Last weekend’s Portland Fashion Week endeavored for the title of most cohesive runway show on the West Coast and demonstrated the area’s evident talent pool with four former Project Runway competitors showing. Reiterating the event’s green consciousness was last season’s winner, Seth Aaron‘s debut of a dramatic Gaga-esque solar energy-inspired collection.

While Aaron’s collection and the headlining unique, solar-powered catwalk construction were a blazing argument for the need for new collaboration between the energy and fashion industries, the most radical thing to see was legendary Oregon textilist Pendleton‘s collaboration with Opening Ceremony and local luxury knitwear line Souchi – demonstrating that local companies can produce eco-wool clothing successfully.

Perhaps it’s timing. With chunky knits ruling the AW 2010 runways from Prada to Chloé, and the trend for heritage looks, the use of wool for clothing seems exciting again. As a natural, renewable, and fully recyclable fiber, wool’s green credentials are obvious. Are the knitters on to something?

“I’m not sure it’s necessarily cheaper to produce than cut and sew – it’s actually a bit more expensive especially locally,” says designer Casey Larkin, whose knitwear line, Adie + George, produced 100 percent in California, launched last year. “Looking at the big picture of the manufacturing process, knit wear is probably a good place to start in this recession because a knit house is usually a vertical program that handles the entire process from start to finish – making the process more efficient and therefore less expensive in the end.”

Larkin’s partner, textile artist and designer Sasha Duerr, outlines the many benefits to keeping production in America, “Just as with regaining our local food system, the initial cost for quality ingredients in our collection is higher – just like with organic and local food – but the exchange is that we are able to participate closely in the process of where our yarn comes from, where it is spun, where it is knitted, and finally dyed.” Duerr, who founded the Permacouture Institute and is devoted to reviving organic and natural dying processes, continues, “There is a true storytelling that comes with choosing local materials, working with local farms, reviving fiber mills, and domestic knitwear houses, and supporting other facets that support true economic recovery. Our vision for Adie + George is aligned with how we would like local and domestic fashion production to be in the near future. The whole process is hands-on and extremely satisfying.”

Above image Pendleton for Opening Ceremony

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While we’re still frothing at the mouth over Portland, Oregon’s own Gretchen Jones winning the last two week’s Project Runway challenges, Seth Aaron, winner of last season’s Project Runway is doubling the energy in the City of Roses.

Looking forward to Portland Fashion Week, Aaron will be presenting a collection inspired by SolarWorld as a reaction to “Pressing energy, environmental and economic challenges facing the country,” and because of his interest in exploring solar technology’s aesthetic possibilities.

The collection will be unveiled October 9 in PFW’s Sustainable Fashion Showcase in Portland.

This isn’t PFW’s first foray into promoting alternative and sustainable fashion, there’s a whole page of information on their site that will educate you more about their initiatives including having a show at Portland City Hall (with Portland’s Mayor, City Council and press in attendance), to educate policy-makers on planet-friendly practices in fashion to their construction of runways with eco-friendly materials and even using sustainably-certified hotels for their guests.

We caught up with both Aaron and PFW Executive Producer Prasenjit Tito Chowdhury to see just what to expect over the next few months.

EcoSalon: Can you talk about how PFW will be the “World’s first carbon-neutral fashion week production?” What are some ways you’re going to make this happen?

Prasenjit: Portland Fashion Week is the first comprehensive sustainable production of a fashion week in the world. We take look at all the elements of the fashion week production and make steps to minimize the impact. PFW uses eco-friendly styling products on models, sets are made of sustainably harvested wood, printing is done on recycled paper, there won’t be any plastic bottles at the venue but you’ll find compostable corn-cups for drinks, low voltage LED lighting, electric connections through non-plastic-tape connectors, and sustainable swag bags, to name a few.

Regarding a carbon neutral Portland Fashion Week, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation has provided BEF Water Restoration Certificates(TM) and Green-e Energy-certified BEF Renewable Energy Certificates generated from 100 percent clean, renewable energy for the energy and water used to produce Portland Fashion Week. Both BEF and Green-e are sponsors of PFW.

Prasenjit: In addition to Seth Aaron’s solar-inspired collection, eco-conscious designers and labels like Pendleton, Amai Unmei and Ethos Paris will be putting their fashion on the PFW runway. Others are coming as well who have committed and we are looking forward to releasing their names once we ink our agreements.

EcoSalon: Seth, you say in a Fibre2Fashion article: “There was inspiration from the second I stepped foot in the SolarWorld factory.” Can you share with us how some of that inspiration will come into being for your collection at PFW?

Seth Aaron: Things just jumped out at me – impressions – It was all hyper-futuristic. There were intense graphic grids, hard lines, very clean and crisp, structured. It was metal and robotic and just an impressive space! There were also bold color palettes – the deepest blues, blacks, and almost science-fiction silvers – that your eyes just fall into.

EcoSalon: I love that you partnered with both SolarWorld and PFW to do this collection. To bring fashion to the forefront of sustainability, would you suggest more designers partnering with innovative companies to showcase themselves and the company’s mission?

Seth Aaron: The partnership with SolarWorld has been awesome and sure I would recommend that others establish relationships with world-leaders in sustainability or business – I mean it’s been pretty incredible to see the story of my fashion collection turn up in everything from the BusinessWire section of Forbes, to conventional fashion mags and blogs, eco-lifestyle and fashion sites, all the way to German business wires and renewable-energy, techno-geek publications!

EcoSalon: Am I reading correctly that there’s going to be a completely solar paneled runway for October’s PFW?

Prasenjit: Oh yeah. The runway will be covered in SolarWorld’s all-new black monocrystalline solar panels. Imagine the look of polished obsidian.

EcoSalon: Nice.

Image: Fred Joe Photo

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