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

Amanda Quraishi Amanda "The Q" Quraishi is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and environmental activist living in Austin, Texas. Writing/Blogging inquiries visit www.QreativeWriting.com.

http://evolvedfashion.com

This author has contributed 25 posts.

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Eco Chic Weekly – October 27, 2008

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10/27/08

Green Girls Global remind us that charity begins in the wardrobe.

Say Yes to Carrots with Victoria Everman and check out the exclusive giveaway she’s got going!

Eco Chick warns about the greenwashing (no pun intended) of so-called “natural” beauty products.

The Alternative Consumer has some fall coats that will keep you warm, and the earth cool!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month we’re giving away an Organic Breastfeeding Support Kit (worth $50) at Fig+Sage.

To help us out of our economic “recession” with some eco-therapy, Green Cotton helps us find some of the hottest deals of the season…all under $99. See what we’ve come up with…

The GreenGirls.tv reports from the happening scene at the D&A Green Market!

Green Grechen reports on the best handbags made from reclaimed leather.

Fashion, evolved preaches the good word about buying vintage.

eco couture, eco style, ecofashion, green couture, green style, organic couture, organic fashion, organic style, sustainable couture, sustainable fashion, sustanable style

Eco Chic Weekly – October 20, 2008

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10/20/08

Green Girls Global shows off the gorgeous jewelry made from antique and reclaimed glass by artist Laura Bergman.

Eco Chick dishes about four of the season’s sexiest sustainable shoes!

Victoria Everman reviews the effective, affordable, and artistic oral care line from Radius.

Safia Minney shares her eco style tips with Greenmystyle.com.

Fashion, Evolved. blogs about poverty and fashion for Blog Action Day.

GreenGirls.tv presents their weekly video wrap up.

Green Cotton reports on her recent trip to Belize!

Get a glimpse of the highlights from the European fashion weeks on DC Goodwill Fashions!

Green Gretchen got engaged and tells us all about conflict free diamonds!

Fig+Sage gives us the scoop about Saffron Rouge, the new organic line by

autumn, car, conflict, cotton, Eco Chic Weekly, eco style, epa, Europe, Fashion, Jewelry, News, Organic, poverty, reviews, shoes, spa, style, sustainable, tv, video

Eco Chic Weekly!

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10/11/08

Announcing…the new Blog Association that is heralding the Fashion Revolution!
I am so pleased to introduce you to the new blog group Eco Chic Weekly.  We are a small but rapidly growing group of writers that focus on future of fashion:  Sustainability!

The members of Eco Chic Weekly are all dedicated to bringing you viable options to the mass-produced, over worked clothing and beauty that is designed first and foremost for the bottom line.

Eco Fashion is both a industry revolution and a cultural revolution.  It is a movement that promotes a higher quality of living for everyone on earth.

Please visit each week for a digest of the best of the best of Eco Fashion Blogging, and spend a few moments commenting on these excellent posts — we love to hear from our readers!

Green Cotton introduces her blog and tells us about her mission of bringing organic and sustainable clothing to the mainstream!

Green Girls Global reports on water wasted in producing denim–and offers some great alternatives!

GreenGirls.tv has a video wrap up of everything on the blog for the past week.

Fashion, Evolved recaps the Project Runway Season 5 Finale (part 1).  (Poor Jerrel!)

Eco Chick gives us the scoop on a brand new line of organic body care targeted at teens.

Victoria-E showcases the new line of handbags from Ecoist, a company that uses recycled wrappers; and she includes a special discount for her readers!

Eco Beauty, eco designer, eco style, ecofashion, ethical fashion, ethical style, green clothing, green designer, green style, organic beauty, organic clothing, organic cotton, organic designer, organic fashion, organic style, sustainable clothing, sustainable designer, sustainable fashion, sustainable style, sustinable beauty

Brook There

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10/02/08

When I first started writing about sustainable fashion, I scoured Etsy.com because I found that a lot of small, independent sustainable designers were using it as a retail outlet.  That’s when I first discovered Brook There.  I was immediately drawn to the use of color and the artistic lines of the clothing–a far cry from a lot of the earth toned knit simplicity I saw in other ‘green’ designers.  Finally, last month I was able to contact designer Brook DeLorme for a phone interview to find out more about her line.

