“Start anytime, with anything, enjoy the journey and after a while ‘getting there’ will become irrelevant.” – Sylke Golding

Sylke Golding started in a shoe store. Well, she was discovered in one. It’s a dreamy tale of being in the exact right place at the exact right time, causing the trajectory of your life to spin off in a crazy, unexpected direction. One minute, you’re shoe shopping with your sister and two weeks later, Elite Model Management has you jetting off to Paris for the summer to take test portfolio shots. Ain’t life grand?!

Sylke spent the next decade working with some of the most progressive, important fashion houses in the world, namely Valentino, Prada, Armani and Comme des Garçons, both on the runway and in print. And where is she now? Creating small batch, thoughtful fashion in her Brooklyn studio under the moniker Sealmaiden.

No, Sylke doesn’t have her own couture line. Yet. She is a textile surface designer; she creates and executes stunning silkscreen designs onto existing cotton dresses, shirts and bags. She’s a hardworking, self-taught, one woman operation, from sketches to screen-building to hand inking every garment.

Though quite removed from the bright lights of the catwalk, she has discovered her element and a bit of artful meditation along the way: “I have found peace of mind working for myself and by myself, space and time disappear and I am just doing. It’s also lot of work and many long hours spent completing orders and working every day including weekends. But it is totally worth it. I am the boss here! As a model one is rarely allowed input into the creative process. Often you are just there to be pretty and make the clothes look good. But this is mine, I own this.”

Despite being surrounded by fashion icons for a decade, the surprising catalyst for opening her own studio was her husband: “Sometimes it takes another person to make you see things about yourself that you cannot see on your own.” Back in her modeling days, she would keep a little notebook with her to help kill time between shoots and on airport layovers.  She filled these notebooks with doodles–her husband wanted her to do something with them. “A new design usually starts with looking at my old doodle drawings. I am always amazed how ‘new’ they look after not having looked at them for a while. Even drawings I initially did not consider a success. Months or even years later I finally have developed the eye to see it – some things take time.”

Her current designs are incredibly elegant and dramatic with an air of fluidity, particularly her on-trend use of metallic inks on black–nature-inspired designs that read a bit Art Deco. As a model, she loved “Japanese designers best, Comme de Garçons and of course Yohji Yamamoto were really quite something else,” she said. “Later on when I visited Japan, I understood why, what really got to me was their way of making the extraordinary look unassuming and unpretentious.”

“I can’t call out one particular thing that will inspire me. Inspiration is funny that way, it just hits you and you see it. It can happen while walking the streets or flipping through a magazine or watching a movie. Its a accumulation of past experiences and all the things you have seen before and things that caught your eye a long time go and somewhere got stuck in your head…Inspiration is everywhere.”

The Sealmaiden collection is eco-friendly and socially responsible, produced using only ethically sourced, sweat-shop free materials (shirts, dresses, totes) and printed with 100 percent water-based inks. This has always been of huge importance to Sylke, not as a sales tool or a desire to serve an environmentally aware niche market, but in the most sincere way possible: “I love nature and I love eating healthy nutritious foods. I love the natural order of things. I want to help preserve this.”

What’s the next chapter in Sylke Golding’s journey? She’s completed a few semesters at FIT to hone her skills in pattern-making and garment construction and has her heart set on starting her own stem to stern clothing line.  Those notebook doodles will become full-realized fashion sketches and she’ll be hiring models of her own. She’ll be walking the runway again, this time at the end of the show, to gather applause and garner praise for a job surely well done.

All photos of Sylke Golding appear courtesy of Sealmaiden

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This week’s look is inspired by tumblr: As 2013 wraps up, they’ve tallied the top tags of the year, and for fashion, #grunge was a big hit. Here’s a favorite look packed with grunge texture for a bit of 90s nostalgia. 

1. Teal Wash Boxy Tee by Raquel Allegra

Just enough fade and just enough color, this boxy tee by Raquel Allegra is great for a cozy, grunge day. Raquel Allegra, now in her thirteenth season, is sold in stores around the world, but all her clothing is made in the USA. This garment is dyed with natural indigo, and free of chemical dyes.

