New York City · Eco-Chick

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Aquaknots! Feral Childe’s Spring/Summer 2012 Collection is Aswim with Exotic Coral and Aquatic Horses

Shoal Shift in Flowerstripe Print, Silk Crepe

Feral Childe continues to be one of my favorite eco fashion lines (and fashion lines in general!), so I am especially excited to share part of their Spring/Summer 2012 collection with you all on Eco Chick.

Not only are their colors and patterns always interesting and always different, but they are immensely wearable and very well-made. I have been wearing the two blouses and two dresses I have from FC for years now – literally! Take a look at their site to see all the pieces from S/S 2012 and also a close-up at their hand-drawn and always-unique patterns.

Besides being designed and sewn in NYC, Feral Childe’s designers use eco friendly textiles, which include supersoft organic cottons, silks, Cupro, Italian metallic cotton and hempcel.

Shark Tank Dress in Seaworld Print (mauve)

Rabbits Tee in Organic Cotton Stripe with Silk Crepe Anemone Shorts in Flowerstripe Print

Silk Crepe Cousteau Jacquet in Flowerstripe Print

2012, aquadots, collection, feral childe, hemp, New York City, NYC, organic cotton, spring/summer, sustainable

Why We Love NYC’s Think Coffee

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by Starre Vartan · 03/05/12

Recently, I conducted an intern search, and since Eco Chick is one of the many companies that works virtually, that means I had to find a place to meet with all the fantastic applicants. As I spend quite a bit of time in the Union Square area of NYC, I have long been stopping by the Think Coffee near the park, but this past autumn, on a run back from the gorgeous-in-every-season Hudson River Park, I noticed a new Think was setting up shop at 8th avenue between 13th and 14th streets.

The interior of the 14th&8th Think Coffee store – with plenty of room in the back room for relaxing and enjoying your java.

This store is much more chill than the always-busy Broadway location, and soon after they opened, I became a regular. Not just because I have a bit of a coffee addiction, but because the space is open and new (but with a bit of an old-school coffeehouse vibe), and Think is serious about its ethical bona fides, which include the following:

-Sourcing direct from farmers. No middleman means no greenwashing, as coffee farms are visited by (the lucky!) Think employees during travels to Brazil, Columbia and Costa Rica. Why all this trouble?

Coffee is grown across the globe, and, in our opinion, no single coffee purchasing or certification system can be expected to work equally well everywhere. Whether it is a small family farm in Nicaragua or a Brazilian plantation or a cooperative in southern Ethiopia, each has its own economic, social and political climate. That’s why we go to origin, to see first hand where our coffee comes from, to bring you as much transparency as we can. No other coffee retailer we know of checks up on the claims of its roasters, importers or certifying authorities the way we do.

To read more, check out the rest of the post on our sister site, Eco Chick Escapes, all about travel and style.

Fair Trade, farmers, health, java, New York City, NYC, think coffee, travel

Greenshows at NYFW: Study NY’s Classic Knits Gone Edgy (and Convertible)

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by Starre Vartan · 02/13/12

Study NY’s F/W collections (see last year’s here) always make me look forward to the colder seasons (even if we are still in the midst of one!). Sewn from sustainable fabrics that are uncompromising in their green roots, and made NYC, this year’s showing at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Greenshows at Lincoln Center was – as usual – totally covetable (and even more so by the fact that her designs are so classic they can be worn for years to come).

For St. James, it’s all about the understated details that make you want to keep wearing something over and over again; take the skirt above, a closer look reveals a brush of color at the hem (see detail shots below). Wearability is important to the designer, which is why she always makes her pieces look not only comfortable, but in some cases, convertible too.

“Everything can be personalized and is meant to be worn your own way. I think that’s an important part of sustainability. Fast fashion is so recognizable on the street, and you don’t want to be wearing what everyone else is. Even if you’re wearing the same piece it can look very different,” St. James told Ecosalon.
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collection, eco fashion, F/W 2012, fair fashion, Fashion, greenshows, knits, mercedes benz fashion week, New York City, NYFW, study NY, sustainable, tara st. james

How I Wear Eco Fashion: Yuka Yoneda, Design Editor and (Former) Shopaholic!

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by Starre Vartan · 04/12/11

Yuka is an editor at Inhabitat.com and Ecouterre.com, and she’s always on the lookout to spot the latest innovations in sustainable design. And whenever I’ve seen her, she’s always managed to look fabulous, so I’m so excited she decided to share her style with Eco Chick!

Above, she wears a refashioned mesh-back tank made from an old silk Chanel scarf from Clossette with her own dark blue skinny jeans. On her feet she’s wearing, “My favorite clear pink sparkly jelly Vivienne Westwood + Melissa peep-toes from Kaight. They’re like Cinderella’s glass slippers except much more comfy!” She accessorizes with a silky grey perfumed tassel necklace from Clossette.
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eco fashion, editor, Fashion, How I wear eco fashion, New York City

How I Wear Eco Fashion: Greenest New Yorker Kaity Tsui

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by Starre Vartan · 01/17/11

On the heels of apparel giant H&M stating, “There aren’t any specific trends anymore. It’s more just personal style and how you put it together,” I contacted a number of my friends and colleagues about contributing to this new column on Eco Chick, “How I Wear Eco Fashion.” The response has been enthusiastic, so look for weekly installations of how women from all walks of life (some of them working in the green sphere, and some of them not, but all of them with a conscience about their impact on the planet) find and wear eco fashion.

First up is Kaity Tsui, AKA The Greenest New Yorker. Kaity told me of the dress pictured above, “I bought this black dress at Housing Works (Upper West Side)* for a really good price. Here I’m wearing it at a friend’s wedding, so it’s appropriate at more formal settings.” Kaity is still a fresh-faced young lady with great skin, so she doesn’t use a ton of makeup; here she sports some Burt’s Bees lipbalm (one of my faves too!), which is available everywhere, and a bit of Bare Minerals/Escentuals for sparkle.
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