Green Cotton

Levi’s is revising their care tag to advise people to wash in cold water, line dry when possible and donate used jeans to Goodwill. This new initiative aims to put billions of pounds of unwanted clothing to good use instead of into landfill.

This partnership was reached through shared values held by each organization: Levi Strauss & Co.’s goal to reduce the environmental impact of its products and Goodwill‘s commitment to help communities recycle usable items while helping those in need. Starting next year, the Levi’s care tag will become the vehicle for delivering an environmentally conscious message for Goodwill.
The care tags will have other environmental reminders – the company studied every stage in the life cycle of a typical pair of 501 jeans and found that one of the greatest opportunities for reducing climate change and water impact happens after consumers take their jeans home. So, the tags will also encourage consumers to wash less, wash in cold water and line dry when possible, reducing the impact of their jeans ownership by about 50%.

The initiative was conceived by BBDO West, Goodwill of San Francisco’s pro bono agency, which came up with the unique idea to use care tags to communicate this message.

The new care tags will be available in Levi’s retail and wholesale operations the U.S. beginning in January 2010 and the regional and global tags will appear in clothes in Fall 2010.
The Levi’s brand, which will be the first major retailer to include messaging on product care tags that encourages people to donate unwanted clothing, and Goodwill will also spread the word to consumers through online viral campaigns and in retail store communications. Go Levi’s and Goodwill! Way to make a difference. Thumbs up from Green Cotton.

Photo source: Levis, Goodwill.

By: Julie Finkel

“Proud Mary” was born in 2006 in the heads of two young women who met in Brooklyn as a vision of fair trade, chic fashin. Molly was trying to find a way to utilize her liberal arts education and Harper wanted to see her fair trade and fashion ideas come to fruition.

The women soon found a way to reach both these goals by working alongside different artisan cooperatives on a trip to  Guatemala. The goods produced are designed as a collaboration between the two Brooklynites and artisans in Guatemala. This has resulted in products that are both modern, eco-chic, and high quality with just enough touches of traditional weaving patterns to make them feel truly Guatemalan, an aesthetic Proud Mary refers to as “Ethnic Modern.”

Proud Mary sells three product lines called “Diamante,” “Raya,” and “El Sol.” Through all their partnerships, Proud Mary ensures workers receive double the average compensation for consistent work, and have been able to connect a number of artisans to the micro-finance loan group, Nest.

Diamente is an artisan group based in Guatemala City who are known as the most accomplished foot loom weavers, and who have pioneered many types of brocade weaving.

This wonderful tote with gold straps in the “Diamante” style uses traditional Latin American designs.  Woven on a foot-loom. Available at Proud Mary.

Raya are a group of Cakchiquel-speaking Mayans living in the San Antonio Palopo region of Guatemala. They use traditional weaving techniques over a thousand years old to create belts, hair bands, and friendship bracelets on narrow looms called “telar de palitos,” as well as backstrap looms.

El Sol uses ikat fabric crafted by a master weaver from Totonicapan. This process involves a special dying technique, and then placing the fabric in the warp of a loom to produce unique patterns and images.

This pillow illustrates the design used for all products in the “El Sol” collection, a pattern created as a mistake originally but which has become highly demanded.  Find this and more from the El Sol collection on Proud Mary’s website.

Green Cotton applauds the goals and accomplishments of Proud Mary and we hope to see even more in the future. Check out their collections on their website.

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