According to her website, her company name “was inspired by the idea that ‘there’ often represents a place we’d rather be, and that fashion is the vehicle that can transport you from fantasy to reality, or from here to there. The roots of the line are based in my early work during college creating one-of-a-kind clothing from ‘found’ fabrics with a very deconstructed, raw, but ultra-feminine style.”

During the past few months, Brook has been developing her company’s main site in order to sell directly to online shoppers.  She also works with boutiques that carry her clothing and still keeps her Etsy store open as additional outlets for sales.  She’s also just added a line of organic underwear that is both eco-friendly AND sexy.

Originally, Brook started out designing and selling clothing using exclusively recycled materials.  I asked her what prompted her to go green as a designer and she told me that “It wasn’t a matter of choosing to go green.  Sustainability is simply integrated in to my personal life in all areas.  To use these fabrics just makes sense.  I use the concept of eco-fashion in my marketing, but I don’t think of it as something out of the ordinary.  It is just the way I live my life and that translates to my design work.”  After a few years, she chose to switch from recycled materials to organic fabrics, which tend to be easier to come by and to maintain continuity.

In addition to using sustainable fabrics, Brook also uses U.S. based manufacturing.  She hand makes her own samples and sources her bulk orders to a small local, family-owned factory.

So what kind of woman wears Brook There?  According to Brook, “A lot of female designers design for themselves.  Clothing I wear has to be comfortable but look neat and chic and practical.  My clientele tends to be urban and in creative professions.  They can (and do) wear unusual clothing.  They are educated, well-read and care about organics and sustainable products.”

She went on, “I call my design aesthetic ‘thoughtful clothing’.  I really take care that pieces are interesting both inside and out so that the wearer has an experience that the viewer might now.  I design from an abstract place–a concept or emotional state–not from literal experience and this is how the pieces and each collection gets their name.”

From a small startup design company on Etsy, Brook There is a real success story–a totem for struggling young designers who are attempting to create their own lines without million-dollar marketing budgets.  Visit her site and see what makes Brook There a true fashion destination.

Brook There, ecofashion, Fashion, green desginer, Organic, organic designer, organic fashion, recycled, sustainable, sustainable designer, sustainable fashion

What's Wrong With This Picture?

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09/22/08

In a country with a population of 1 billion and the average individual income less than $500 USD per year, it might seem sort of perverse to parade around a group of impoverished people holding expensive designer accessories and then photograph them for a fashion magazine layout. In fact, that is exactly what Vogue India did for their August 2008 issue.

Over half of India’s population lives on less than $2.00 per day. Yet, here in the glossy pages of this so-called “fashion” magazine, are images of a toothless old woman in traditional Indian dress holding an infant in a $100 Fendi bib, and an old man with holes in his dirty shirt holding a $200 Burberry umbrella.

The editor of Vogue India, one Ms. Priya “let-them-eat-gulab-jamin” Tanna was quoted in a New York Times interview saying, “You have to remember with fashion, you can’t take it that seriously. We weren’t trying to make a political statement or save the world.”

Ms. Tanna, I respectfully disagree. Welcome to the new world of Sustainable Fashion. This is precisely the kind of exploitation that has managed to rile so many fashionable people and launch a movement toward fair labor practices, ethical manufacturing, fair trade, and ecologically sound products.

Not to put the blame entirely on Vogue India, however; it seems that luxury brands are clamoring to get at the top 1/10 of Indian households which hold the majority of the country’s wealth. While millions of people sleep in filth with no access to running water, billboards and magazines full of Western status symbols taunt them, and at the same time, entice the Indian elite to own all the right logos.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a socialist. I don’t think everyone on earth should have the same amount of money or property or Gucci. I’m saying that, if by chance, you have been lucky enough to receive more than your fair share of this world’s luxuries, try not to humiliate and exploit the less fortunate just for the sake of “fashion”. As they say in India, that’s just bad karma.

ecofashion, ethical, Fair Trade, India, labor, sustainable, Vogue