Snapshot of a Local Eco-Conscious Designer

My friend, former classmate, and fashion designer June Monteiro has been growning her brand "Everything Enamour" for the past few years. She recently showed her Monarch Collection at Baltimore Fashion Week, and premiered her Isabella Blow Collection this September during Boston Fashion Week. As her classmate, I was always amazed by the creativity behind June's collections (her Monarch Collection is inspired by the various stages of the Victorian mourning period). Also I thought it was interesting that from the very beginning of building her brand, June decided to focus on sustainability.

Monarch Collection

I asked June a few questions about why, as an emerging designer, she has decided to take this route (which I would expect to be very challenging when you are starting a company)...

Why do you use sustainable fabrics? 

Isabella Blow Collection

I became interested in sustainable fabrics when our Professor at MassArt, Jenn Varekamp, told us about the damage the major design houses were doing to the industry. Although they're trying to use more recycled goods, most won't change to sustainable materials, especially if the alternative is cheap. I figured it may help for me to begin my career being more conscious of my materials.

What type of fabrics do you use?
I try to use organic fabrics whenever possible and primarily use natural fibers like silks, cottons, tencel, and wools. On a rare occasion I will use a blend, but I want most of my collections to be all natural. For my first collection I hand dyed a lot of my fabric and just bought them in natural tones.

Do you find it challenging because sustainable fabrics are more expensive?
Most of my fabric shopping is done online in wholesale bulk. So it's usually a 15 yd minimum with a small vendor. Larger vendors sell at a 25+ yd minimum. It is much more expensive to buy so it helps that I utilize the fabric in more than one look.

You can find out more about Everything Enamour on her website:
http://www.everythingenamour.moonfruit.com/#

Recap - Clothing Purchases

I've been really good about not buying a lot of clothes. It actually hasn't been too difficult. I just know that when I look into my closet, that's all I've got to work with! However, when Boston Fashion Week came up I found myself needing three different fantastic outfits for one week, and I realized I really wanted to buy something new! But I was good. I kept to my rules and did some second-hand shopping. Here's what I picked up:

Currently my favorite dress ever - this beautiful blue-patterned strapless dress. I got it second-hand from Poor Little Rich girl, and it's made in the USA!  Plus it's adorable. It didn't fit well on top at first, but I just sewed in a little elastic band to make it tighter, and now it's perfect!

Getting an award (!) at the seArts show

I wore it working backstage at the seArts fashion show and then to the Launch Show at the Boston Fashion Week Tent that same night!

Cindy and I at the BFW Tent!

While I was at Poor little Rich Girl I picked up some great jeggings (which I am now quite frankly addicted to wearing), and this great long comfy sweater.

I guess my hipster camera app doesn't take the best clothing photos...

Also, way back in May I found this cute off-white long sleeved lace dress at Urban Outfitters. I couldn't believe it was made in the USA! I didn't know anything they sold would fit my rules. I almost wore it to a BFW show, but then changed my mind last minute.

My fabulous fashion friends at the Everything Enamour show!

Backstage @ the Liberty show

For the other Boston Fashion Week events I was a good girl, I didn't buy any more clothing and instead I reused things from my closet! For my friend June's Fashion show for her brand Everything Enamour, I re-wore the dress I made for my friends wedding in June.












Then for the Rising Design Liberty Hotel show, I wore a black dress that I've had for a while. It was simple but chic, and I think it worked well. I only have photos of me running around backstage that night!


With a few small exceptions, this is pretty much all the clothing I've purchased since April! I'm pretty proud of myself, but I wish I could notice more of a change in my bank account!

Investing in your clothes - fix it don't toss it?

A new eco-related problem with modern consumer behavior is the tendency to throw away broken things instead of fixing them. It used to be that if your TV broke you got it repaired, or if the seam of your dress came undone you would sew it back together. Now that we have fast fashion, and constantly changing technologies and products, people are less and less likely to take the time and money to repair something that is broken. Instead they throw it away and buy something new.

