Pamela Anderson is Sending Melania Trump a Russian Faux Fur Coat by Jasmin Malik Chua , 01/26/17   filed under: Animal Cruelty, Eco-Celebrities Photo by Getty Images What was inside the blue Tiffany box that Melania Trump handed Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day? The world may never know. Less of a mystery is Pamela Anderson’s would-be gift to the current First Lady: a Russian faux fur. “I’m going to send her one of my Russian eco-fur coats as a gift because I’m designing furs in Russia right now,” the OG Baywatch babe and Vivienne Westwood muse told The Hill at a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals soiree in Washington, D.C., last week. A longtime animal-rights advocate with not one but two vegan shoe collections to her name, Anderson said that while she didn’t know where President Trump stood on the issue, “his wife Melania’s favorite designer is Marc Bouwer, as far as I’ve heard. And he’s a vegan designer.” Eco-Fashion Predictions for 2017

01/25/17   filed under: Features Another year, another opportunity to begin afresh. But what does 2017 hold for the fashion industry? We asked more than 40 eco-fashion movers and shakers, including an overseer of a multi-brand conglomerate, Greenpeace campaigner, a founding dean, a fashion compliance attorney, a vegan footwear designer, a "slow fashion" boutique owner, and a few of our media comrades in arms to play soothsayer and offer predictions for the year ahead. Every Cotton T-Shirt Costs the Environment $3.40, Says Study 01/23/17   filed under: Eco-Fashion News Ma Earth is paying through its nose for the clothing we produce, according to a study that quantifies, for the first time, the price we exact from the ecosystem for our clothing. Factoring in the use of water, fertilizer, and energy along the entire supply chain, a single cotton T-shirt can cost the planet more than 20 Danish kroner, or $3.40, in financial terms. Extrapolated across the industry, clothing consumption in Denmark alone plunders the environment of more than DKK 3 billion ($510 million) every year.

This toll is much too high, says Kirsten Brosbøl, head of Denmark’s Ministry of the Environment, which partnered with the IC Group, operator of brands like Tiger of Sweden and Peak Performance, to commission the report. Bangladesh's Children Are Working 60 Hours a Week to Make Our "Fast Fashion" 01/20/17   filed under: The Big Idea, Worker Rights It’s time to face the awful truth: Those cheap clothes we can’t get enough are probably the handiwork of impoverished children from Bangladesh, some as young as 6. About a third of the children who live in the slums of the capital of Dhaka spend an average of 64 hours a week making clothing for the world’s leading brands and retailers, according to the Overseas Development Institute. The London-based think tank, which conducted a survey of 2,700 households, found that 32 percent of 10- to 14-year-olds were skipping school so they could work full time at garment factories. Most of them earned less than $2 a day. “Our survey raises serious concerns over the issue of child labor in the supply of garments from factories in Bangladesh to consumers in Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere,” ODI said.

7 Eco-Friendly Fabrics That Will Disrupt the Luxury Fashion Industryonnit backpack 01/18/17   filed under: Eco-Textiles, Featureswildcraft 15 inch laptop backpack ace As buzzy as sustainability may seem today, the term still conjures up (for the most part) images of grass-fed beef, off-the-grid yurts, and thick-buckled Birkenstocks. gpa backpack ebaySmall wonder, then, that fashion brands—those peddlers of dreams and artificers of cool—might be loathe to embrace something that might make them appear gauche by association. niv backpack zipper bible"Sustainability is a lot of things but it's not seen as very stylish, especially with fashion," Giusy Bettoni, CEO of C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy), an eco-textile consultancy based in Milan, told a rapt assembly at Council of Fashion Designers of America in New York City last week. north face backpack von maur

"When I talk about sustainability, the value decreases by 50 percent." superpro 700 backpackWe can blame the messaging for this—no self-respecting maison wants to come out smelling like patchouli, after all. "Communication hasn't succeeded in delivering a clear message around sustainability and responsible innovation," she added. Patagonia Debuts Short Film About Fair-Trade Fashion, Expands Program to Improve Workers' Lives 01/17/17   filed under: Eco-Fashion Brands, Eco-Fashion News, Video, Worker Rights More than 40 million people work in the global garment industry, yet their stories rarely make the headlines. We’ll tut-tut about the factory fires, the building collapses, the fainting epidemics, and the deaths we hear about, of course. But the punishingly long days, the unrelenting labor, and the countless indignities workers endure? They’re a little easier to ignore. “It completely changes the way you think about clothing when you consider the people in the process,” Helena Barbour, senior director of global sportswear at Patagonia, says in Fair Trade: The First Step, a new 13-minute film by the outdoor-apparel brand.

“But because there is no visibility when you buy garments, you are just oblivious to it.” 5 Ways to be a Responsible Fashion Consumer 01/13/17   filed under: Featured Roomful of clothes but nothing to wear? The average U.K. household owns an average of £4,000 worth of clothes, 30 percent of which languishes unworn, according to the Waste & Resources Action Programme. A third of the clothing we buy every year ends up in the landfill, sometimes after just one use. And let’s not forget all the shoes we never wear. With mindless consumerism hitting its peak on Black Friday, it’s time for a new consumer revolution, one characterized less by impulse buys and more by thoughtful purchases. “The fashion industry would have us believe that overconsumption is something to be proud of, marking our success one haul at a time,” Greenpeace says in its latest campaign. “But putting aside barely worn clothing and bringing home bags of new outfits fuels a toxic supply chain and stuffs landfills with impulse buys.”

Ethical Fashion: A Beginner's Guide 01/12/17   filed under: Features Photo by Igor Ovsyannykov/UnsplashIsn’t all just clothes? Take a deep, cleansing breath. We’ve dusted off some of our favorite posts from the Ecouterre archives to bring you up to speed on the social and environmental scourge that is “fast fashion,” with a side of how to dress like you give a damn. And watch this space for breaking news and other industry developments; there’s plenty more where this came from. How to be a Conscious Fashion Consumer: Advice From the Experts 01/11/17   filed under: Features Photo by Clark Street Mercantile/Unsplash Contrary to what Gwyneth Paltrow might have you think, you don’t need a bank account the size of Gringotts to be a conscious consumer. When it comes to cultivating a more mindful closet, less, as they say, is more. Check with the experts. Here’s the best advice we’ve heard from some of the people who know best, from legendary British designer Vivienne Westwood to the head of the Catholic Church.

10 Inexpensive Ways to Keep Woolen Sweaters Looking Like New No need to invest in a battery-powered sweater shaver. For less than $3—and a little elbow grease—a basic sweater comb is all you need to strip pills, fluff, and lint… Closet Cleanse: How to Unclutter Your Wardrobe With Panache The following is an excerpt from Wear No Evil: How to Change the World With Your Wardrobe (2014, Running Press) by Greta Eagan Cleaning out your closet is so wonderfully cathartic, and… Aerochromics: Clothing That Changes Color When Exposed to Air Pollution Faced with a world of increasing outdoor air pollution, designer Nikolas Gregory Bentel decided to help fellow city dwellers monitor their own environments. Bentel has recently released… China Says It Will Cease Ivory Trade by End of 2017 China has pledged to shut down all trade in ivory by the end of 2017, a move that conservationists are hailing as a “game changer” for elephant… Announcing the Winners of Ecouterre’s 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards!