Ecologique Highlights
Green Fashion BY KATE JAROSINSKA
The green fashion movement has opened a market for ethical fashion to consumers. The Ecologique Fashion Show in San Diego, CA, organized by creative director Andrea Krystine, gave us a first hand look at how green fashion is changing the values behind the production of clothes. The designer lineup at Ecologique included clothing made from organic linen, organic cotton, hemp and organic wool. Designer Meiling Chen, introduced her line of Eco-couture that included waste free clothes with hand-dyed designs and organic fabrics, while Icelandic designer Unnur Fridriksdottir, presented handbags made of sea leather. Instead of using real leather, Unnur uses farm grown Icelandic Salmon and farm grown African Perch. Pants to Poverty, a San Diego based underwear company, fits right in with the ethical production of fashion. Their bright colored underwear uses Zameen Organic, which is a farmer owned marketing company for fair-trade and organic cotton. Other Eco-features of the show included a variety of reconstructed vintage pieces and recycled accessories all tinted with the inspiration of nature.
The message behind this ecological production of clothing is to be economical and to reuse. If most of us look into our closets, it is likely that we will be encountering some synthetic fabrics like polyester, rayon or nylon. Toxic non-sustainable materials are composed of crude oil, coal and petroleum. Much of the reconstructed and recycled clothing re-uses these materials to prevent disposing of them. “If it’s already there, it’s better to utilize it....we need to do our research on what we are purchasing and where we are purchasing it from, but we don’t want to dispose of our clothing, we want to reuse it, recycle it and make it last.” says Andrea. While the organic clothing market is flourishing, it is still better to limit consumption. Andrea suggests getting together with friends and doing clothing exchange parties, she says, “Get together and trade clothes. This is an easy and affordable contribution to the movement,” she says. Thrift stores and vintage shops are artistic, ecological and economical venues for purchasing and exchanging clothing, so one may also consider taking advantage of the many resources that economical shopping offers.
Andrea believes that Eco-fashion is just one thing among many that contributes to the potential that we have to stepping up and choose renovating, creative and environmental ways to live. “This is about our existence, utilizing the things that we have now and making our world a better place despite the distress. We need to take care of our environment, we need to take care of the people, we need to donate our time and contribute,” says Andrea.
