Fashion Conscience

The other day I shared a Vogue report on how designers are calling for a moratorium on leathers from the rainforest. Well there are now even more ways the fashion world is looking to make a positive impact for animals and the environment, while helping us keep stylish.


Reported in Vouge:

Fashion-Conscience.com is a website which supplies shoes to shoppers who - like Stella McCartney and Natalie Portman - believe that vegan needn't mean lacking in style.

New York label olsen Haus was founded by former Calvin Klein and Nine West designer Elisabeth Olsen, an outspoken advocate for veganism. Her colourful, non-leather designs have found favour with the US fashion pack and retail from £170.

Neu Aura offers a range of styles crucial to every wardrobe but crucially without using any animal by-products. Wearable colourful mid-heel styles and classic brown and black riding boots are all 100 per cent vegan and are produced in a factory which adheres to eco standards in recycling. Prices start at £87.50.

Melissa's jelly shoe collaboration with Vivienne Westwood has made an impact on the fashion scene lately - not only for their use of recycled plastic and waste-free production, but for its fun and colourful approach. Prices start at £62.00.

All collections are available at http://www.fashion-conscience.com/ along with other vegan clothing, shoes and accessories.

I've liked olsen Haus for a while now and have a pair of the Melissa's, so these do seem to be great options for anyone looking for great design and fun shoes. I'm also glad to have an additional option on top of EcoStiletto.

As I evolve in my clothing and accessory purchases (I need a new black purse for one!), I'm glad to see sustainable, fair trade and vegan options available that are pretty and interesting and more my style. I'm seriously considering those olsen Haus green velvet booties right there.

If you have any great designers that fall into these categories, please share them in the comments.

Being Beautifully Green

As the desire to be more "green" becomes a mainstream idea in today's culture, I'm seeing more and more very fashionable options that are still eco-friendly and animal-friendly. My biggest challenge in the past, as I'm sure it is with most, is the availability of these products and, frankly, the lack of style many of them had.

Toms shoes in general are kind of odd to me, but I did think the wrap boots were funky and fun in a Princess Leia-kind of way. But apart from that, not so much.

I have found a few other designers and companies that are doing beautiful pieces that I would buy even if they didn't carry the "green" label. olsen Haus is one of my new favorites and, although pricey, the Natalie Portman line at Te Casan (sadly no more although I did see some pieces on Gilt Group the other day).

I was looking online for other options and came across this site - EcoStiletto. Of course the title caught my attention at once.

So who are they? Well according to the site:

EcoStiletto features green picks in Fashion, Beauty, Parenting and the Good Life and explains, in real-girl terms, how eco-friendly choices can help turn your carbon footprint from a ginormous Ugg into an oh-so-slender Manolo.

We're not about guilt, we're about information. We're not about forcing you to change, we're about giving you alternatives. Because everyone wants to make a difference, but no one wants to give up the little things that we love. Making a difference doesn't have to mean making a huge change in your lifestyle. Sometimes it just means considering the alternatives.

Perfect, right? And what's even better is "Nobody pays to play on EcoStiletto; if there's an ad on our site, you'll recognize it as such."

Integrity and providing a great service. I'm kind of in love with them already.

But then they said this: Enter to Win Free Shoes.

Ummm, okay!

Each month they are giving away shoes worth $500 or more and this month is a pair of these amazing ankle boots from Beyond Skin (another great shoe line that I've always liked for their style and their philosophy).

The site talks about celebrities, fashion, beauty and kids. Pretty much a great clearinghouse for fashion and eco-friendly. What I also love is that they have a list of Things That Suck, which is a list of things to watch out for from animal testing to product ingredients. And they tell you why it is bad, not just give you a big long list.

So if you are looking for a way to add style and, oh yeah, be a little lighter on the earth, this is great resource. I need to go back to it myself and see if I can find a new eye cream...