Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Handknit is Hot: Ambika Bikinis Are Ready for Some Summertime

Prancing Leopard Yoga Wear: Organic Cool

Heroines for the Planet: Future Weather Director Jenny Deller

Sculptor Maria Moyer Shows Some Love for Plankton (Yes, Plankton!) in Her West Elm Collection

Heroines for the Planet: Human Rights Advocate and Sexual Slavery Survivor Somaly Mam

Handknit is Hot: Ambika Bikinis Are Ready for Some Summertime

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by Starre Vartan · 05/15/12

The Lace-up onepiece in the bold stripe pattern is sexy, unique and graphic, all at the same time. LOVE!

We’ve written about Ambika before (check out the handmade angora legwarmers here) and these hand-knit bikinis are another project by the talented and visionary Ambika Conroy. This is a woman who knows bikinis – one of her pieces was even featured in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, as well as other major fashion mags.

Obviously, knits are her thing – in fall and winter the angora (which comes from her own rabbits she lovingly raises), and for summer the perfectly crafted cotton swimsuits that she crochets up to order.

The cross-knot top in red is a stunner, paired with the bikini bottoms (with sweet doll tassels!) to match.

If you are worried about whether you can really swim in these suits, the answer is yes! I asked Ambika about that right off the bat as an avid lake and ocean swimmer myself. She said the knit holds up beautifully in the water and since she loves to jump in the water herself (and wears her own designs) the fact that the suits are totally wearable/usable/swimmable – and would stand the test of time – was important to her.

The sliding triangle top is decorated with (removable) Peruvian bamboo and turquoise embellishment.

Needless to say, I love these gorgeous pieces, and Ambika is even looking into natural dyes (and how to make them keep their color over multiple dippings and sunnings) to make her process even greener than it already is.

As written on her site, “Each Bikini is custom made, so please allow 2-4 weeks for it to be hand crocheted and mailed to you.” Some suits have jewelry elements, and others wooden beads. But you can order them as simple or embellished as you like.

The Ridged Cross Top is my absolute fave – not only to wear while swimming, but even better, layered under sheer or low-cut tops. It can be adjusted several different ways, including to make it a cleavage-booster.

Ambika, bikinis, Handmade, knit, sexy, summer, swimming, swimming costume, swimsuits

Prancing Leopard Yoga Wear: Organic Cool

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by Starre Vartan · 05/14/12

I love my Prancing Leopard Toulouse jumpsuit. Here I am, practicing a bit on my front lawn. I look a bit goofy, but I’m definitely happy. Goofy = Happy, don’tcha know?

Sevda and Bert Holland couldn’t find what they wanted in yogawear, so of course (don’t you do this?) they made their own. Prancing Leopard was born out of the couple’s need for genuinely stylish, but still functional yoga wear. And they would only make it superethically, of course. That means organic cotton (but not just any organic cotton…read below), a program to benefit animals in need, connections with local artisans, and more do-gooderness. Yay! We love a company that thinks beyond the obvious and into HOW they can truly make a positive impact while filling a niche.

Reversible Rhineu tank top

Prancing Leopard is all about the details – from attention to fit (I have both the jumpsuit shown above and a reversible top, and let me tell you, they feel GOOD), to looking quirky-great to being truly functional in a yoga-doing situation. The details extend to a proprietary super-soft quick-drying high-performance “peached” Turkish organic cotton jersey with a four-way stretch fabric. It’s called Zeugma® and it is as awesome as it sounds. (By quick-dry I’m talking about sweaty fabric drying while in savasana, so you walk out of class feeling – but not looking – like you just kicked your own butt).

The Carmague one-piece is perfect for layering, as seen here, or solo for a hot yoga class.

Besides being made from organic material, Prancing Leopard, which is sold via yoga studios (and their online store), has its eye on other ways to benefit the world. According to the site, “Locally, a percentage of online sales goes to the buyer’s studio of choice. On a global scale, we offer handmade artisan pieces, in addition to our core line, to benefit underserved women’s communities who make them. To support our shared environment and community, a percentage of our profit goes to the Snow Leopard Trust, dedicated to saving the rare and beautiful snow leopard from extinction.”

The cropped Harem Pant is one of Prancing Leopard’s perennial best sellers, and you can probably see why. Supercomfy, stylish and original.

And they make men’s yoga clothes too! My boyfriend has their supersoft Instanbul pant, and they are gorgeously flowy, cut perfectly and he has worn them to death!

