Ecouterre

Peru Proposes “Native Cotton Route” to Boost Biodiversity, Tourism

2012-05-30T20:48:23Z

Peru is going native—native cotton, that is. The country’s nascent Center for Innovation and Rural Development has proposed a “road of native cotton colors” as a way to preserve regional biodiversity, promote Peruvian history, and boost tourism. Five years in the planning, the route will include some of the few remaining strongholds of the crop, which has been supplanted in recent decades by higher-yield hybrid strains and government-subsidized U.S. cotton.

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14 Eco-Friendly Sunglasses to Protect Your Peepers

2012-05-30T16:46:29Z

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Grow Your Own Genetically Engineered Stingray-Leather Sneakers

2012-05-30T00:55:47Z

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British Designers Fete Wearable Sculptures at WWF’s “Pandamonium”

2012-05-29T19:41:05Z

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7 Youth Fashion Summit Demands for a More Sustainable Fashion Industry

2012-05-29T15:13:06Z

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U.S. Scientists Harness Thousands of Invisibility Cloaks to Trap a Rainbow

2012-05-28T19:07:34Z

Photo by Shutterstock

Harry Potter’s disguise of choice isn’t just for stalking the halls of Hogwarts sight unseen. Scientists from Towson University and the University of Maryland have harnessed the power of 25,000 invisibility cloaks to slow down—and even stop—light, producing what is colloquially known as a “trapped rainbow.” A mere 30-micrometers in diameter, each “cape” comprises a micro-lens that bends light around itself, effectively obscuring an area in its center. Laid out uniformly on a 25-millimeter gold sheet, the materials form a first-of-its-kind array, manipulating bands of light through the intervening gaps to create the optical phenomenon.

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Win Your Choice of Eco-Friendly Swimsuit From Eco Swim (Worth $124!)

2012-05-30T14:58:56Z

Summer lovin’ happens so fast, which is we’re giving away an Eco Swim by Aqua Green swimsuit of your choice to help you make the most of it. The Lehigh Valley-based label sources, cuts, and sews its wares in Pennsylvania from recycled nylon and polyester. Whether you plan to send temperatures rising in a barely-there bikini or prefer to stay chic but covered up, Eco Swim has options aplenty for the bathing beauty in sizes 4 to 16. Peruse the available selections below and enter now to win!

TO ENTER THIS FABULOUS GIVEAWAY

1. SIGN UP FOR THE ECOUTERRE NEWSLETTER. (This is important because we’ll be announcing our winner there.)

2. LIKE ECO SWIM ON FACEBOOK

3. LEAVE A COMMENT and tell us what you’re looking forward to most this summer. Although it doesn’t hurt to get fancy, we’ll be picking a winner at random.

Note: This contest is only open only to residents of the United States and Canada.

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Coach Turns Vintage Leather Baseball Gloves Into Billfold Wallets

2012-05-26T05:58:41Z

Batter up for Father’s Day with the ultimate gift for the baseball fanatic—well, next to season tickets at Wrigley or Fenway, anyway. In honor of the sport that inspired its line of leather goods in 1941, Coach has released a limited-edition billfold, hand-pieced from 70-year-old vintage catcher’s mitts. Only 200 have been made, each one wearing its original scuffs and bruises like a badge of honor. Home run? We think so.

+ Heritage Baseball Glove Billfold $348

+ Coach

[Via Inhabitat]

Casamania’s “Rememberme” Chair is Made Out of Recycled Clothes

2012-05-26T04:36:54Z

Tobias Juretzek’s “Rememberme” chair isn’t just a chair, it’s a time capsule. The Italian designer takes castoff clothing—outdated jeans and old concert T-shirts among them—and molds them into single-person seating. The secret is a special epoxy that he uses to bond the textiles to an internal metal frame, creating a surface that’s as solid as it’s one of a kind. “Clothes carry numerous adventures,” the Italian designer says. “The chair transports these to a new expression. This illustrative exposition invites the spectator to exciting stories.”

