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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Eco Chic Weekly 8/29/09

Eco Chic Weekly compiles the best of the best in green fashion and beauty blogging each week. Please feel free to copy and use this post on your blog with a link back to Fashion, Evolved.

• Learn how to make ethical fashion choices and upcycle your existing wardrobe this week on Green Girls Global.
• Check out the Eco Fashion World interview with Maroussia Rebecq, founder of the Andrea Crews Collective.
• Eco-Chick has rounded up some Eco Fashion News from around the web!
• The Eco Diva goes local with Etsy.com!
• Learn about Bangladesh Garment Factories Going Fair Trade at Ethical Style!
• Check out Curatorial’s Limited Edition Collection featured on Feelgood Style.
• Green Grechen discusses the impacts of milk silk.
• Want to see some of the best organic fashion on sale today? Green Lashes and Fashion has a round up!
• 8 Ways to Get the Closest Eco Shave for Men and Women–on Greenopia!
• Inhabitat is featuring the very drool-worthy Noon Solar Bags.
• Modern Hippie Mag has a question about hair oil in their Ask the Beauty Chick column.
• Are You a Green Beauty? Take the Quiz on Planet Green!
• Upcycled bags are better the second time around…so says The Alternative Consumer!
• Join in the Vintage Jewelry Obsession this Fall at The Green Girls.
• The Thrifty Chicks are Standing Naked in a Thrift Store.
• Treehugger dishes on the 7 Common Cosmetics Ingredients You Need to Avoid!
• Fashion, Evolved interviews Jaszy McAllister creator of ethical, beautiful Jaszy’s Jewelry.

BiCoastal Style Gone Green: Doie's Spring 2009 Collection

Sara Kirsner moved her sustainable fashion line, Doie, from NYC to LA last year, and the first collection from her new city (pictured here) is simply called “Los Angeles.” The images here are just some of the fresh, new designs from Sara, who’s positive vibe and optimistic nature surely fits right in her new hometown.

I have quite a few Doie pieces and I wear them all the time, proving that Doie is as easy-to-throw on (and inexplicably comfy) as it is pretty-pretty! Soft fabrics, great lines, and fun prints- love it! Check out the whole Spring ’09 collection here.

Viridis Luxe

If you’re looking for super-comfy, but also sexy (and who isn’t? I feel like when I look appealing to the opposite sex, I’m invariably uncomfortable), check out Viridis Luxe‘s new Spring line. Viridis uses a luxurious hemp-cashmere blend for knits, and hemp-silk for their jersey shirts, as well as bamboo for the T’s. All this and the site explains succinctly the truth (and facts) behind hemp fabric too. A particularly ‘treehugging’ excerpt:

Currently 40% of the global timber harvest is used for paper products. If hemp is cultivated on only 12% of the European landmass, it will meet the ENTIRE WORLD DEMAND for paper and completely eradicate the need to cut trees for paper. One acre of hemp produces as much pulp for paper as four acres of trees. The average tree grows for 30-40 years before it can be harvested for paper products, compared to hemp, which can be harvested in 3-4 months

Hemp is an amazing low-impact fiber that’s super-tough and lasts forever, and needs no pesticides and herbicides. Hemp contains almost none of the active ingredient, THC that makes its cousin, marijuana, a drug, yet the short-sighted U.S. government is still outlawing the plant from being grown in American soil, so right now most hemp fiber comes from Canada and other countries whose governments recognize an eco-friendly crop when they see it.

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Fix It, Don't Toss It!

After arriving at warm home town Barranquilla, Colombia, I was in the process of putting away my winter clothes, when inside my jacket’s pocket I found an unfamiliar object. I reached inside and out came a pair of earrings. “Nice”, I thought. And tried to remember where I had gotten them from. Not mine. Must be my friend Johanna’s, to whom I last lent my jacket.
Taking advantage of the situation (a new pair of earrings for the New Year), I was going to try them on when I realized they were broken; the piece to fit in the earlobe was missing.

Mmmh… what to do? Throw them away? Sadly, I must confess that was my first thought; but then I stopped and asked myself, “Where will these earrings go? Once they reach the garbage, what will happen to them?” It was then that I decided to save the lovely pair. What would it take? How long, how much would it cost? Is jewelry commonly recycled; turned around, from person to person? Or are we stuck in the buy-buy, throw-throw cycle? All these questions arose in my mind as I set out to quench my earring fixing curiosity.

My first stop was at my cousin’s, Colombian designer Melissa Chams (above), who owns a boutique about five blocks away from my house. “Can you fix this?” I asked. “Sure”, she said. Two minutes later, I was in front of a new pair of earrings, a living memory of my now far away friend Johanna, and a happy conscience for having contributed to waste reduction.

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