting in her recycled sari fabric necklaces and free form textile creations. Not only is she resourceful in her deconstruction of discarded textile materials, but her one-of-a-kind designs also allow for expression of her cultural heritage and colorful roots. Each knotted design can be artfully shaped on the body according to the individual’s accessorizing whims. Also not to missed on the recycled scrap textile front is designer Michelle Lowe-Holder’s Victorian-style “ribbon Reclaim” neck wear crafted from off-cut fabrics from previous collections and reclaimed ribbon flocked together on a crochet base. (Thanks, Sass Brown, for this tip).

Michele Lowe-Holder

A quick peruse on eBay for eco-macramé or knotted accessories offers up a whole treasure trove of hemp rope bracelets, hippie-style belts, and yes, you guessed it, hanging plant holders. One seller who really stands out, though, is Imperishable Things. Knots can be deceptively simple, and these recycled cotton and nylon rope designs caught my eye with their chic domestic interpretation of cord. Don’t you just love it when yesterday’s clothesline can become tomorrow’s cocktail party conversation starter as noose-style bling?

Imperishable Things

Top Image, Tanvi Kant via Crafts Council UK

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In an overly consumptive American society, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out why we’re so far behind other countries when it comes to zero waste. We consume so much, that we never take inventory of what we already have.

So it should be no surprise that according to a recent New York Times article about Fashion Tries On Zero Waste Design, “Nearly every leading zero-waste or less-waste designer hails from another country, including Mark Liu, Julian Roberts and Zandra Rhodes in England; Susan Dimasi and Chantal Kirby in Australia, Ms. McQuillan in New Zealand; and Yeohlee Teng, who is working in New York but was born in Malaysia.”

The article brings up some really great questions about how fashion is interpreted and at the most basic, the pattern.

While many in the fashion industry are starting to stand tall on their green toes – implementing organic fabrics, using less energy, and making significant changes when it comes to their carbon footprint – excess fabric, which translates to tons of waste over a design career, is often overlooked. While all these strategies are optimistic and good, creating well thought out patterns that use less waste may be a better option.

Next month, Timo Rissanen, a Finnish designer whose blog promotes  “Fashion creation without fabric waste creation through design practice,” will be Parsons the New School For Design’s first-ever assistant professor of fashion design and sustainability offering one of the world’s first fashion courses in zero waste. (Rissanen might want to bring his soon to debut book “Shaping Sustainable Fashion: Changing the Way We Make and Use Clothes,” co-written by Alison Gwilt along for the ride).

The class will be co-taught with Scott Mackinlay Hahn, a founder of the organic fashion label Loomstate.

The duo hopes to inspire in budding student designer’s minds that zero waste is possible and can be achieved with the end product being something of beauty. They plan to start with an iconic American wardrobe staple, a pair of jeans.

The New York Times says the “Students in the class will explore how to change the way jeans are made and cared for, from sourcing fibers that have not been exposed to pesticides or fertilizers, to how frequently consumers wash their denim. The top design will be manufactured at Loomstate’s California factory and sold next spring at Barneys New York.”

Inspiration enough for students to work harder than they ever have.

Image: Timo Rissanen (New York Times)

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Green, contemporary lifestyle clothing.

Sustainable everyday wear.

Eco-fabulous clothing that does double duty”¦

We’ve seen all these headlines but where, oh where, are the couture eco-designers creating clothes just for our swanky occasions? And I’m talking about fashion-forward designing and not just fabric sewn in piles around the waist of a model for the runway.

Of course, more high-profile designers like Calvin Klein, Rogan, Stella McCartney, Versace, Narciso Rodriguez, Behnaz Sarapfour and Bodkin are easy enough to scout, but how about the indie designers thinking on a whole other level because they’re smaller and younger?

It takes a little bit of research and a discerning eye, but if you wear it all the time and are in the eco-field, inquiring minds will want to see you going green even at the most formal events. Are you ready to tell them you’ve flipped just for the night? Best to walk the talk.

Here are four indie designers I’ve seen recently and really like. Please leave a comment if you think I missed a good one.

Noir

Pictured above, Noir is producing ethically and has a transparent production line in Europe that adheres to the UN Global Compact. As an example of Noir’s dedication to all eco and couture, the Spring/summer 09 collection includes two organic programs and one silk program that is certified with SA8000. NOIR is also a member of the UN Global Compact.

Elena Garcia

Based in London, Elena Garcia went from being a linguist (she still is) to training as a designer, finishing a degree in Surface Textiles for Fashion at the London College of Fashion and gracing London Fashion Week with her elegant designs. I love that she used so much green in her spring collection.

Rodarte

Founded in Pasadena by the now notable noses of the Mulleavy sisters, Rodarte is garnering well-known stockists globally like Bergdorf Goodman and 10 Corso Como as well as a celebrity following by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman and Chloe Sevigny. Tough and flowing? When’s my next event?

Mark Liu

Challenging the fashion world really to take a look at ethics as much as waste stream, the UK’s Mark Liu‘s Spring 09 Collection debuts as a tailor’s dream and a fashion maven’s call to arms.

The post Calling All Couture appeared first on EcoSalon.