Green Cotton

Why not make something useful from fashion and textile waste?

“Limited Resources -  Limited Consumption”

We better start planning (and re-using) now, if we hope to have resources (and clothing) for generations to come. That is part of the mantra of Looptworks, a new eco-fashion brand on the scene, who launched September 9, 2009  in Portland, Oregon. Looptworks’ mission and rasion d’etre is to create lifestyle active wear made from fabric remnants (a.k.a fashion industry waste).

As the saying goes: Since there is only a finite amount of matter on the planet, we must be careful about how we use and allocate resources. As such, the question then becomes why did it take us so long to start re-using these valuable remnants?

Well, the answer is that others have been doing variations on this for a while. In fact, we know of several designers in the Boston area that make their deisgner collections out of re-purposed clothing. In addition, there is the design team Feral Childe. Feral Childe has been using fabric remnants and “mill-ends” for years now, integrating them into their unique collections. However the difference is that most designers who use this approach do not base their whole collection on remnants. They often use them when they find cool fabrics they like. In the case of Looptworks however, they seem to be the first to do this on a larger scale, with the whole focus of their label being on “remnant-to-garment”.

So Looptworks has created a unique approach to “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” in the fashion world, by re–using industry waste, and creating limited edition garments – all made from fabric scraps.

Indeed, these guys are inventive, bringing recycling to a new level and scale. Why not tap into the yards and yards of fabrics that get left behind at factories? Personally, we believe this is invaluable because remnants are rarely re-used, and often end up on landfills, so why not bring them into useful existence?

Led by Hamlin, Gary Peck and Jim Stutts,  all are apparel industry veterans with extensive experience from Nike, adidas and Royal Robbins. The team apparently came together in their distaste for traditional manufacturing models with the vision to create a more sustainable system: e.g. creating products from abandoned materials.

Every week, one garment factory can dispose upwards of about 60,000 pounds of textile waste, which goes directly into landfills. Looptworks taps into this excess of material thrown away by figuring out how it can be re-purposed into modern, useful and fashionable clothing.
Due to the nature of the source material, each production line is very small and each garment a limited edition. In fact, each item is hand numbered.

Working with waste instead of virgin materials also affects the entire design process. Development time for their garments is around 9 weeks, compared to the typical 54 weeks for the average apparel company. Given that, it’s easy to see how Looptworks could position itself not only as a sustainable brand, but also as a trendsetter.

Even though the production cycle is extremely fast, and materials acquired second-hand, Looptworks builds clothing and accessories to last a long time. Each material is tested for shrinkage and durability before being incorporated into designs. Products are double-needle stitched on all seams and triple-needle stitched on critical seams.

The company’s debut collection includes a variety of hoodies, tees, shorts, fleeces and jackets (for more see Looptworks).

The newly launched website welcomes visitors to see the world through a new lens, using two circles to showcase fresh videos on its homepage, to both educate and inspire. Clicking on the men’s and women’s product categories provides the shopper an overview of each collection. There are eight men’s products and nine for women, with additional styles being added on a regular basis.

Shoppers can rollover the static product images to magnify and discover the unexpected, signature Looptworks details, like craftily-designed pockets, and whimsical, unmatched buttons and snaps. Even the logo is attached to a loop that has the number of the garment etched in by hand.

Hats off to Looptworks joining the eco-fashion growing flock — looking beyond the “now” to future generations with the understanding that we cannot pursue our current production models for much longer if we hope to foster a sustainable future. One downside: if you like something on their site, you gotta buy it fast, since it wont last long. Fabric remnants cannot be re-produced.Check out looptworks.com and let us know what you think… do you like this model? Tell us your thoughts.

Photo source: Looptworks

By: Julie Finkel and Shana Yansen

Photosource: Denimology

Famous singer Alanis Morissette and actor Woody Harrelson are the founders of this new denim brand that uses 50% of recycled denim.

Reco is currently the only denim company that is making the attempt to reclaim and recycle materials to make a more eco friendly fashion jeans. Denim is unfortunately is one of the most environmentally-intensive clothing items out there. Not only is the cotton used notorious for its exorbitant use of water and pesticides but the washing, dying and finishing are equally as detrimental. Reco is an attempt to mitigate the impact for one of fashion’s timeless staples. And Morisette and Harrelson just might be the right pair to bring successful to this endeavor.

On recojeans.com, learn how Reco jeans are made and why the jeans cannot be made of 100% recycled material, “we need to have fresh cotton regardless, to make it durable”. Reco is also the only company using solely denim product and being certified as an innovative new recycled fabric.

But the originality doesn’t stop here. Reco is auctioning off 300 limited edition Reco jeans boxed sets in a “dutch auction” to determine the prices of these very hot, eco jeans . The boxed sets include a reco i-pod case. Be one of the first bidders for these trend-setting pieces.

Photosource: http://pipeline.refinery29.com

Beth Ditto, favored mascot of the fashion world, has recently developed a clothing line for Arcadia Group devoted to plus size women such as herself. She is featured in the front page story of the “Style” section in the New York Times. The article focuses on how for the most part high fashion has left out larger women from their collections, but as the number of women in this group grow, this group of women cannot be avoided. About 17 percent of teenagers are overweight now, three times what it was only a generation ago according to the surgeon general’s office. So of course, smart designers are figuring out the best ways to tap into this market. But it seems that for the most part these women want the same styles that their thinner women friends wear, but just in sizes they will fit.

A few prominent women (such as Beth Ditto) want their voice to be heard and make great designs available in plus sizes. She was finally offered the opportunity to test out her own creativity with her latest collection for Evans, the plus size division of Arcadia Group.

Girls have learned to become comfortable in their own skin and want to accentuate those areas they are most proud of. More chic designers such as Karen Kane and Kiyonna have started a plus size line for sale at boutiques, as well as larger chains such as Forever 21, Target, and H & M. So our question of course remains, has this general trend in growing plus size clothing and styles transcended general fashion and reached the eco-fashion world?

We are glad to report the answer is yes, eco-fashion is increasingly inclusive of the plus size market as well! There are a number of companies who now supply plus size eco-friendly clothing. While some may not be as close to young high fashion as Karen Kane and Kiyonna, they are still styles I could love! BellaOnline’s Large & Lovely’s editor, M. E. Wood, has complied a list of plus size eco-designers that we can’t begin to cover.

One of our favorites was Diane Kennedy, who offers clothing up to 3X made from not only organic cotton, but also Soy, Bamboo, Tencel and natural Silk. As a bigger girl herself, Ms. Kennedy worked backwards starting as a plus size designer and just expanded to making normal small, medium and large sizes last year. Her designs are classy, beautiful and soft, and can make any woman feel comfortable in her own skin.

Photosource: www.splendicity.com

Another amazing eco-chic plus size designer is Blue Fish Barclay Studios. Blue Fish is based in Taos, New Mexico but is available for sale online. Blue Fish specializes in offering organic cotton and hemp clothing in free flowing design and earth loving colors to bring out everyone’s inner beauty. They offer regular and plus sizes up to 22.

Photosource: http://www.barclaystudio.com/

Last but definitely not least, Lundstrom offers eco-chic clothing up to sizes 18-24 that do have a younger high fashion feel. While all Lundstrom clothing is not eco, their bamboo line is a favorite for eco-fashionistas. This jacket, for example, is crafted from a recycled corn polyster blend, and is available in sizes up to 24.

Photosource: www.lundstrom.ca

So the first steps toward plus size eco-fashion have certainly been taken, but we can always do more!

For complete larger ist of eco-chic boutiques offering plus sizes, see M.E. Wood’s article on BellaOnline.

By: Julia Rea