Fashion With a Cause

You've heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but what about wearing your soul? That's what eco-fashion -- aka "fashion with a soul" -- claims to do.

The up-and-coming trend of making and wearing clothes that promote a healthy environment and safe working conditions, takes into consideration a whole lot more than just the style factor. It's a new concept, especially in the fashion arena, which makes it a misunderstood one as well.

To learn a little more about the strange animal that is eco-fashion, keep reading.

The Fabric of Our Lives
We're certain you know who you're wearing, but do you know what you're wearing? Chances are, very high your clothing is not doing much to help our environment.

"Any fiber produced conventionally is not eco-fashion," said Haven Bourque, vice president of Straus Communications, which represents eco-fashion companies Del Forte and Lucina. "For every pound of cotton, two-thirds of a pound of insecticides and pesticides are used to grow it."

If it's grown organically, with minimal impact on the earth's environment, then you have an eco-friendly garment.

According to Bourque, some of the more popular fabrics used for eco-fashion are cotton, wool ("You don't have to spray sheep"), angora, cashmere, hemp, ramie, silk, linen and flax.

Don't be fooled by a label listing various percentages of these materials, though. If it's eco, more than likely, the designer will make this known with additional tags and labels affirming their support.

Shiny, Happy People
Eco-fashion doesn't just take into account the environment.

"It's good for the water, the soil and the workers, too," Bourque said.

For many of us, the last thing to cross our minds when looking in a three-way mirror at a pair of butt-flattering jeans is who is responsible for making them. Not the designers and the folks who drew the sketches, but the actual sweat behind the product: the labor workers.

Organizations like the Sustainable Cotton Project are making strides to educate the public on the dangers posed to fiber growers who use harmful chemicals. If it's bad for the earth, then it's probably bad for its inhabitants as well.

The World Health Organization estimates 20,000 deaths and 3 million nonfatal poisonings result from accidental pesticide poisonings every year.

Green fashion also takes into account the manual labor employed in manufacturing centers. Sweat shops are not only a faux pas here, they're considered a cardinal sin.

Woodstock Frock
We know what you're thinking. Sounds great, but it's probably a bunch
of hippy gear. Although we happen to think loose, flowy tunics and
brown leather sandals certainly have their good points, not all
eco-fashion is limited to this look.

"With organic food, if it doesn't taste good, people won't buy it,"
Bourque said. "Well, with fashion, if it doesn't look good, they won't
buy it."

For the trend-hungry, there are several premium denim labels made from organically-grown fibers. Del Forte Denim (delforte.com)
takes it a step further. Not only is the denim 100 percent bona fide
eco-fashion, consumers are also encouraged to recycle their denim.

It doesn't stop at denim, though. Green fashion went high
fashion at New York City's Fashion Week in February 2005 with
FutureFashion, which put the spotlight on clothing made from
eco-friendly materials.

If that weren't enough to break the tree-hugging stereotypes,
well-respected names like Diane von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs are
also adding eco-fashion to their collections, and there's even couture
eco-fashion, courtesy of designer Linda Loudermilk.

That, and the fact that celebrities like Bono (who represents
the Edun clothing line), Darryl Hannah and model Summer Rayne Oakes are
lending their faces to the cause, has made wearing eco-friendly clothes
as cool as Kabbalah.

Brave Baubles
Think eco-fashion is limited to clothing? Think
again. Anything you put on is classified as fashion. If consumers are
concerned with the environment, then it's likely their concerns extend
beyond just tops and pants.

Vy and Elle, an eco-fashion accessories label, puts out
everything from laptop briefcases to yoga bags and iPod and cell phone
holders; Helen E. Riegle designs trendy and functional, earth-friendly
handbags; and Lucina (lucinacompany.com) offers lovely jewelry handcrafted through fair-trade policies.

Even mainstream shopping resources like Zappos.com
are getting in on the soulful fashion action. Zappos has a complete
vegetarian shoe category, which spares the use of leather materials.

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal. Powered by Yellowbrix.