With the winter winds now howling outside my home here in Eastern Europe, it seems natural to let one’s thoughts drift to warm weather destinations and beach side resorts. My stroll down Rue de Rivoli in Paris last week reminded me that for upscale designer labels, resort wear collections are de rigueur at this point in the annual fashion calendar. Whether or not one has a sunny holiday getaway on tap, one cannot help but to wonder if resort collections are indeed a thing of the past. With the bulk of designer pieces barely moving off-shelves in retails stores and jet-setting jaunts frowned upon by the eco-conscious set, why are designers and retailers continuing to generate these capsule collections in a market that is already saturated with goods? Tradition can be a lovely thing, but surely we can make do with some of our spring/summer favorites and timeless pieces from the reserves of our fair weather stash?

Marc Jacobs Resort 2011

There is no doubt that wardrobe shopping for a snowbird beach holiday warms one’s winter-weary bones in a way that outshines layering with heavy woolens. But shoppers who frequent big name department stores might not realize that designers who create resort collections (also known as cruise collections or pre-collections) are feverishly creating these ready-to-wear holiday offerings in addition to their bi-annual collections for spring/summer and autumn/winter. This has been a celebrated tradition for decades with high-end fashion houses such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, and Marc Jacobs, to name a few, creating for both retailers and magazine glossies expecting this high-octane output.

Chanel Resort 2011

It is hard to believe, though, that in this current era of environmental awareness and increased assessment of waste in the fashion industry, that we continue to support and glamorize this overt demonstration of fashion excess. Resort clothing and accessories can surely be handpicked from chic designs that are available all year long and from warm weather favorites of the past year. The pressure that designers continually face in generating additional offerings for each resort cycle is undeniably impacting their ability to institute better (sustainable) production models from start to finish. If shoppers refused to partake in this phenomenon, retailers might be forced to reconsider the viability of resort wear essentials overall.

“Interim” collections no doubt confuse us as much as the weather does these days, so it only makes sense that stores would want to aid us on this front rather than cloud the issue with ill-timed floor displays. Perhaps the emphasis should increasingly be on eco travel destinations that celebrate looking fabulous in whatever gear it takes to comprehend the beauty of a region while also walking lightly on the beaches we all share?

Main Image: Jonathan Saunders Resort 2010

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Our series on Dumbing Down American Design, has afforded us opportunities to catch up with some really interesting people. Our final installment is no less attractive, interviewing both Howard Brown of Stewart+Brown and Davora Lindner, co-designer of Prairie Underground.

For the last time we revisit the driving question: Has our quest for convenience and rock bottom prices forever altered fashion and is American design becoming a thing of the past?

When it comes to American design, two top designers in the sustainable design field, Davora Lindner of Prairie Underground and Howard Brown of Stewart+Brown both stand out.

Brown, whose mother owned a boutique in Missoula, Montana for 30+ years says she taught him that fit was everything.

“It took us a couple times to get our sizing right but now we know exactly who we’re designing for,” says Brown, whose being raised around people trying on clothing has only helped Stewart+Brown when it comes to a base customer fit.

Today, 93 percent of Stewart+Brown is U.S. manufactured in L.A. facilities while the other seven percent – including knits – is outsourced to China, (what Brown calls our own ignorance in letting the knitwear industry fade away stateside).

But why China? “Why not?” Brown says. “People need to be very careful with their preconceptions of China. I think it all comes down to racial stereotyping and elements of ignorance based on headlines and media,” he adds. “In China, people are protesting over environmental degradation and unfair labor practices and getting shot and killed for it. We need to be supporting those people,” he says.

Brown is pretty outspoken about his line and manufacturing practices and with good reason. “When we first started out, there was no way to track the supply chain, it was uncharted territory. The easy solution would’ve been to just go the conventional route but we thought we’d use the opportunity to raise the bar on sustainable production and design,” Brown says, adding that thanks to today’s “conscious consumer,” who buys from lines like Stewart+Brown and Prairie Underground, they can do more than exist, they can thrive.

Davora Lindner co-designer of Prairie Underground says her label’s “hardscrabble approach to getting things done through hard work and keeping our hands busy,” has enabled Prairie to stay afloat just fine in the U.S. and almost completely in Seattle, WA.

“Local production is an extension of our work ethic and pragmatism, but it was also a choice and a political stance. Aside from the fact that we had no experience producing overseas, we wanted to produce our collection locally and were willing to work within that vernacular to make it a possibility,” she says, adding that it seems “bewildering and out of touch” to have production take place so far away.

Though disturbing to her and design partner Camilla Eckersley that fewer things are made in the United States, owning their own business also meant conscious choices to manufacture as well as design domestically. “Our responsibility now is to sustain the momentum and we feel an obligation to provide meaningful work for our subcontractors,” says Lindner.

Like a lot of independent designers Stewart+Brown and Prairie Underground’s business template was influenced by previous work experience.

Prairie co-designer Camilla Eckersley’s experience working for companies in San Francisco as a production sewer later evolved into a position of a production manager and after additional training she became a designer and pattern maker. “The companies she worked for all produced domestically so this was what she knew and became the basis for our company,” says Lindner. “I come from a background of a fine artist who made things by hand and learned new techniques at community art centers, networking at supply stores or in dialogue with other artists,” she adds.

Lindner’s grassroots approach has paid off and like in Brown’s L.A., there is a lot of micro-manufacturing happening all over Seattle for her to tap into.

“Our contractors work within 20 minutes of one another and some know each other or have employed the same sewers. They appear as pioneers in their neighborhoods and they operate more like small businesses than huge factories,” says Lindner.

While Prairie Underground and Stewart+Brown hold tight to their supply chains and do their best to keep all design in the U.S., Brown offers his best advice to an overlooked part of this whole series: the consumer. “Educate yourself. Dig deeper and look at the big picture all around you. Being a conscious consumer and supporting brands that support sustainability is the only way we’re going to win this battle.”

Top image from Rob Lee

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