Portland Fashion Week: Sustainable Independent Style

Portland Fashion Week wrapped up October 24th, and we were happy to be able to take in a few shows. Portland has long boasted a creative urban environment, so it made perfect sense for the city to jump into the fashion arena in 2003 with the first Portland Fashion Week. In a city known as the country's "#1 Sustainable City" and where many citizens have strong ties to nature, P-Town naturally chose to go with a theme of sustainability in fashion. Now the second longest running fashion week on the West Coast, PFW is specifically targeted towards eco-friendly and independent designers.Though following sometimes chaotic organization, this years PFW showcased an amazing selection of designers and styles for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2008 season. Not only eco-friendly, there was a general trend towards color, comfort, and wearability. Soft cleanly-cut pieces from the collections designers like Sameunderneath and Lizzie Parker will easily transition off the runway and onto the street this spring.
Pieces were bright and cheerful, with simple shapes and contours.We're looking forward to next season, but in the meantime we'll be featuring some of our favorite PFW designers. The Photographers were there and they've captured some great styles in their slide show.

Etsy Find: Handmade Eco-Friendly Fashion from TiinaTeaspoon

We love the adventurous fashions from UK designer and photographer TiinaTeaspon. Her work is combines the best bits of bohemia, a masquerade ball, theatrical costuming to create unique fashions that are sure to turn heads at a party. Each of her pieces has character, and you’ll never have to worry about arriving at a party wearing someone’s matching dress. A graduate of the London College of Fashion, not only are these pieces original and handmade, but she creates her works from reclaimed cotton, eco-friendly bamboo jersey, and natural dyes. We love the loose free look of her dresses. Check out her website or blog, or go shopping at her Etsy store.
Kolme Dress $625
Mustikka Dress $1,325

Can you afford eco-couture? Linda Loudermilk designs green for the stars

As we’re constantly reminded, living green and stylish is not always synonymous with cheap. Because of the higher cost of producing environmentally friendly or organic materials, environmentalism and luxury now go hand-in-hand. The truly hip and fabulous, and those who don’t mind spending a little green to wear a little green, are fueling the trend towards eco-couture.
Linda Loudermilk is a leading fashion designer with a flare for the natural. Outfitting celebrities like Jane Fonda, Debra Messing, and Jennifer Beals, Loudermilk applies her high fashion skills to textiles made from sasawashi, bamboo, sea cell, soya, and EcoSpun fabric. Her creations have been described as channeling nature’s punk energy and feminine grace. Her brand of clothing bears the “Luxury Eco Stamp of Approval,” given to products with a high degree of aesthetic design and luxury quality that also come from a carefully reviewed, environmentally friendly manufacturing process. Loudermilk mixes her exotic fabrics with sophisticated silhouettes and surprising design twists. Not only are her creations earth-friendly, many bare the colors of terra firma, draw inspiration the creatures that live here, or follow the shape of waterfalls, rivers, and forests.
While most of us won’t be digging into her duds any time too soon, Loudermilk deserves praise for leading the trends towards bringing environmental awareness and sustainable style to society’s elite list.

Beauty Engineered For Ever: Designed to Save the Environment

Beauty Engineered for Ever believes that being green shouldn't compromise your style or performance. Based in New Zealand, these creative designers bring chic simplicity to their array of environmentally-friendly products. With B_E_E, you can clean-up well and be green too. Not only have they taken the dangerous chemicals out of our common household products, they flaunt easy of use and beauty in design. Boasting New Zealand's Environmental Choice accreditation, B_E_E mixes up ingredients like South Pacific kawakawa, lavendar oil, spearmint, and eucalyptus to create happy household essentials. Their safe and gentle products include laundry detergents and whiteners, multi-surface cleaners, and dish cleaning liquid.

Shop Sustainable at Beklina's Sale

Beklina - the online fashion boutique featuring green fashion greats like Stewart + Brown, ParkVogel, Edun, and Prairie Underground - is having a sale to make room for fall's upcoming arrivals.
Most women's items are 35% off, and there's no shipping!

Based in Northern California, Beklina features the best in sustainable style, choosing products for their comfort as much as their appearance. A great place online to shop organic, they carry designs from some of the most popular eco-designers around.
Each of the products Beklina sells is either fair trade or made in the United States. Check out these great summer sale products for your comfort wear.

Summer Sale at Ecoist

There's a special summer sale going on right now at Ecoist. You can save up to 50% on their handmade clutches, purses, and coin wallets, and shipping is free on purchases over $100! The summer sale only lasts until August 31st, so check out Ecoist now. This creative company sells eco-friendly accessories made from recycled candy wrappers. Where else can you buy a purse made from soda can tabs, a clutch made from Luna Bar wrappers, and a bag made from gum wrappers? At Ecoist, style comes first, and all products are made to be socially and environmentally responsible. If you're ready to celebrate design and save the earth, check out this great sale!

