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

Artful Undergarments: Rio Wrenn’s R.A.W. Eco Lingerie Collection

Portland, Oregon based textile designer Rio Wrenn has a unique vision for lingerie, combining modern eco friendly materials and dying techniques, antique constructions and ethical manufacturing to create her line, R.A.W. “I started R.A.W. in 2007, which is inspired by vintage undergarments ranging from the 1800′s to the 1950′s to modern day,” says Rio. Her collection of corsets, bras and undies has a special look, and with the Summer and Autumn 2010 trend of exposed undergarments, she’s right on target with perfect base layers for style mavens and lingerie fans alike.

And not only is Rio a conscious creator of unique pieces, she’s an advocate for women’s bodies and all the curves that go with them, and explained that her corsets aren’t meant to be restrictive or to reshape a body (she’s a fan of hips especially). “Corsets are actually very therapeutic, they make you stand up straight! I think people have a bad vision of corsets, but I don’t make them to be oppressive, they should be comfortable and supportive,” she says.

Each piece in R.A.W.’s collection is also a work of art and are handmade in Portland. Rio is a visual artist, but found that fine art was often out of reach to many people; fashion is a way to take a creative project and make it more accessible, wearable and affordable, she says.
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“Fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it.”

Coco Rochas walking the runway

Warning: I’m going to use the F word in this column (not that I have any idea what it means – and you probably don’t either).

What is ‘Fat’ anyway? I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit lately, more than I have in years. (But not more than I did when I was 17 and food disordered for a few months before feminist rants in Sassy Magazine saved me by making me angry). Maybe you have been thinking about what it means too.

Because it seems that every few weeks, another gorgeous model is called Fat or some very talented actress is asked about her curves- or lack of them. Coco Rocha, at 6 feet tall and a size four was the latest victim, and just a few weeks before Coco, I was hearing about Gemma Ward, the Aussie model who grew into a woman’s body from a girl’s and was promptly ‘kicked out of fashion.’ Before that there was the Glamour kerfuffle about the lovely plus-sized model who dared show her tummy bulge, and recently the cover of New York Magazine featured the gorgeous Christina Hendricks, (the redhead from Mad Men) and the focus was all about her curves, even when she didn’t want to talk about them.

And the public thinks ‘how ridiculous’ or sometimes ‘how true’ that a woman who looks perfectly healthy and attractive is called Fat, or curvy, or voluptuous, and another young girl develops an eating disorder (or maybe gets mad, like I did.) Disconnected from natural, healthy body images and the physical labor of our ancestors, we get fatter as the models get skinnier. Kind of like watching the outdoors on TV while we destroy it from inside our homes.

Health is Personal

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