With the necessary contention of saving the world comes plenty of witty ideas, creations, and publications conceived and manifested because of the eco revolution. Big ideas come from random thoughts and this week at Green By Design, we bring you several random thoughts, turned big ideas, from some of today’s most clever and creative eco-minds. From must-read magazines to al fresco dinnerwear, you’ll be [...]

Green fashion has begun to get a bad name. It seems that any mainstream store can get a hold of “organic” cloth and call it “green” despite the wasteful consumption and process the product truly goes through behind closed doors. At Green By Design, we try to stay away from the gimmicks, the trends, the the products so highly hyped and marketed that it’s a cause for concern rather than a savior to sustainability.

Enough talk, let’s fight environmental and social challenges! Aside from many interesting eco fashion finds, (like Pendleton and The BUG) this week at Green By Design, we explore the a variety of online endeavors that are getting everyday people to roll-up their sleeves and fight the global breakdown firsthand.Creative challenges and community projects are determined to spread the word and grow nationwide communities which strive to have the entire world involved in sustainable living.

Does everyone remember the scene in American Beauty where it’s the shot of the plastic bag dancing in the wind and Ricky calls it “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever felt.” (Here’s the Youtube) Yes, well, plastic bags and beauty rarely go hand in hand, but that scene is one of I believe only two instances in the entire history of the universe. And I have found the other.

Fashion can do a lot of good just by cleaning up its own act, but because it is such a seductive and and expressive industry it can also be a powerful voice for change globally. I’m excited to see that organizations are realizing this and implementing some really cool ideas as a result!
We report on three radical fashion experiments!

Myoo Create is, in my opinion, one of the seven wonders of the internet. Based on the realization that businesses today are faced by more and more environmental and social challenges, Myoo Create connects these organizations and challenges to an online community full of innovation and solutions.
I’m sure by now you’ve heard of Levi’s Care to Air Challenge, one of the challenges Myoo is hosting. Pretend we’re in a documentary and the camera zooms in as I say: Let’s take a closer look.

This Monday it officially became pool season! Note I say officially since unofficial pool season is all year round! But now that school’s out, how to turn the boardwalk into a catwalk without rocking the eco-boat? And you thought you were done with essay questions for the next three months! Relax – we’ve assembled your crib sheets below – best when read pool-side and for extra credit take it to the beach!

What to do? Shock? Educate? Seduce? Forum for the Future believes that it is the creative industries that are in the unique position to usher in a global awareness of and participation in sustainable living. “When it comes to shocking, seducing and educating, there’s no limit to the creativity that can be brought to bear on influencing people’s attitudes and behaviour.” I am such a sucker for beauty and creativity that I have to totally agree.

Today we celebrate the meeting of green and design.

So when I first came up with the SLC, these were my thoughts: I’ll gain a better understanding of my signature look and style…it’ll be so nice to not worry about what to wear! My thoughts now are: ARhghdkjf.

You know what makes this bearable though? It’s that one Brad Bennett of Commerce with a Conscience agrees with my reasoning and what’s more – he’s doing the challenge with me!! My little island with a ten piece closet is not completely deserted after all! You should do it too!

“Coolness” is inherently a puzzle: who has it, who doesn’t. And there is nothing more cool than the reincarnation of something that was already cool into something even cooler.

San Francisco! Celebrate “cool” this coming Thursday at the “Reconstruct, Reincarnate, and Recool Your T-shirt” with drinks and dancing with Global Action Through Fashion.

I am inundated by fashion on a daily basis – most of it is mediocre, thoughtless, and driven by the bottom line. Fashion that is tired, not fresh. In fact, over the past few seasons, I have been wanting something really awesome and dredged up from the depths of an imagination that is not afraid to peek over the edge of the universe.

So I was pleased as punch to discover artist/stylist/designer Slavna Martinovic who is playful and fresh, and walks the line between “tacky” and “staggering works of wit, gumption, and dazzliciousness” like a pro.

Jeans are like the tattoos we wanted to get, like the scars we secretly wish we harbored – signs of a life dangerously lived, but lived to the fullest.

I remember way back when things started showing up in stores pre-distressed, brand new pants with holes in the knees and frayed cuffs – my mother shook her head and I laughed – but that was a manifestation of paying for history, for proof of an existence that was hard on denim.

Sustainability is a multi-faceted beast, and there’s at least three main aspects that must be considered – the ecology of the earth, social responsibility, and conservation of non-tangible resources such as folkloric traditions. Sustainable companies usually get the first two, but the third is taken into account less frequently. But conservation of an endangered weaving tradition is what Awamaki is all about! Their most exciting project is called the Awamaki Lab, a fashion mentorship program where emerging designers have the incredible opportunity to create a capsule collection that incorporates traditional Andean textiles.

I’m going to refuse to roll on and on in this post with an extensive informative essay about why you should join our Summer Light Challenge. If you haven’t figured out how fantastically genius this extremely gutsy, and both mentally and environmentally rewarding fashion provocation is going to be, then hopefully this docket of the “Top 10 Reasons Why” will have you soon convinced:

Nope. Didn’t just win the lottery. But I did hit the jackpot with a few awesome finds and I’m definitely planning to deliver on my crazy week promise. Speaking of promises, here’s the jewelry I promised you a few days ago. I am obsessed with how something so simple and humble as linen thread becomes so elegant and sculptural in the right hands. Rope jewelry is so in these days and you should do what I do – take a trend and make it your own – how?

Mika Organic is a clothing line inspired by respect for the environment, nature and animals, designed by Mika Machida. The Aichi, Japan born, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) educated designer utilizes her graphic and fashion design skills to create unique, environmentally conscious pieces with a message.

And I might as well ‘fess up. In one week I will have an actual degree in Fashion Design. Which means that my life for the past month has been full of printing disasters, Photoshop crashes, and total mental chaos. Writing coherent posts has grown increasingly difficult and without the unifying effect of a weekly theme, I’ve decided to succumb to forces far greater than me, and let you peek into my head. Be prepared for no theme…to say the least.

This week we head down under to explore how Australia’s sustainable fashion scene. Going green is a global effort and we at Green By Design wanted to explore the efforts going on in other countries. Australia has rolled up its sleeves and dived right in! This week we have presented the breadth of the sustainable fashion industry in Australia – from activewear to couture and everything in between!

After this week of seeing the best of Australia, I bet you’re hungry for more.

Here are some online sources that will help you really knock being sustainable out of the park – if you so choose – or at the very least might instigate an exploration into a new store or neighborhood.

There’s going green, and then there’s going Green.

Bird – of Australia, of course – goes for the gusto when it comes to green. Founded by Rachel Bending in 2006 after the success of her first eco-line Slingflings, Bird uses certified organic fabrics, then layers on original patterns that are designed and hand printed in-house using water based dyes.
Is there anything Australia can’t do, I ask. If Rachel is any indication, then the answer would be: nope.