Tierra Del Forte to Talk Green

Organic denim designer Tierra Del Forte will be presenting on "Green and the Bottom Line" in Las Vegas. Sponsored by the Organic Exchange and the Organic Trade Association, Del Forte will discuss the recent growth in the organic apparel market and the challenges that designers face when going green. Del Forte says she likes going green because it is "win-win for everyone. Customers love it, ecologically responsible mills get rewarded, organic farms profit, and I get to feel good about the fabric I use." Want to find out what challenges face wholesale and retail lines attempting to step into eco apparel?

Check out the MAGIC Marketplace trade show August 27 to 30, 2007 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Del Forte's seminar will run from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 28, 2007.

Eco-Chic Shopping Event in San Francisco

Appel & Frank, a San Francisco-based promotional event boutique, hosts quarterly shopping extravaganzas that are highly anticipated for their evening of luxury: guests are treated spa services, makeovers, and cocktails while discovering some of the hottest new designers. This season's event happens to be an Eco Chic Shopping Event, "because green looks good on everyone." For $10 admission, guests are invited to sip all-natural sake while relaxing in the PG&E coffee lounge and previewing the work of San Francisco's finest eco-friendly designers. Don't miss out on what should be a spectacular night. Make your reservations today.
Thursday, September 27, from 5:00-9:30PM at the Regency Center, San Francisco

Perfect Products for Your Pet: Handmade, Organic, Non-Toxic, and Stylish

We all know that our animals are just furry extensions of our family. We would never willingly treat our dogs and cats with less than stellar care, sub-par products, or toxic toys. However, lately the stories of bad ingredients in pet food and toxic chemicals in toys are growing in abundance. Not to worry. We’ve rounded up a collection of the best handmade, organic, or non-toxic products to fill your dog or cat’s every need.

The Modern Pet offers a variety of stylish and handmade products for your dog or cat. Included among them are extra-durable handcrafted collars and leashes from recycled materials, organic shampoo, biodegradable waste bags, treats, and announcements (think birth announcements for your newest furry child). The Modern Pet also offers a pet collar recycling program and a shampoo bottle recycling program.

Featured here are the Vintage Rose Dog Collar ($28) made from durable pink cotton webbing and a selection of hemp dog collars ($24) made from hemp canvas and dyed with low-impact dyes.

BaconSquareFarm offers a classic looking handmade wrought iron feeding station for your small dog or cat. The feeding station ($18) has an iron stand and two stainless steel bowls. This mealtime essential will blend in perfectly with any contemporary or modern home.
Jake and Micah offer an adorable treat for your cat: a takeout box with three fortune cookie toys inside ($17.99). These cloth playthings are stuffed with 100% premium organic catnip and come with a real fortune too! The cotton fabric is also organic. Who couldn’t resist these lucky organic catnip toys? No cat should be without!

Eco-Me, the maker of the human-geared Eco-Me Body and Eco-Me Home Kits have lined up two new kits to keep your furry friends feeling green as well. Eco-Me Cat and Eco-Me Dog ($28 each) include everything you need to jump-start your pet’s sustainable lifestyle. The Eco-Me Dog Kit (pictured here) is 100% natural and includes all the essentials to get you started with flea and bug spray, cleaning wipes, powder shampoo, doggie essential oil mix, cookie recipes and cookie cutters, and a few pooper-scooper essentials.

Bodhitoys has a line of very modern and stylish playthings for your pooch. Inspired by the designs of India, China, and painters such as Matisse and Miro, Bodhitoys offers non-toxic durable playthings to keep your dog in a tranquil place. The namesake Om ball is decorated with a pattern inspired by West Indian tribal embroidery. Best of all, when bounced it actually plays the Om mantra, as recorded by kirtan master Bhagavan Das.
Purrfect Play has put a lot of time and research into developing their organic dog biscuits. This 2 oz tin of mini bones ($3.50) from Robbie Dawg is a travel essential on any walk or trip. Not only do these doggie treats make great gifts, but they come in a variety of flavors. Check out the doggie treats like peanut butter and carrots, turkey sausage and romano cheese, and four-cheese oatmeal. All the biscuits are human grade-quality and made from the finest artisan ingredients.


And finally, Fetching Tags is the place to go for your next dog tags ($30). These handmade metal dog tags (or cat tags, or rooster tags) come with customized personal inscriptions to make sure your pet’s ID is spot on.

Summer Fashion: Mohop Handcrafted Shoes

Perfect for summertime, Mohop offers a unique mix-and-match opportunity for your footwear. Chicagoan Annie Mohaupt handcrafts each pair of shoes at her studio, and then the wearer is free to personalize her pair with ribbon laces and other decorations. The shoes are composed of a soling made from recycled tires, a Finnish birch plywood core, and then topped with various select veneers. While creating the Mohop shoes, Annie is careful to use the eco friendly woods, glues, sealers and inks.





























The shoes come in flats, kitten heels, or high heels, and Mohop offers a variety of ribbon laces to choose from as well. The wearer is free to customize the shoes by changing the ribbons, adding buttons or other adornments, or lacing the shoes in completely new ways. The possibilities are endless! This summer fashion item is perfect for dressing up your daily office duds or for wearing during a long beach stroll.


Special for the season, Mohop is offering free shipping worldwide for the summer of 2007. Enter the coupon SUMMER at checkout.