Heist, $210 

2. High Rise Hewson Maria Leggings by J Brand

Did you know J Brand is made in the USA? And these leggings are no exception. Tight fitting and high waisted, they are a great grab for any look.

Avenue 32, $270

3. Horse and Calf Leather Hightops by James Kearns

Yes, please, these shoes are so cool! Each James Kearns shoe is handmade in London in small quantities and often made to order. We’d match these shoes with jeans and a loose fitting tee or even pair with a dress. Cool and comfortable, they are a perfect grounding to the grunge look.

James Kearns, please contact for price

4. Jasper Arrowhead Ring by Pamela Love

NYC-based jewelry artist Pamela Love has been committed to sustainable and local production since the inception of her line in 2006. Today all her pieces are produced in NYC’s Garment District, from design to final product. This arrowhead ring is set in sterling silver and each piece is naturally unique.

imogene + willie, $625

5. Larimar Pendant by Nallik

Simple yet bold, the raw feel of this Larimar pendant by Nallik can go with any outfit and mood. Handmade in Berlin, Nallik uses all raw precious and semi-precious stones, and the brand swears by their unique properties. The Larimar stone used in this piece is said to relax tempers, calm fears, and relieve stress.

A Boy Named Sue, $154

6. Leonard Tortoise by Illesteva

Handmade in Italy, these sunglasses will last you a lifetime. Illesteva has done collaborations with Lou Reed, House of Waris and Zac Posen, as well as been worn by some big-time celebs. A strong pair of sunglasses for a reasonable price, we love these Leonard Tortise frames.

Illesteva, $165

Want more On Trend? See Also:

Metallic Holiday Fashion Trend 2013: On Trend

Eco Fashion Brands Prove Beauty in Simplicity With Burgundy and Basics On Trend

 The Unbelievable Value of Upcycling Clothes 7 Ways: On Trend

On Trend: Dark and Tan – The Smartly Sexy Fall 2013 Color Trends

Images from the eco fashion brands, collage by Juliette Donatelli

Keep in touch with Juliette on twitter @spadesandsiLK

The post Grunge Texture with an Ethical Twist: On Trend appeared first on EcoSalon.

We’ve picked out five perfect tees that work with anything from jeans to dressy skirts.

The T-shirt is one of our most beloved closet staples. You can wear it year-round, and it works as well with jeans as it does with a dressy skirt, so investing in a really good tee is something we all should make a point of doing. Why have ten T-shirts that you kind of like when you can have one you absolutely love? Paring it down by making smart choices is one of the pillars of sustainable style. To help you along, we’ve picked out five consciously created tees we adore.

The Perfect V-Neck Tee by PACT
Aptly named, this T-shirt by organic underwear brand PACT is made from a proprietary blend of premium organic cotton and super-soft modal. It features raw-edge hem detailing and is perfect for everyday wear.
$30, PACT

Essential Lyocell V-Neck by Covet
Basic, but definitely not boring, this tee by Covet has a v-neck and buttoned pocket on one side of the chest. It’s made from lyocell, a sustainable fabric made from wood pulp. Like all Covet’s pieces, it’s made in a socially and environmentally conscious factory.
On sale for $39.95, Future:Standard

Easy Scoop by Topo Ranch
Made from a luxe blend of 50% organic supima cotton and 50% organic modal, this tee by Venice, California-based Topo Ranch comes in a light shade of blue that is a great alternative to white. A pocket and sleeve detail give this tee a more polished look, perfect for pairing with tailored pants or a patterned pencil skirt.
$44, Topo Ranch

Urban Tee by Groceries
If you like a slouchier fit, this tee by LA-based Groceries is a perfect option. Made from a blend of 60% hemp and 40% Organic cotton it’s also easy on the environment. Pair it with more fitted bottoms to avoid looking shapeless.
$26, Future:Standard

Lyle Tee by Koch
If you’re more of a minimalist and like your pants and skirts to be dark in color and simple in style, try a tee with a few simple details that add visual interest and personality. This graphite stripe tee in a light gray color, from Dallas-based label Koch is a great alternative, featuring rounded side-slits and a flattering scoop neck.
$112. Juno & Jove

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Jean Godfrey June, Beauty Editor of Lucky Magazine, tells us about the favorite item in her closet.

