Our Eco-Razzi moment:  belongs to all the eco-positive fashionsistas of the world!!!

Eco-Brother saw Coco Avant Chanel and felt so inspired. This week’s eco-razzi moments belong to the many iconic fashion weeks spanning the globe from Sanlam SA Fashion Week, NY Fashion (Mercedes Benz) to London Fashion Week and their green biases (Eco-Brother is an extreme word gamer!!!).

Some of us could care less about fashion, but for Eco-Brother and the 5FM crew, what we wear, the provenance, carbon emissions pie (transportation, commercial/residential buildings and diet do) are all so carefully interlink! According to the Organic Clothing blog, the textile and garment industries overlap with global warming in many ways—from growing the fibers, to manufacturing, distributing and transporting the clothes, to the ways we wash, clean and unabashedly discard them. So how what’s the green scene on the catwalks?

New York Fashion

Eco-Brother heard that David Tlale is showcasing in NY Fashion Week and so excited for this son of Africa! Let’s show them what SA’s David Blackeveld has to offer!

The recession is making its mark on fashion week’s big-name designers. The 411 is that designer’s guest lists are being dwindled to half. From Alexander Wang, Calvin Klein to Marc Jacobs have all canceled their after parties opting for more low key affairs. 

                                                 Red Bull Wedge Shoe by Marc Jabobs.....

I love the recycled Red Bull Wedge shows by Marc Jacobs!!  Crazy. Swarovski couldn’t sponsor a designer so he’s re-using his crystals from last season’s collection. Re-use, Re-cession for sure!  As at past Sanlam SA Fashion Weeks, designers are also said to be teaming up—showing their collections at the same time, in the same space. One could presume this means a reduction in energy costs.

In a perfect world, we’d also see these guys moving towards vintage, re-purposed pieces to cut costs (and inadvertently go green). But the simple fact alone that some of the industry's biggest figures are being forced to think thrifty brings hope.

Another highlight: recycling bottles into clothes!

Recycled plastic bottle suit outside NY Fashion Week created by Bagir EcoGir. This strapping lad is roaming the streets outside the tents causing a stir. The suit is made out of recycled water bottles.

On that thirsty note it takes about 3 liters of water to make 1 liter of water. Plastic bottles last for up to a 1000 years on the landfill! Reminds Eco-Brother of that time he went to Peri Delli and found out that their shirts were made from recycled plastic bottles!!

 How’s the recession affecting London Fashion Week?

Designers at London Fashion Week, which starts on Friday, have reacted to the credit crunch by toning down extravagant collections and opting for intimate showings rather than catwalk spectaculars.

Less costly than a catwalk show, most of them will use plastic rather than human mannequins and smaller venues.

Target Will Recycle Old Ads to coincide with NY Fashion Week

A rendition of what the Target billboards on 7 Times Square will look like.

There’s a lot of talk in the advertising business about how the same ideas get used over and over again for ads. The discount retailer Target is taking that chatter seriously for a promotion planned to start on Times Square on Sunday.

The nine-faced billboard on Times Square Tower, at 7 Times Square, which Target has rented for many years, will be turned into six art pieces that salute New York City and the Target bull’s-eye logo.

After the billboards come down in October, the vinyl will be recycled, turned into 1,600 tote bags designed by Anna Sui. The bags are to go on sale on Friday, on a section of the Target Web site (target.com/billboardbag).

Each tote bag will cost $29.99 and 90 percent of the materials used to make the bags will come from the billboards. Customers will be able to choose which billboard image they would like to have used to make their tote bags. The bags are to be delivered in January.

Target joins several advertisers in Times Square that are adopting environmental themes for their oversized signs, known as spectaculars. Others include Coca-Cola and Ricoh. The Target promotion is timed to coincide with New York Fashion Week, Sept. 10 to 17.

In South Africa

Eco-fashion pioneers Lunar is showcasing at Sanlam SA Fashion Week next Thursday. Carbon d’ Afreeque (www.carbonfree.co.za), just like Target, will also be showcasing their die cut billboard bag, inspired by the 60s filet bags as well as naturally occurring geometric shapes. The bag contains no glue, welding or stitching and can carry up to 10 kg!

Lunar is the lifestyle vision of fashion designer Karen Ter Morshuizen and Paul Harris saw the conception of a lifestyle store offering unique nature inspired merchandise.

Since it´s inception Lunar has been sensitive to environmental concerns, making use, almost exclusively of natural fibres and pigment dyes. Each collection reflects their essential design philosophy ­

Lunar is about finding inspiration in the small things around us, and emphasizing an appreciation for our environment and carries a couture approach to ready-to-wear fashion.

Bamboo, grass or wood?

A popular material is bamboo. Bamboo is sustainably grown is actually a grass and not a wood. Seek out bamboo fabrics as theses take about 4-5 years to grow to maturity vs hard woods. Hard woods take several decades and opposed to Bamboo, will need fertilizers to grow and are also important carbon sinks, so save them!

So how do you get to Fashion Week in style? The Hybrid Lamborghini Garllado,of course 

Lamborghini is jumping on the hybrid wagon by announcing that the Gallardo would be available in Hybrid form in 2015. It will work in the same way that a Prius does: at slow speed, the electric engine will take over (traffic, city...) and the gas engine will be used in more demanding situations. Eco-Brother has decided that until then he will have to use the BRT to get to Lunar’s show next week!!

Eco-Savvy tips

If you care about fashion like Eco-Brother, check out the following eco-savvy tips…:

·         Vote with your Rands: Go Vintage

While you busy finding ways to keep your clothes out of the landfills, keep others’ out of them too buy supporting thrift shops and second hand stores. Doing so is one of the easiest, most effective ways to avoid the energy costs that go into brand new clothing. Best of all, it’s the most affordable too! Dig deep to find unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that will make you hip, trendy and totally cool in the process.

Some virgin materials use an enormous amount energy, chemicals and resources-you need about 3500 liters of water to produce one pair of jeans, not to mention all the dye chemical run-off! If you need some convincing about future vintage fashion, check out the following:

New Vintage: Yves Saint Laurent Recycles Old Looks into New

Yves Saint Laurent has unveiled "New Vintage," an eco-friendly capsule collection comprising remnant fabric from past collections that has been adapted to the French fashion house's classic silhouettes.

·         Close swap instead of throwing your old goody favourites away! From Naomi Campbell to Thandi Newton have organised clothes swap parties!

·         Clean Clothes Greener

A study from the Institute for Manufacturing at Cambridge University found that 60 percent of the greenhouse gases generated over the life of one ordinary T-shirt originate from its typical 25 machine washing and dryings. The carbon emissions from energy used by the wash/dry appliances actually exceed the emissions from the T-shirt’s creation—from field to shelf.

Consider the cold rinse cycle your best friend. Clothes get clean without electricity-sucking hot and warm temps. Then line dry as much as possible making the dryer an emergency go-to.

·         Like local eats, wear proudly SA and listen to 5FM!!

Just like the transportation of our food accounts for a piece of the climate change pie, so does the transportation of our duds. Luxurious boutique labels nor cheap-y department store finds magically appear on store shelves. Fleets of trucks, planes and ships carry the goods to their destinations. So much of our clothes are made many time zones away. Check the labels to try and avoid China and other far-flung locales, and support local, stateside brands like the ones showcasing at Sanlam SA Fashion Week!