The devil is in the details, people. Winner of Fashion Takes Action’s Design Forward Award, Nicole Bridger is now having a sweet sale on all her summer styles plus her fall looks are now up for oogling. Why the win, you might be asking. Stints at both Lulu Lemon and Vivienne Westwood ensure a solid design sense which is definitely played out in her timeless and classic cuts.

The first thing on my mind is this cheeky article by the Guardian’s fashion squad, castigating two of the stories we’ve covered recently on GBD – Steven Meisel’s oil spill photo shoot and the Rodarte/MAC Juarez-inspired cosmetics collection. The Guardian really takes both Rodarte and Meisel to account on what the Guardian terms “the latest in a long line of fashion faux pas on a scale that makes Alexander McQueen’s mankini seem in good taste.”

Commercial silk is made by boiling the cocoons with the worms still inside and unwinding the single silk strand onto reels. Peace silk is the ethical alternative – hurray! With peace silk, the moths are allowed to emerge from the cocoon.
Wear to for the peace silk? Try Elena Garcia, a sustainable designer based in the UK that uses it in her gorgeous dresses.

So many people forwarded me this article that I really had no option but to do a post on it! The New York Times did a great article on zero waste fashion, specifically on a course that’s going to be taught asking students to design a pair of zero waste jeans that actually look hot.

This girl has quite the pedigree! With numerous awards and honors under her belt, internships with both Alexander McQueen (gasp!) and Gareth Pugh (sigh!), and wardrobe collabs with bands and celebs, she really brings home the proverbial and sustainable bacon. I really love her designs because while a lot of eco fashion is elegant and beautiful it also tends to be subdued in palette and classic in design. So it is refreshing to see the bold silhouettes and electric colors of Ada’s designs.

Sad shower curtains once destined for the landfill will be happy to know that Jane Bowler’s got their back.

With deft design-ery and a snappy motto (destruction is creation) Jane harnesses the power of technology using such techniques as ultra-sonic welding an laser shredding to transform plastic sheets into ethereal creations of reminiscent of futuristic warrior cowgirls.

SO EXCITED about VeridiAum. I love the way she describes her brand: experimental with conceptual inspirations. Plus all materials are recycled, reclaimed, vintage or ethically sourced. Her latest collection, which is for lack of a better word, breath-taking, is made in New Mexico from 100% recycled sterling and ethically sourced stones, and features raw crystals juxtaposed with stark silver geometries.

We get it: you’re all eco and sustainable and you use eco and/or recycled fabrics. And that’s pretty awesome, don’t misunderstand. We love you for it. But can you design something beautiful, something that we can not only wear to work, but wear to an interview? Something that will not only capture our hearts, but the hearts of all our girlfriends?

Julia Cepp can.

Ken + Dana Design rocks. Hard.
What convinced me to feature them on GbD was their Gun Line. They reclaim gun parts and take something that represents violence and re-frame as something beautiful. Inspired to do something by the overwhelming amount of gun violence and tragedy the designers hear about in NY, the locale of their studio, a portion of the proceeds from each sale goes towards a nyc buyback program to get more guns off the street.

As more labels begin to capitulate under the eco-pressure from consumers and duh – just the reality of the need to live sustainably if we want to keep this planet, there are a few things flying under the radar. Leather is one of them. Oh, I wear it and I know full well that it’s not sustainable. But I love it so much, that I’ve been turning a blind eye to these things.

Yet have you ever noticed how much easier it is to face a problem when there is a solution?
Today I want to present: stingray leather.

So when I first came on as editor here at GbD, I made a pact with myself that I was never going to feature anything gimmicky, something that was cool just because it was weird or just because it was “green.” Bottom line, any featured line or product had to be beautiful, seductive, something that I would not only wear, but covet, obsess about.

I’ve broken that rule a few times and today’s post will be one of those times….kind of.

Today our story is about green hats. But first, how did four young women come to own a men’s hat shop?

Sometimes our destinies play hard to get, sometimes they hunt us down with a serendipity that leaves us breathless. Case in point: Olivia Griffin came by her current venture in a way that only makes sense if you invoke the alignment of the planets.

Yes! High fashion begins its slow convergence with eco fashion! And let me tell you, I was debating between several things to feature today, and yet another line of eco fashion may not be the most exciting, but the key word was “Lanvin.” Talk about a name drop – I was instantly drooling.
Imitation and Disguise is designed by Jean-Philippe Gawronski, who worked under Alber Elbaz for a year.

Whoa – that sounds violent. Not my intention! I mean, there are parachute bombers – bomber jackets, that is, made from reused parachutes and other re-purposed military textiles in Christopher Raeburn’s Fall 2010 collection!
Working a strong and singular concept, Raeburn moves confidently into his third season of rocking parkas that make me wish for bad weather. And that is saying something!

It was only a matter of time. This is pretty darn awesome, people. History in the making!
Unlike single-attribute eco-labels, MBDC’s certification program takes a comprehensive approach to evaluating the sustainability of a product and the practices employed in manufacturing the product. The materials and manufacturing practices of each product are assessed in five categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy Use, Water Stewardship, and Social Responsibility.
Matilda Wendelboe’s collection is the first in the world to meet the stringent criteria.

So many of the labels we feature here are doing all they can to be kind to the environment and its inhabitants, plus rocking some seriously good design.
I can’t quite put my finger on what’s different about Mr. Larkin – it does all of the above, plus more…. Maybe because every garment has a hang tag describing the details of the finishing with pleasingly illustrative words like “peace silk” and “dyed with locally foraged japanese maple” and “100% bamboo muslin spotted with madder plant, twigs and berries.”

There’s a list of 8 things Sylwia Rochala does sustainably and directionally below. Do check them out.

It’s great to see more and more fashion labels springing up that are taking ethics to the next level. Not only are they sourcing materials sustainably and treating their workers fairly, but they are introducing a layer of philanthropy on top of all that!

Take for instance San Francisco’s very own Kayu.

Maison Martin Margiela, renowned Belgian design house, revisits up-cycling in its Haute Couture collection in a stunning blow to my weak spot: the Wild West.
I don’t at all think or want to pretend that MMM’s intention with this collection was to promote re-use and sustainability, but I think it is a brilliant example of how even the basest of materials can be made into breath-taking beauty in the hands of a true design genius. I think this collection shows that with gumption, genius and a battalion of the most talented seamstresses in the universe, you can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Lucky us! A second interview all in one week – I realize we had a bit of dry spell there – but don’t worry, I’m hard at work making up for that! Lots of amazing interviews on the way! Like this one: Tara St. James, founder of Study NY.

Study NY is a creative collective, not just a label. In addition to Tara’s Square Project fashion collection, Study NY also incubates artists, film-makers, graphic designers and other creative types, all of whom use recycled and organic materials as much as possible, and try to keep their carbon footprint small.