As Beauty Editor of Lucky Magazine, Jean Godfrey June comes across many sparkly little packages on a daily basis (word has it that she receives somewhere between 50 to 200 products for review every day). But nothing speaks to her heart quite like that favorite tee.

“I have had this Miu Miu T-shirt for years, and it still my ultimate favorite, fail-safe item. It’s a t-shirt but it’s super-dressed up; where ever I wear it, it’s perfect. It speaks volumes and it says nothing. It’s tight but it’s loose. It’s pink and spangled with flowers yet somehow it’s super-tough. Good with a fancy skirt or ancient jeans.”

Isn’t that the way it is with everything that fits you perfectly? It just goes with anything. That’s what we call personal style. The only thing that is left to regret when it comes to buying things that put a sparkle in our eye is that we didn’t buy two. “If Muiccia Prada would make another one I would pay ANY price,” says Godfrey June.

In this new weekly column, we’ll take you inside the closets of some of our favorite people, asking them to choose one piece that defines them in some way and also, to tell the story behind it. To us, style is not about being a follower of trends, coveting this or that season must-have, it’s about carefully selecting pieces that deserve to be in your closet because they represent you. Personal style is something that lasts through years and fads — just like that favorite piece in your closet.

The post Closet Stories: Jean Godfrey June’s Perfect Tee appeared first on EcoSalon.

A graphic take on a natural wonder.

Never discount the power of a great t-shirt and how far it can take you and your wardrobe.

This Owl Tee from Loomstate is one of our favorites and is great as a standalone top or layered with a chunky cardigan so that just the owl’s eyes peer out. That it’s a deep hue of purple is an added bonus to those of us who embrace color.

$45

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

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ExclusiveFeral Childe and EcoSalon partner to create a limited edition t-shirt designed to make you feel rebellious for fashion.

The sustainable fashion community was infuriated when fast fashion giant Forever21 knocked off indie eco-label Feral Childe – and as word spread online, so was everyone else. Petitions were signed, Facebook pages were started and mainstream audiences actually took note. It wasn’t hard to see why they garnered so much support: With Feral Childe’s devoted following, Forever21 had picked the wrong little guy to pick on.

Jezebel wrote: “Forever 21 has been sued for copying more than 50 times by designers including Anna Sui and Diane von Furstenberg.”

A lack of originality is nothing new to Forever21. EcoSalon and Feral Childe collaborated to create this limited edition print. With it, we say, “Screw fast fashion!” And hello to empowering independent designers.

The organic cotton t-shirt comes in small, medium, large and extra large and features Feral Childe’s stolen print with “Stop the Fashion Pirates,” sprinkled throughout the pattern. Supplies are extremely limited! They are being sold exclusively through EcoSalon for only $30. Support real, independent, sustainable fashion and celebrate Feral Childe today.

To purchase, please inquire by emailing us: editor@ecosalon.com

Here’s a quick look at some of the fabulous ladies who proudly sport them already!

Anna Brones, EcoSalon’s Marketing Manager

Bright Young Things Designer, Eliza Starbuck

Eco-Chick founder and eco fashion It Girl, Starre Vartan

Green House of Fashion founder, Zanna Schumacher

The post Exclusive: EcoSalon + Feral Childe ‘Stop the Fashion Pirates’ T-Shirts on Sale! appeared first on EcoSalon.

Certain articles of clothing have immediate revolutionary connotations – Che Guevara’s beret, Mao Tse-tung’s jacket. The t-shirt is fast becoming the rebel standard of the eco-pioneer.

Initially thought of as an undergarment, the t-shirt that was memorialized as the symbol for generational rebellion in the 50’s by Brando, Dean and Clift, today poses as the banner for negative environmental facts. Maybe you’ve heard some of the statistics? It takes about a third of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers, and up to 10,000 liters of water to produce enough conventionally farmed cotton for a single t-shirt. An overwhelming 1.2-million brand new t-shirts are sold every day in the U.S. alone, the majority of which will end up in landfill in a matter of months.

And yet, it’s organic cotton t-shirt lines that most big-league retail brands such as the Gap, H&M, Levi Straus & Co. and Nike have chosen to get on board with and introduce the mainstream consumer to issues of fair trade, pollution, recycling and sourcing of raw materials.

