Eco Fashion Huge in NYC, Grammys…and the UN?
by Amanda Wills
Published on February 1st, 2010
3 Comments
Fashion has taken a serious nosedive to rock-bottom with PR messes in the past couple weeks with H&M’s trashed clothing scandal and India’s organic cotton fiasco. So with New York Fashion Week just two weeks out, eco-fashion can only go up, right?
We know one thing’s for sure, there are plenty of people behind the concept, including top NYC designers at last week’s Eco Fashion Week, big celebs at the Grammy Awards and the United Nations (really!).
Jason Mraz proved plastic is the new black as he walked the red carpet on Sunday night decked out in what we can only call really haute fashion in a sleek suit that you would never know was made from recycled goods.
A United Nations Trade Group is promoting "EcoChic Fashion" as one way of curbing the rapid loss of global biodiversity. Photo: Flickr/United Nations Photo
“Mraz’s ensemble may have appeared to be a basic suit and tie combo, but, in fact, it is from EcoGear, a line that utilizes eco-friendly materials,” USA Today reports. “His suit is made of polyester from recycled water bottles and wool, and his thin, black sparkly tie is made of recycled cassette tapes.”
And as we promised in our headline, the U.N. is backing the idea of eco-friendly fashion as well as it has officially dubbed 2010 as the International Year for Biodiversity. “EcoChic Fashion” is one of the U.N.’s top plans for combating the fast-fading flora and fauna.
According to FutureFashion, “Fashion uses more water than any industry other than agriculture. At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles.” It makes sense to incorporate our everyday plastics into fashion, cutting down on the use of virgin materials.
The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development is calling for the sustainable use of natural resources, calling on ecological fashion firms to use organic materials and production methods that do not damage the environment.
For the latest fashion news and eco-style reports, check out @ecofabulous and @ecostilettor on Twitter.
Jerry Pozniak
posted on February 1st, 2010 at 8:26 pm
And after all of these events most of the clothes go to traditional dry cleaners who are contributing to air and water pollution. Dry cleaning can be accomplished without the use of perc, the industry just has to want to change.
I have been in the dry cleaning industry for 25 years and we have invested in CO2 dry cleaning technology which is designed and made right here in the USA. CO2 dry cleaning cleans better than perc dry cleaning and is good for both you and the environment. I’ll never switch back.
If you get your clothes back from a dry cleaner and they smell, that’s a problem because you are smelling either perc or petroleum solvents.
You can go to http://www.drycleaningtips.com for more information.
Eco Fashion Huge in NYC, Grammys…and the UN? – Earth911.com | Faddz
posted on February 3rd, 2010 at 9:19 am
[...] more here: Eco Fashion Huge in NYC, Grammys…and the UN? – Earth911.com Posted in Fashion News Tags: behind-the-concept, big-celebs, designers-at-last, grammy, [...]
Robert
posted on February 3rd, 2010 at 10:34 am
Another thing to consider about ‘eco friendly’ clothing is their use of dyes. At 8bottles.com, we offer shirts made only from 100% Post-Consumer drink bottles, with NO added dyes. This means there aren’t any chemicals or wastewater put back into the environment as a result of the dye process. Our shirts’ honeydew color comes from the green bottles we use to make them.
8 bottles saved = 1 shirt made. TM
Kudos to Jason Mraz for embracing eco fashion!