I do my best to mend any clothes that tear or lose buttons. I try to get the most out of my clothing (especially since I've started this blog!). One thing I realized I do is alter clothing that I don't wear into something more desirable, so that I get more use out of it. For example, I had a dress that I no longer wore, but the print was cute. I ended up cutting off the top half of the dress and turning the rest into a skirt. Now I wear it all the time! I've also altered the hemlines of boring dresses and shorts, chopped off sleeves, and made jeans into shorts. The only problem is that I have a habit of doing these alterations 10 minutes before I run out the door for work in the morning... but that's just something I need to work on.

Anyways, I've been very successful in the - fix or re-invent my clothing - area. However, I've been curious for a while about taking things to the next level. So I conducted a little experiment!

Exhibit A: My favorite pair of black pumps, perfect for work or play. I purchased them about a year ago, for around $70. One heel broke off this summer. I was bummed.

Usually I would have thrown away the shoes and bought new ones, but with my eco rules hanging over my head, I decided to get them repaired by a cobbler. Yes a cobbler! They still exist! I brought them into the local cobbler near my work and dropped them off for about a week. Once I picked them up they were like new! The heel was fixed and they put new bottom-heel-pad-bits (sorry I don't know the technical name) on each shoe. The only problem was the price tag... $30!

OK to be fair I didn't do my research and just went to the closest cobbler near work, but really? $30? It's almost half the cost of the shoe. I would feel OK paying that much if the shoe was a designer brand and cost a few hundred dollars, and I'm sure the cobbler business isn't exactly booming, but still.

So the conclusion to my experiment? Well I'm happy my shoes were fixed and I didn't need to buy new ones, but I'm a little disheartened by the whole experience. I'm sure I'll get more things fixed in the future, but I think for now I'll stick to fixing whatever I can on my own.



**Just a side note: for technology items (like TVs) I personally don't think it makes sense to get them fixed. By the time you get a new tech item home from the store there is already a new technology or a cheaper version available. It's impossible to keep up!**

I'm back and I've been busy!

I haven't written in soooo long, but I have a really good reason. One of my other side-projects that I do when I'm not working at MIT (and not writing in this blog, and not doing all the other things I like to do) is to help coordinate Rising Design Boston, which is a collaborative that aims to support and celebrate emerging local fashion designers. I took the lead on putting together two fashion shows for this year's Boston Fashion Week. These last few weeks were crunch time and I was up to my eyeballs in planning for the shows... but they went really well!

The first show was a fundraiser for seArts in Gloucester. I was a huge success and seArts had a great turnout. Then last Thursday, Rising Design had our big show for Boston Fashion Week at the Liberty Hotel as part of their "Fashionably Late" series!

Here are a few photos of the fabulous collections! (photos by Will Mann)

Pretty Thoughts by Erica Templeman "Equinox Collection." Made entirely of latex!

 

 

Sarka's Collection by Jen Griffith "Playdates Collection." Vintage inspired!

Margaret Lawrence's evening gown, lovely!

Felicia Verry Mota's gown, I seriously want it...

Ray Rodriguez "Hanes Collection" YSL inspired made out of re-purposed Tshirts!

Shalyn Webber "Lichen Collection" inspired by Victorian cemeteries.

Now technically all of these collections can be considered Eco-friendly fashion through my rules, because they are produced by hand in the USA. However Jen's collection used vintage and re-purposed fabrics, and Ray's was created entirely from re-purposed Hanes Tshirts. So those two collections deserve special recognition!

Overall the show was a huge success, however I have to say I'm relieved it's over and I'm looking forward to having more free time. And even though I haven't been writing, I've come up with a bunch of blog topics to write about, so stay tuned!

Also check out Rising Design Boston's Website! www.risingdesignboston.com

I made the new logo - you like? :)

Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative

There's been a lot of rain this week, and just the other day I was admiring my Patagonia raincoat thinking how I should purchase more clothes from them. They've been ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability. If you go to their website the second tab in the navigation bar is called "Environmentalism."

So it was something of a coincidence that my friend Rachel sent me this yesterday, an email about a new eco initiative from Patagonia, one that encourages consumers to buy only things they need, to use what they buy for a long time, and to repair things if they break. Here is a bit more about the Common Threads Initiative...

Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative – a partnership with its customers to reduce consumption and its resultant environmental harm.