Indeed, my portal into textile trade politics and the need for sustainable practices in the industry came after reading Petra Rivoli’s The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade.

Just as I catch myself wandering around the shops, resisting the specious siren call to buy another t-shirt off the fast fashion racks, I consider it an auspicious sign when I look down at my phones latest message inviting me to Global Action Through Fashion‘s event, Reconstruct, Reincarnate, and Re-Cool your t-shirt + Drinks & Dancing.

Before you can say Proenza-Schouler, I’m at Temple SF, a green and sustainable nightclub sipping my eco-friendly Veev cocktail and purveying the scene: Amid sewing machines, cutting tables and silk screens, the hipster fashion crowd is enthusiastically ripping, braiding, printing and appliqueing their t-shirts into new looks. Stopping only to dance a little and flirt (a lot) they listen to speeches from designers from sustainable lines Vagadu and Platinum Dirt, who encourage and inspire the fervor with details of the reconstruction techniques they utilize in their designs.

Maybe it was the Veev, but in that moment I wondered if I’d been transported to a marvelous green utopia from the future. And it was a brief shining spot that won’t be forgotten by any of us that attended (apart from maybe the drunken guy making an utter nuisance of himself – ouch!).

If the rapid evolution of what a t-shirt can signify within our culture is anything to go by, fashion consumer’s increasing appetite for ethically produced garments that they have a creative and personal connection to will not fade with the recession or be limited to a certain demographic.

Only in San Francisco, you say? Perhaps, but the only way you’re going to see a fashion reconstruction party at your local nightclub is if you start your own, drunken guy and all. So do it. Join the movement, comrade. But bring your own t-shirt.

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Are you kidding me? You don’t feel so loved with this, the most loving of corporate created holidays upon us?

I know what you need.

A t-shirt.

Not just any old t-shirt, but a LOV-Neck t-shirt from Blend that forces you to “be brave and stick your neck out for all you believe in.”
In this case it’s well, for love.

Co-founded by a bunch of good friends like Grammy winner Jason Mraz, CEO Jon Marro and COO Jeff Goss, Blend is offering their 100% organic cotton shirt to a lucky lady (or gent) who thinks they’re brave enough to wear it.

Blend boasts that they help wearers of their shirts communicate through iconography which, when you wear this little number, can’t help but make people smile and want to give you a noogie.

Do you want one?

Well, leave a comment below to try and win it and for those of you so taken by how much you LOV it, just go buy one.

For complete giveaway rules go here.

The post Blend’s LOV-Neck T-Shirt Giveaway appeared first on EcoSalon.

British designer Vivienne Westwood is no newbie to advocating for climate change action, but now she’s added another cause to her list: Deforestation.

Partnering with Anvil Knitwear, Westwood has just launched a limited edition t-shirt to support the efforts of rainforest nations to stop deforestation.

Can big name designers effect environmental change? Westwood is wasting no time finding out.

Deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and with much of the world intently following the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, raising awareness around the issue is crucial.

Westwood is doing so through a simple and fashionable message.:ACT FAST/SLOW DOWN and stop climate change.

“We must all commit ourselves and say YES to the Rainforest,” says Westwood.

The Coalition for Rainforest Nations is currently working on getting the UN to implement its REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) mechanism. The mechanism would issue carbon credits for each hectare of living rainforest. The credits could be traded on the global commodity market to countries that need to reduce their emissions at low cost. As a benefit, the proceeds would go to poor landowners in rainforest nations who have no other economically viable option other than logging their trees.

Along with promoting a great cause, Westwood’s t-shirt is made with a blend of recycled polyester and cotton and features eco-friendly printing. Anvil deems the cotton “transitional,” as it comes from farms that are converting to organic farming methods, a process that takes up to three years. Anvil’s commitment to practicing more sustainable farming methods has a significant impact; in 2008 the company was ranked the sixth largest organic program and the largest domestic purchaser of US grown certified organic cotton.

No word yet on where you can buy the t-shirts, so keep an eye out on Westwood’s online store as well as Anvil’s site.

Photo credits: Strawberry Earth, Threat to Democracy

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