Got a handbag design that’s competition worthy?

The Independent Handbag Designer Awards, sponsored by Handbag Designer 101, have opened up submissions to a new class of aspiring designers, and will be reviewing applications until April 28^th.

“Last year’s winners at the Independent Handbag Designer Awards (IHDAs) were just regular people with big dreams – that is until the IHDAs opened up a world of endless possibility that included retail partnerships with Saks 5^th Avenue, feature placement in the September issue of InStyle magazine, and national recognition in a tightly controlled and competitive industry,” says the IHDA.

This years categories for the contest include:

Best Handbag in Overall Style & Design

Best Student Made Handbag

Best Handmade Handbag

Best Green Handbag

Most Socially Responsible Handbag

Audience Fan Favorite Handbag

The winner of the Best Green Handbag will receive the chance to collaborate with Timberland and Amorim Cork Composites to develop a product for sale made of cork in Timberland’s stores and a feature in the September issue of InStyle. Other sponsors of the competition include WWDMAGIC, Kenneth Cole, Saks Fifth Avenue, Handbags.com, Kipling, and Singer Sewing Co.

Now in its 6^th year, the IHDAs has seen its winners catapult their careers and fulfill their lifelong dreams by being on the arms of shoulders of Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria and Heidi Klum. Last year’s IHDA’s exceeded expectations with over 1200 applicants and 353,000 votes on InStyle.com for the Audience Fan Favorite. Emily Blumenthal, author and founder of the IHDA says her group is the accessories industry’s international “first round draft pick” for handbag designers.

“Sales in the United States are $10 Billion annually and growing. Gross margins can average over 70%. This sector has one of the highest average price points per unit in their segment, low barriers to entry, a sophisticated contract-manufacturing based supply chain, and recessionary resilience likened by some analysts to the lipstick theory,” says Blumenthal.

Is the accessories sector of fashion a tough business to break into? Blumenthal says the market is extraordinarily over-saturated for the aforementioned reasons.

“One does not need to be a designer by trade in order to become a ‘handbag designer’ which is a pro and a con, depending on the budget and access to talent standpoint of the person starting out. Having said that, it has given the IHDA an advantage since innovation comes from the unknown designer whom we usually are the first ones to discover.”

Got questions? Go here to have them answered and go here to buy your tickets for the June 13th event! And as one of the judges for the awards, I hope to see your work or you soon!

Here are some of the Best Green handbag winners and finalists from past seasons:

Adrienne Rabelo

Jess Rizzuti

Mei Vintage

Stella Vittorio

The Sway

The post The Independent Handbag Designer Awards Open for Submissions appeared first on EcoSalon.

Pencil skirts – How can a fashion essential, every wardrobe’s tall drink of water, be a new trend, you ask? Did you see Sarah Jessica Parker in this month’s “Age” issue of Vogue? Looking divine (and disturbingly airbrushed for an issue on “Age…”), she was photographed by Mario Testino in various domestic settings with Matthew Broderick and her kids wearing Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Proenza Schouler’s mid-calf length pencil skirts. While the mid-calf lengths were a trend for Spring 2011, seeing them in a more streamlined silhouette is new. Last time we saw a long, tight garment with a narrow enough hem to impede the wearer’s stride we called it a “hobble” skirt. So while it remains anathema to modern-day practicalities for most of us—anyone other than SJP evidently—damn straight if they’re not the sexiest cocktail party entrance you’ll make this year.

Peplums—Practically an addendum to the pencil skirt trend, peplums—the short ruffle attached at the waistline of a jacket, dress or skirt—are big news right now. Seemingly running counterintuitive to one of women’s greatest figure fears (i.e adding additional width at the hip), their ability to minimize a thick trunk is almost as magical as Harry Potter’s ultimately loyal Elder Wand. If your tastes run to the more casual, pick up a skirt with pronounced hip pockets for the same waist-whistling effect.

Cropped Pants—Pedal pushers, Clam Diggers, Culottes, call them what you like, but brightly colored, cropped, flared (or tapered), high waisted pants have re-emerged for the coming seasons. I know what you’re thinking: Anything that cuts the leg in half can’t look good and ordinarily I’d agree. Yet, the evolving feeling for ’70s romanticism, which is so compelling this coming winter, makes them worth a second look. Forget the exaggerated styles that everyone thinks of from that decade, instead reframe in jewel-colored silky, crepe de chine for a look that is a genuine tribute to the heady, avant-garde, Roxy Music-saturated sensuality of that time. I’ll be wearing mine – when I find the perfect vintage pair – with the highest heels and sheer black tights.