“The Common Threads Initiative addresses a significant part of today’s environmental problem – the footprint of our stuff,” notes Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder and owner. “This program first asks customers to not buy something if they don’t need it. If they do need it, we ask that they buy what will last a long time – and to repair what breaks, reuse or resell whatever they don’t wear any more. And, finally, recycle whatever’s truly worn out. We are the first company to ask customers to take a formal pledge and be partners in the effort to reduce consumption and keep products out of the landfill or incinerator.”

Patagonia in turn commits to make products that last and help repair quickly anything that breaks. To help customers put back in circulation used clothes, Patagonia and eBay Inc. have joined forces to launch a new marketplace for customers to buy and sell used Patagonia gear. Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative store on eBay establishes a new model for consumption: It marks the first time a major retail brand actively encourages its customers to buy and sell used products on eBay, and it is eBay’s first multi-seller branded store.

The collaboration between Patagonia and eBay was born out of their common interest to extend the useful life of products. eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, has, over the past year, developed innovative new initiatives that extend the impact of its inherently sustainable business model. The eBay Box, launched as a pilot in September 2010, encourages buyers and sellers to reuse packaging; and eBay Instant Sale, launched in October 2010, encourages customers to sell and/or recycle their used electronics. The Patagonia Common Threads store on eBay becomes not only the latest example of eBay’s commitment to sustainable commerce, but a new model for consumption within the apparel industry – one that emphasizes product, reuse, and tapping the full useful life of clothing.

I really respect Patagonia's environmentalism, and I think the Common Threads Initiative is exactly the kind of thing we need to see from more brands. It's just hard because from the brand's perspective they are essentially saying "don't buy a lot of our clothes." What I hope is that consumers will see the honor in that. They are not only refusing to cave to the fast fashion ideology, but they are also standing behind their products... Essentially saying, yes it's made well, and it's going to last a long time, so please use it for as long as you can. 

Three Wolf Moon Shirt is Eco Friendly!

I was going to post a quick example of how living by my eco-friendly rules can kinda stink. My example was going to be that sometimes you just want to buy something that is silly and awesome, not super practical, but fun and something that you'd definitely wear.

My example was going to be the amazing Three Wolf Moon T-shirt!

I've wanted one for a while... I mean obviously because it is so awesome... and also because of the amazing reviews on amazon.com. Apparently it's pretty magical in a lot of different ways.

So I figured the Three Wolf Moon shirt, as much as I wanted it, had to be outside of my eco parameters. But then I discovered that the shirt is even more awesome than I previously thought! The company that makes it, The Mountain, claims to be "America's Greenest T-Shirt Company"! They have a whole page on their green efforts:

• They create, develop, dye, and print the shirts in Marlborough, NH and ship from Keene, NH. So by not shipping from overseas they reduce their carbon footprint.
• More than 80% of the T-shirt cotton is grown in the USA.
• They use waterbased vs. petroleum based inks.
• Shirts are pre-shrunk cotton, so the shirt size and print should last long.
• Have Oeko-Tex 100 Certification (chemical free).

It just goes to show you that eco-fashion is starting to become more and more common, and you might find it where you lease expect it!

... and I can't wait for my magical powers!

A Few Good Links

I've been meaning to write for a while, but I'm oh so busy! SO to keep your eco-conscious minds amused, check out these links I found:

Boston.com round up of where to buy used goods in Boston. About half are about clothing stores, but it's always good to know where to buy used music and books too!

http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/secondhand/ 

Really interesting article by Charty Durrant (via Etsy) on the fashion industry and how it fundamentally conflicts with sustainability. http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/the-tyranny-of-trends

Her outlook for the future:

Our challenge is to find a way to resynthesise the extreme polarities of our time: on the one hand we have globalisation and all its negative financial and ethical ramifications, and on the other we have the new consciousness: a One World view. Globalisation has misunderstood and misused this concept for its own ends. We have misinterpreted our connectivity and as a result are more disconnected than ever. Now we have to learn to express ourselves and reconnect with integrity. In the end the true antidote is to adopt an attitude of voluntary simplicity. A manner of living and being that is outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich. A way of being in which our most authentic and alive self is brought into direct conscious contact with every part of our lives.

Happy eco reading!