The Kuray High/Low Sweatshirt is a great layering piece for post-yoga class or would work with a great pair of jean shorts and sandals for a summer evening at the beach.

eco fashion, ethical fashion, New York City, organic cotton, prancing leopard, workout, yoga, zeugma

Vintage Engagement Rings from Brilliant Earth Bring Old School Charm to Your Nuptials

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by Starre Vartan · 05/09/12

The 1930′s platinum Naomi ring.

If you are a regular Eco Chick reader, you know that I have long been a huge critic of both diamonds and the “Wedding Industrial Complex” and as such, love to provide my readers with great alternatives to the traditional wedding ideas and products.

Brilliant Earth has long been providing ‘conflict-free’ new diamonds, and now the company is offering a selection of even Earth- and people-friendlier vintage diamond rings.

The lovely art deco “Florence” ring features step-cut emeralds.

According to the company’s site, “Most rings in the Brilliant Earth antique collection originate in the 1900-1940, with some pieces over a century old! At any given point, Brilliant Earth has over a hundred antique pieces on hand – and new pieces are constantly being added in response to the high demand.”

The Snowflake ring features vintage European-cut diamonds.

A ring whose carbon footprint and impact occurred a hundred years ago or more is always going to be less impactful than anything new, with the added bonus that your ring will be superunique and certainly won’t look like everybody else’s solitaire diamond engagement rings, since as you can see, the styles run the gamut, and are much more interesting and detailed than modern rings.

If you want to go even more eco-friendly with your engagement, skip the ring altogether (after all, it is a very modern invention, and a sexist one at that.)

The square, pave Lorena ring is graphic and timeless.

Heroines for the Planet: Future Weather Director Jenny Deller

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by Lindsay E. Brown · 05/08/12

Photo: Bob Persenaire.

Future Weather centers on 13-year-old Lauduree, who fears the collapse of both her family and the planet. Writer/Director/Producer Jenny Deller chose to explore the complex issues of climate change through “the lens of a family drama,” as she put it, as opposed to a documentary. I had the opportunity to see the film and get to know Jenny, and I was moved by this powerful drama and the woman behind it.

Lindsay: It must have been thrilling to premiere Future Weather at the Tribeca Film Festival. What was that experience like?

Jenny: This is my first feature film, so to have it debut at a world-class festival like Tribeca was a dream come true. And of course, to walk into a New York City movie theater and see your movie on the screen is just an incredible feeling—a little surreal.

Jenny Deller

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climate change, environment, feature film, film, future weather, Global Warming, jenny deller, tribeca film festival, weather

Hammocks Are the New Awesome

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by Starre Vartan · 05/04/12

Starre Vartan happily hammocking at SeaU Guest House in Barbados. Photo: Simon Apter

The fact that I am writing this post from an actual hammock should demonstrate to you my dedication to the art and craft of hammocking (yes, it’s a verb, at least in my world – as it should be). Growing up, I availed myself of the large hammock in my backyard on a pretty regular basis – after mowing our acre of lawn, when I needed a mid-Summer’s nap, or when I needed to get away from my grandma’s pretty demanding routine.

Looks like a bit of bliss, no?

Yellow Leaf Hammocks make the variety of hammocks you see below, which includes a number of colors, patterns and styles (love the chair version – perfect for reading!) and they also have impressive social and sustainable cred, including economic health, environmental stewardship, social equity and cultural stewardship.

A hammock on a boat! Genius!

The company calls themselves a ‘social enterprise, not a charity’:

In Southeast Asia, hill tribes such as the Mlabri are among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of society. Hammocks have been the means to securing civil rights, combating deforestation, creating basic infrastructure and achieving financial security for hill tribe villages in this region of Northern Thailand.

As a hunter-gatherer society with no concept of land ownership or relationship with the outside world, the Mlabri way of life was devastated when the land around them was claimed and deforested. Impoverished, without citizenship, and enslaved by opportunists, their future appeared bleak.

Yellow Leaf aims to engineer a turnaround in which marginalized ethnic groups such as the Mlabri apply their artisan talents towards creating a micro-economy that will elevate them from their former state and maintain their cultural identity, with the added benefit of eradicating toxic farming methods within the communities we partner with.

Love the ‘hammock chairs’ that are shaped to provide a bit of support.

Get your hammock on AND support people in need with honest work. How much more awesome can it get?

All photos courtesy of Yellow Leaf Hammocks except where indicated.