+ Rememberme $895 at Fab.com
+ Tobias Juretzek

Beth Ditto Wants to Make the “IKEA of Clothes for Fat Girls and Boys”

2012-05-25T21:40:33Z

Beth Ditto, frontwoman for the band Gossip, envisions a line of plus-size clothing that would be the “IKEA of clothes for fat girls and boys,” according to New York’s Vulture blog. “It wouldn’t be crazy designs—it would be simple,” she says. “Cheap, affordable, basic—but ethically made.” Ditto developed a plus-size collection for U.K. retailer Evans in 2009 but her involvement was limited. “I wish there was more control in that line, but there wasn’t,” she says. “It was really fun, but the things that I really wanted couldn’t be turned around in time. It was made in India, which caused a lot of conflict for me.”

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Jeffrey Campbell Designs Exclusive Vegan Shoe Line for Convert Store

2012-05-25T21:32:38Z

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Esprit Debuts Recycled Casual Wear, Denim With EcoChic Award Winner

2012-05-28T17:15:36Z

Ecouterre is the official media sponsor of the 2012 EcoChic Design Award.

Esprit isn’t letting anything go to waste. The Hong Kong-based apparel brand has released a collection of casual and denim pieces derived from its own manufacturing off-cuts. The “Recycled Collection by Esprit,” unveiled on Thursday, uses 74 percent less water and 18 percent less electricity than comparative garments, according to the company, a move that results in roughly 54 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions per item. Designed in collaboration with Janko Lam, winner of the 2011 EcoChic Design Award, the line is part of Esprit’s overall goal to reduce textile waste and promote sustainable production in one of the garment capitals of the world.

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Tommy Hilfiger Adds Eyewear to Philanthropic “Millennium Promise” Line

2012-05-24T23:47:13Z

Tom Cruise should ditch his Ray-Bans for sunnies that do more than keep out the glare. After all, his missus is the international brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger’s “The Promise Collection,” a range of clothing and accessories that supports efforts to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Together with eyewear manufacturer Safilo, the brand is releasing a limited selection of sunglasses with the same bold, African-inspired motifs. And like the original Promise line, all proceeds from the sale of the eyewear will benefit the Millennium Villages Project, an initiative that provides the means and resources to create self-sufficient—and self-sustaining—communities.

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Gap, Levi’s, H&M Garment Workers in Cambodia Strike Over Poverty Pay

2012-05-24T20:17:58Z

More than 5,000 Cambodian garment workers failed to reach an agreement with their employers on Tuesday after 11 days of striking. Negotiations between the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers Democratic Union and Singapore-owned SL Garment Processing broke down after workers rejected offers they regarded as less than satisfactory. Employees at the facility receive a base pay of $61 a month, which requires them to toil eight hours a day, six days a week.

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Katie Holmes Fronts Tommy Hilfiger’s “Millennium Promise” Collection

2012-05-25T00:12:22Z

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ModCloth Unveils Crowdsourced, U.S.-Made “Make the Cut” Collection

2012-05-24T23:59:52Z

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Flint and Tinder Brings Men’s Underwear Manufacturing Back to the U.S.A.

2012-05-23T20:01:26Z

Flint and Tinder wants to get in America’s pants, and it looks like the feeling is mutual. At the close of its Kickstarter campaign on Tuesday, the burgeoning men’s underwear label clocked out with $291,493 in seed money—more than nine times its initial funding goal. The brainchild of Jake Bronstein, a New York City entrepreneur, Flint and Tinder aims to bring tighty-whitey production back to the United States. Bronstein hit upon the idea after underwear-shopping at Macy’s. “I was looking at the tags, trying to find the right pair,” he explains, “when I realized that not one of the brands they carry comes from America.”

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Is TOMS Shoes’ “One for One” Business Model Doomed to Fail?

2012-05-24T02:56:52Z

TOMS’s buy-one-give-one business model is as popular as it is oft-copied. But Cheryl Davenport of Mission Measurement, a strategic consulting firm based in Chicago, wishes the label had more soul. In a recent piece at Fast Co.Exist, Davenport waxes critical about the disconnect between the footwear label’s feel-good mission and its inability to enact measurable social change. Rather, she says, the charitable act of donating a free pair of shoes serves as “little more than a short-term fix in a system in need of long-term, multi-faceted economic development, health, sanitation, and education solutions.”