Facial Hair— Suddenly, it’s everywhere. On men, I mean. Looking around as I write this, there is not one clean-shaven man in the café where all the cool art directors grab their triple shot macchiatos in San Francisco’s multi-media gulch. Sprouting from the hipster/Amish unkempt beard look and the greased mustaches on bartenders that are now as de rigueur as the small batch American whiskies served by the coolest bars in town, its a trend that’s experiencing a sudden growth spurt. A recent issue of Marie Claire magazine reported, “Women rate men with full facial hair as more courageous, dominant, trustworthy and confident than clean-shaven men.” With male-dominated politics going the way it currently is, I say, bring on the hairy.

Feet Gloves— Have you seen people wearing them yet? Brace yourself, because chances are you will soon. Designed to provide minimal support for barefoot runners, these skeletor-looking shoes are going mainstream and being worn to the office, the supermarket and even the red carpet. Vibram’s FiveFingers brand of feet-glove shoes are churning out one creepy looking design after another, including a green renewable merino wool choice, and Fila’s versions are not even promoted as running shoes, supporting the notion that more consumers would like to go “barefoot” in their everyday lives.

So which trends do you think represent either the good, bad or downright ugly? It really is up to you. After witnessing a couple of stylish looking ladies this week pulling off some seemingly crazy looks—one wearing polka dot pedal pushers, the other a pleated skirt, straw hat and the dreaded feet glove shoe, I kid you not—and looking absolutely fabulous, I’ve had a fashion epiphany. One thing is for certain, anyone, with their head up high, shoulders back and a twinkle in their eye can look stylish flaunting as far-out a trend as they desire. But let’s leave the facial hair for the guys, okay?

The post Current Style Trends: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly appeared first on EcoSalon.

Carrie Bradshaw is back on the big screen this month and while it’s unlikely she’ll be sporting eco-fashion in the SATC 2 movie, the ultimate fashion-loving gal offers you, the eco-chic dresser, some great insight into creating a look you’ll love and that you won’t want to throw away.

I must be kidding, right? Surely, her piles of shoes and expensive designer flaunting symbolize all that is wrong with our society’s promiscuous shopping ways. She seems the epitome of what the conscious consumer wants to avoid”¦ I agree. At a certain point (around season 5, when she lands her book offer) her look indeed tipped into a parody of excess and shameless high fashion advertising. But, back in the early days (while a writer with a modest income), Carrie’s stylish kitschy wardrobe was created mainly from vintage and thrift store finds and punctuated with some much cherished high heeled shoes and a large dose of fearless creative spirit. Wasn’t it the way she thought and related to getting dressed that we connected to, rather than the increasingly beyond-our-means outfits she indulges in now?

I couldn’t help but wonder if the original Carrie’s fashion insights could apply to those of us seeking to change the world by reframing the way we consume fashion one recycled, organic, locally made, fair trade piece at a time.

Accessories

Carrie knew the importance of a well-placed accessory to both transform and give an existing outfit further mileage. Remember the signature huge corsage that was pinned on everything from ball gowns to t-shirts? Try her trick of using a statement-making pair of shoes to offset and modernize a simple thrift store dress.

Dress in character

Which one were you? Edgy, offbeat Carrie or the demure garden-party princess Charlotte? Either way the point of glamor is the act of becoming someone different. Carrie is an incredibly mercurial dresser, always dressing appropriately for her mood or the occasion, using fashion as a tool of self-expression. With all the negative things going on in the world, fashion is the place you can still have fun!

To thine own self be true

Carrie is a trendsetter rather than being a slave to fast-fashion’s fickle trends. The best way of maintaining a wardrobe that always feels current is to create a signature look that keeps your carefully selected pieces in constant rotation.

Follow your heart

To avoid a closet full of clothes you don’t wear, it’s important to fall in love with each piece you buy.  A lover of both heirloom and street treasures, such as the gold Carrie necklace, Carrie forms a deeply personal attachment to both her clothes and to the process of getting dressed.

Ironically, Carrie Bradshaw’s fashion message is the ultimate eco-chic statement. That is cycling back the idea of fashion as an act of fun and creativity rather than an act of consumption. Now that’s something worth sharing with your girlfriends!

Image: SATC 2

The post Fashion Lessons Learned from Carrie Bradshaw: Yes, We’re Serious appeared first on EcoSalon.

Whether you have just stepped off a plane, are running errands around town or are sightseeing in the city – sneakers are your new companion with benefits! Not only are they super comfy but they are having a resurgence in also being considered super stylish. With luxury brands like Jimmy Choo turning to high-tops as the new high heel, this statement cannot be disputed.

From Gucci, to Louis and Dior – sneakers are sweeping the streets! So where does an eco-conscious fashionista scoop up a pair? From Autonomie Project. Producing the Ethletic shoe line, their classic high-top sneaker is made with 100 percent fair trade-certified organic cotton canvas. The sole is produced and stamped with FSC-certified all natural and sustainable latex. That means the rubber was actually tapped from a tree in a well managed and growing forest instead of being made from chemicals like other rubber products. All dyes used on the canvas are PCP and AZO free.

Put your best foot forward, and be as stylish as you are sustainable!

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