SPUN · Eco-Chick

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Choose Sustainable. Choose Style. Choose SPUN.

If you haven’t heard of SPUN yet, don’t worry. You will. The lovely and talented founder of the company, Sara Seumae is riding a wave of popularity as her sustainable, chic designs continue to gain a reputation among fashionistas. I had the opportunity to “meet” Sara online and asked her if she’d let me interview her for Fashion, Evolved:

The Q: Do you design all the clothing at SPUN?

Sara Seumae: YES! But I will have to say that the emails from our customers and my mom and sister’s “two-cents” should be also be included.

The Q: Where do you get your inspiration?

Sara Seumae: My inspiration was and still is my two little girls. Like any mother, I want them to live the healthiest life possible. This includes what they eat as well as their environment. I also believe wholeheartedly that we need to leave this planet in better shape than we found it. I can’t dare look at my girls in the eyes if I feel that I have let them down. It’s not their fault that the world is the way it is. But I can do my very best to try and change it any way that I can. By choosing to wear organic cotton, you will not only help the environment but also the farmers who grow your cotton. Just like us, they have families that love them and I don’t want to be blamed for their failing health due to their exposure to pesticides either.

The Q: What kind of woman is a SPUN customer?

Sara Seumae: Our pieces are meant to be worn by every woman. We choose colors that will work with all different types of hair and eye colors as well as different complexions. We have also recently introduced Extra Large sizing to further broaden our customer reach. All of our pieces are longer than normal, allowing those of us who have had children, as well as those who wish to have a little more coverage the ease to do so. This also allows you to layer our pieces with some of your other favorites. We also make the bust on our pieces a little more fitted, as we feel that this is more flattering. Every piece is made in California, fair wage and sweat-shop free, using an environmentally friendly low-impact fiber reactive dye process. So you can rest assured that your clothes aren’t made under cruel conditions. The typical SPUN lady believes in the importance of not only wearing affordable clothing but cares about the condition of the people who have worked to bring the piece to you. From the farmer who works the cotton fields to the sewer who puts it all together, our customer cares about all of them. She also wants quality as well as classic pieces that aren’t the throw away pieces that you find elsewhere. Our pieces won’t fall apart after a few washes and are meant to be around no matter what the next season’s style brings us.

The Q: Why is sustainability an important issue for you, personally?

Sara Seumae: Living in Washington State, you can’t help but think about the environment. The rain helps keep everything green and that’s how we like it! Personally, my husband and I were always concerned about environmental causes. We started eating organic and using cloth diapers when our first daughter was born. It wasn’t until the birth of our second daughter, that we really started realizing all the other ways we could be better citizens. That’s when I realized my own desire for taking it a step further into green clothing. It was really easy for kids stuff and my husband just needed t-shirts. But for me, I couldn’t afford spending a lot just for clothes. We contribute one percent of our annual sales to environmental organizations through our membership with 1% For the Planet. We also try to reduce our footprint by doing such things as taking care of our own local deliveries rather than using other shipping methods. We also use recycled or reused cardboard boxes for shipping, biodegradable garment bags made from corn, and our hangtags are also made from 100% recycled paper. We believe that every little thing you can do helps.

ecofashion, Fashion, green designer, green style, organic clothing, organic designer, organic fashion, organic style, Sara Suemae, SPUN, sustainable clothing, sustainable fashion, sustainable style

Lucky Day at Fashion Ethic = Crazy Deals

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by Starre Vartan · 08/08/08

OK, I don’t normally post emails or releases directly from stores, but these are really amazing!–SV

Today, 08-08-08, Fashion Ethic celebrates their customers with a Lucky Day!

As the world comes together for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, we wanted our customers to experience a day seen as triple-lucky (8 is a lucky number in several Asian cultures), so Fashion Ethic is offering deals, discounts, and giveaways on this day that will come just once.

Shop our collection of eco-friendly and socially conscious apparel from “Fashionably Responsible” designers and lines like EDUN, naturevsfuture, Ryann, Peligrosa Knits, Emily Katz, and MORE.

ALL orders receive a FREE black BAGGU reusable bag and 8% of all the day’s sales will be donated to World Wildlife Fund…

…Plus, Shoppers can choose from 3 lucky deals:

Use code TANKYOU to receive one FREE SPUN tank with $50 purchase of SPUN’s organic cotton tank, tee, or tops

Use code EDUNTEE to receive one free EDUN tee with purchase of any other EDUN apparel

Use code ETHIC08 to receive $80 off a purchase of $280 or more – including already reduced clearance items!

And there will be a special sneak peek at Fall items from Sublet Clothing, Kelly B, She-Bible, and other Fashionably Responsible lines on the blog.

Event starts at 12:01am PST and ends at 11:59pm PST on Friday, August 8th at www.FashionEthic.com. One code per order, while supplies last.

clothing, cotton, design, designer, designers, fall, farm, Fashion, giveaway, Organic, organic cotton, reduce, sales, SPUN, Wildlife

The War on Bugs

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by Brianne Goodspeed · 03/12/08

For anyone else who digs on books that examine how PR shapes public perception, Will Allen’s new book, The War on Bugs is the latest in a genre that includes The Best War Ever and Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Instead of the now-tired observation that much of our food supply harms our bodies and destroys the land, Allen looks at the historical connection between advertising and agriculture and how toxins were marketed and sold to farmers to create The War on Bugs. (Fans of The Lorax might be surprised to see how else Dr. Suess put his talents to work — shilling for DDT and Standard Oil — before he spoke for the trees.)

Here’s an excerpt from a Q&A with Will Allen that I did for Chelsea Green.

BG: You’re an organic farmer, but you’re also an ex-Marine – and you were arrested and sentenced to a year in jail during the early 70s for civil rights and antiwar activism. That’s not a one-track life. Were there noticeable turning points for you?

WA: A turning point for me came during my time in the Marine Corps when I was dispossessed of the belief that as Marines we were protecting democracy, liberty, and freedom. I learned we were mostly protecting corporations. Some of our military actions while I was a Marine were in Lebanon, Cuba, and Vietnam. In Lebanon, we protected American corporations in the mid-East and mid-East allies, no matter how corrupt. In Cuba, we protected American businesses, a dictator, the ruling class that fled to Miami after the Revolution, and the Mafia drug cartels. In Vietnam we protected business interests, rice interests, illegal drug interests – the opium trade – and religious interests. We installed a Catholic president in a nation where 95% of the population was Buddhist and were shocked when he was assassinated. By 1963, I was protesting the Vietnam War in Chicago rallies and campus teach-ins.

…

BG: Do you see any similarities in the way that wars are spun and sold to the American public and the ways that toxic chemicals are spun and sold to American farmers?

WA: Advertising agencies made a quantum leap during the First World War. They did contract work for the government to sell the war and recruitment work for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The country was isolationist at the time and not interested in getting into another of Europe’s seemingly endless string of wars. Advertisers were able to get enlistments up and the public to buy war bonds. The themes were: a “can do attitude”, (such as, if America enters the war we will win it), a patriotic obligation, and protecting the civil rights of occupied countries.

When the same advertising agencies sold chemicals to farmers and householders, their pitches were similar. We are at war, be patriotic, and “a can do attitude.” That attitude encouraged such boasts as “. . .We can grow more than any other farmers in the world”, which led to the common belief that American farmers are feeding the world.

BG: On the flip side, do you see similarities in your resistance – resistance to war and resistance to toxic chemicals?

WA: I think that when someone becomes as anti-war as I am, then whatever one does – whether it is organic farming or something else – the irrationality and injustice of war is never far from their consciousness. While farm wars and military wars are of a different scale, many of the chemical and mining corporations that make fertilizer and pesticides are also manufacturers of bombs, and other military hardware and software. I think the sooner we can stop the chemical and genetic war on the farms, and the mindset that we are at war with nature, the better we will be as a species. In a sense, it is hard to not think of the war every time I fire up a tractor or pump or generator or heater that runs on gas or diesel from war zones around the world, especially Iraq. For that reason, we are looking at all the alternatives to fossil fuels for moving vehicles and for stationary heaters and generators.

War is not what is going on at Cedar Circle Organic Farm (in East Thetford, Vermont). We have struggles with pests, including woodchucks, voles, birds, worms, fungi, insects and weeds. We develop and copy strategies that are softer, non poisonous, and often very effective, and sometimes those adopted strategies are not effective. It is a process. We don’t have all the answers, but we have a lot more now than when we started in the 1960s.