TrendThrift is a weekly column, brought to you by our resident fashionista, Kate McChesney, as a review of boutiques in and around the Los Angeles area.
Every day is Earth Day, so why not wear it on your sleeve? No longer restricted to birkenstocks and hemp necklaces, the fashion industry has branched out from bland eco-friendly fashion to glitzy eco-couture. A leading designer in eco-couture is the LA-based fashion designer Linda Loudermilk. Before getting into Linda Loudermilk's incredible designs, I'd first like to brief the kiddies on exactly what eco-friendly fashion encompasses.
Eco-friendly fashion is about making clothes that take into account the environment, the health of consumers, and the working conditions of people in the fashion industry. Typically, eco-friendly clothing is made by using organic raw materials, such as cotton grown without pesticides and silk made by worms fed on organic trees. The process of eco-friendly fashion does not involve the use of harmful chemicals and bleach to color fabrics and are often made from recycled and reused textiles. Many high-quality garments can be made from second-hand clothes and even recycled plastic bottles. Eco-friendly clothing typically supports fair trade and are made to last so that people keep them for longer.
More on the eco-friendly clothing line, Loudermilk, after the jump...
Eco-designer for eco-conscious celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Debra Messing and Jennifer Beals, Linda Loudermilk merges high-fashion skills and environmental awareness with the wonder of earth-generated textiles made of bamboo, sea cell, soya and other eco-fabrics such as EcoSpun. EcoSpun is recycled plastic beverage bottles that have been melted and then turned into a filament that is spun and re-knit with cotton to form a soft and fleecy fabric. Organic clothing purists and chemically sensitive clothing consumers may take issue with the use of petroleum-based products in clothing and suggest that there are better ways to recycle plastic bottles. Damn hippies.
The Loudermilk line is all about refinement: polished and put-together with not one rough edge. Her line was dubbed "rock stars of nature" at New York's Fall 2007 Fashion Week. Loudermilk's interpretation of Arctic iceberg chic involved a stark palette of winter white, ice blue, shimmery taupe, and "dark ash". Eco-friendly wools (bamboo, Japanese rice paper), reclaimed cotton and lace, cotton faux fur, hemp satin, and even human hair was used in her line. Screen prints with global warming messages, chiffon one-shouldered ruffle tops and minis were my faves. Her website boasts the phrase: Change Is Inevitable. I couldn't agree more.
Check out her website for pictures of Loudermilk's 2007 Fall Collection.
www.lindaloudermilk.com
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