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

Eco Chic Weekly – November 17, 2008

Eco-Chick gets Eairth-y with some Fabulous Phillipino Eco-Fashion

Fashion, evolved interviews Sara Suemae, the founder and designer of the eco-fabulous line SPUN.

Green Cotton says congrats to the D.C. Green Festivals for a terrific eco-fashion show and impressive recycling for 30,000+

The GreenGirls.tv tells us why knockoffs and fakes are a crime of fashion.

The Alternative Consumer has the scoop on natural wrist warmers:  tre chic and handmade, a yummy accessory for fall, winter and spring.

Green Grechen shares chic handbags for vegans–100% Vegan Handbags (that you’d actually carry)!

What Are You Tired Of? Tell the World and Make It Change!  Victoria Everman has an interview with I’m Tired Of co-founder Dan Hoffman.

Eco-chic Weekly – November 10, 2008

A Modest Proposal:  The DCGF offers some thrifty chic ensembles for the incoming administration.

Win $50 Worth Of BDIH-Certified Mineral Makeup from Alima Pure Just In Time For The Holidays from Fig+Sage.

Victoria Everman dishes on the Spirit Beauty Lounge–and has a special offer for her readers!  Check it out!

It doesn’t get more sustainable than this:  The Alternative Consumer has the lowdown on  KAYU sunglasses made from bamboo.  Part of each purchase goes toward restorative sight surgery for individuals who cannot afford it in developing countries.  It’s all good!

Green Grechen highlights Tonic’s new collaboration with Luella Bartley for Charity & has the scoop on their giveaway!

Fashion, evolved reports about the HUGE giveaway by NIMLI!

Eco Chick is pleasantly surpised at the style and quality of Payless’ new sustainable shoes.

Green Cotton tracks RE: Fashion London’s ethical fashion source. Find out top nominees on our post. Awards this week.

Eco Chic Weekly!

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!

Brook There

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.