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Gucci Unveils Bamboo Sunglasses Made of Biodegradable “Liquid Wood”

2012-05-22T22:51:58Z

Looks like Gucci’s foray into sustainable eyewear was more than a passing fancy. Less than a year after it debuted a line of bio-based frames synthesized from castor seeds, the Italian luxury house is poised to introduce the first-ever sunglasses made with “liquid wood.” The material, which Benetton currently uses for its hangers, combines wood fibers from sustainably managed forests, lignin from the paper-manufacturing process, and natural wax. Unlike petroleum-based plastic, it’s also biodegradable.

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10 Eco-Friendly (and Vegan!) Flip-Flops to Slip Into This Summer

2012-05-22T19:59:07Z

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Stick-On “Zio” Patch Diagnoses Irregular Heartbeat in Cardiac Patients

2012-05-22T16:20:34Z

It may look like a Band-Aid, but the “Zio” cardiac monitor can help emergency-room patients avoid unnecessary follow-ups, according to a new study by Scripps Health. Developed by iRhythmn Technologies, the 2-by-5-inch patch sticks to the skin like an adhesive bandage. Despite their severity, cardiac arrhythmias happen infrequently and are tricky to diagnose. The Zio, on the other hand, provides continuous recording of up to 14 days—significantly longer than most heart monitors on the market.

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“Downton Abbey’s” Elizabeth McGovern Wears Green Gucci at Cannes

2012-05-21T23:14:41Z

Even the acid-tongued Dowager Countess would find little fault with Elizabeth McGovern’s Cannes attire. The actress, who plays Lady Cora Crawley on Downton Abbey, feted the remastered version of Once Upon a Time in America in an ivory certified-organic silk gown by Gucci, which funded the 1984 film’s restoration with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. A two-time veteran of Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge—she’s worn outfits by Henrietta Ludgate to both the Royal Television Awards in 2011 and a Golden Globes party earlier this year—McGovern was squired by none other than Firth herself, who played counterpoint in a Gothic black version with an open back and neck ruffle.

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AO Textiles, Debbi Little Celebrate Diamond Jubilee With Recycled Dress

2012-05-21T20:04:31Z

AO Textiles and British designer Debbi Little are celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee with a lighter-than-air commemorative silk dress. Comprising fabric remnants from Gainsborough Silk Weavers, including scraps that were over-dyed with madder and indigo, the frock features a postage-stamp-inspired silhouette of England’s long-reigning monarch and Little’s signature camouflage piecework. God save the Queen, indeed.

+ AO Textiles

Is the African-Inspired Fashion Trend a Form of Cultural Imperialism?

2012-05-21T21:18:58Z

Photos by Nneka Salmon

Fashion and cultural appropriation are more than passing acquaintances. The latter, which is typically bandied about with terms like “borrowing” or “inspired by,” refers to the unauthorized adoption of elements from another, often minority, ethnic group. The issue came to a head in February when the Navajo Nation sent Urban Outfitters a cease-and-desist letter demanding the removal of the “Navajo” trademark from than 20 of the retailer’s products, including “hipster” panties and liquor flasks, both of which the tribe deemed “derogatory and scandalous,” But the sovereign Indian Nation isn’t the first culture to be gobbled up and regurgitated under the catchall—and woefully non-specific—”tribal” heading, nor will it be the last. With Africa’s sartorial influence on the ascent, one question begs to be asked: Should the practice be lauded as diversifying fashion or is it just a different form of post-colonial exploitation?

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Bernhard Burkard’s Fabric Hanger Marries Swiss, Ukrainian Traditions

2012-05-19T05:31:21Z

Who decreed that hangers had to limited to plastic, metal, or wood? Swiss design studio Bernhard Burkard went against the grain—so to speak—when they devised a lightweight, revolving textile hanger from traditionally woven Eastern European belts. Part of Yellow Planet, an upcoming intercultural collaboration between the Ukraine and Switzerland, the “Oksana” imbues centuries-old craftsmanship with modern-day relevance.

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