A Carbon Neutral Designer Sample Sale
2 Great Jones St. (between Broadway and Lafayette)
Open 7 days 12 noon to 8 pm
Fresh Friday Finds
1. Conference of Birds
I attended the COB runway show for the Spring 2009 collection and was thrilled to see some organics! Andrew Holden’s ‘excellent bad-boys’ looked as if they were just back to London from a desert excavation or an Egyptian urban-safari. This collection featured gorgeous canvas jackets, Hebrew-inspired scarves, lots of layers, an organic hooded trench coat, vests, and a bright but soft color palate of yellow, bone, black, gray and pale blue. DB contributer Jodi worked on this collection. Most of the spring collection was vegan, but there was some wool and leather, unfortunately.
SuperVegan has been publishing the blog of Tod Emko who documented his time serving on the Sea Shepherd pirate ship, The Steve Irwin, and their mission to stop illegal Japanese whaling from February and March of 2008. In light of the 2008 IWC Meeting finishing with the usual deadlock, and Sea Shepherd officially announcing its 2008-2009 anti-whaling campaign, Operation Musashi, it seemed a good time to show people what’s going on in the world of whaling.
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3. ‘Top Model’ Judge Protects Seals!
America’s Next Top Model judge and renowned photographer Nigel Barker opens A Sealed Fate? tonight in New York. If you are in NYC, go check out an exhibition about the world’s largest slaughter of marine animals. Tyra, no doubt, would approve—even if she didn’t think of it first.
July 25-27 at 401 Projects, 401 West St., New York, (212) 633-6202, humanesociety.org/protectseals
4. Victoria’s (Dirty Forest Destroying) Secret cleaned up!
LISTEN to CEO Todd Katzenmeyer as he talks about how the Forest Ethics campaign changed the company’s catalog practices. Also pay attention to the insanity of Corporate monsters like VS and the insanity they foster.
5. An Olympic-Sized Fur Trade
China is one of the world’s largest suppliers of fur garments. More than 95 percent of China’s finished fur garments are exported for sale overseas, and many of them go to North America. Cat and dog fur is often deliberately mislabeled as “Asian jackal” or “rabbit” fur. This summer, with the world’s eyes focused on China during the Olympics, PETA is exposing the horrors that take place on Chinese fur farms. This is a historic opportunity to speak out against the global fur trade and influence consumers worldwide.
6. Ontario has made the largest conservation commitment in Canadian history, setting aside at least half the Northern Boreal region – 225,000 square kilometres – for permanent protection from development.
7. CBS News Joins FOX in revealing the true role of mainstream media: Lies.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDIAsS9VXiM]
8. Click to feed shelter dogs (for free!)
9. VINYL from Olympia
10. Graphic Tease
Some fresh Organic Prints from Edun & Loomstate:
Faux Ever: Inder Bedi of Matt & Nat
Eight years ago, a designer with a penchant for architecture, subculture, and bold ethics launched MATT & NAT – a line of vegan accessories that is unabashedly tearing down any notion that you can’t be fashion-forward and an environmentalist. Anyone who is only one or the other might just be lazy.
Inder Bedhi (Matt & Nat)
Inder Bedi, the brain in which MATT & NAT both reside – and the 34 year old discerning brute whose headquarters are in Montreal, makes no apologies for his commitment to animal advocacy and environmentalism. His accessories are always totally vegan, and are increasingly made from recycled and sustainable materials.
Moz
The fact that the new fall 2008 lines are gorgeously-serious, structured, edgy, and modish is enough to make anyone do a triple-take as you walk by – but compound that with the fact that these accessories consist of treated cardboard, recycled soda bottles, and vintage faux-leather and it’s a recipe for handsome ethics.
Like Marshall McLuhan, MATT & NAT isn’t just the bag; it’s the message. Discreetly or proudly, to carry the bag is to carry the message. The Fall 08 collection takes its cues from menswear with a deep color palette, emphasis on heavy hardware, and a narrowed focus on larger all-use carryalls. Such a focused collection makes a bold statement. No other line says it quite as strongly as CARTON. With the success of spring 08’s experimentation in eco-fabrics, MATT & NAT is now exploring the world of paper. CARTON is fabricated from treated cardboard and retails for $150 – $295. Featuring vintage synthetic leather trims, bags are available in either black or natural, with the choice of mix-copper or antique silver hardware. The line is unique, powerful, and for those wanting to make a statement. There’s no question about it, CARTON is progressive, both in design & fabrication.
Ando Carton
Perfect for those cold winter days, FEUTRE is a line of heather gray felt bags entirely void of animal by-products retailing for $225 – $295. A first for MATT & NAT, the felt is 100% recycled water bottles. Bags are available in a choice of two trims: coffee or cement gray Japanese paper with lead-free copper hardware and a dark tonal lining. Masculine, distinct, and bound to be a classic, FEUTRE is minimalism at its best. Another first this season, BELTS. Made from synthetic leather, the line is comprised of traditional unisex hip belts that retail for $100 – $135. What sets these belts apart are the buckles in varying metals. Industrial in look, with oversized screw accents, BELTS iterate the design elements of the collection, and reinforce MATT & NAT as an avant-garde.
Junk Feutre
I had a few moments to interview Inder, here is our conversation:
DB: What is your inspiration for the upcoming collections?
IB: Architecture, cinema and music
DB: How did Matt & Nat come to be?
IB: A desire to put out a vegan line that represents balance between the two voices in my head (matt & nat), the voices that we hear all day that inevitably lead to the decisions we make every second…matt & nat strives to balance us as people as well as the worlds of fashion and positivity.
DB: Who are some of your celebrity fans?
IB: Nathalie Portman, Woody Allen, Heather Mills, Eva Mendes, Charlize Theron.
Ando Feutre
DB: How has fashion affected the green movement, and vice versa?
IB: Fashion has placed pressure on green to be more sexy (Kelly Green?), the green movement has asked fashion to be more responsible….weird question for me…been doing this since 1997…
DB: Does Matt & Nat have an official position on using skins, feathers, and fur? If so, why?
IB: matt & nat doesn’t….but I do…which inevitably effects matt & nat, it’s a fashion forward line of accessories that will always be vegan…
Rohe
DB: What is your biggest concern with the fashion industry right now?
IB: The extremes of ethical fashion and unethical fashion and the lack of lines in between.
DB: Are there any accessories you want to make that you haven’t been able to include in a collection yet?
IB: Belts, soon!
Kahn Carton
DB: Why should every fashionisto & fashionista care where their accessories come from, what they’re made of, and who makes them?
IB: Because we vote with our dollars, whether we like it or not.
DB: What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you as a designer? And the best?
IB: Took many years before matt & nat got noticed – best and worst thing.
DB: Fill in the blanks: Every single person should make a dramatic change in their life at least once a year. Cool is doing it before it’s done, Chic is not in my vocabulary.
Bueller
Rights for Apes, Hollywood Meat, Pig Pilgrimage & Toxic Teflon
1. Meat-Head Machismo
Ecorazzi recently revealed that Hollywood frat-boy turned cowboy, Matthew McConaughey, will be using his sensual man powers to get you all horny for dead cows. The National Cattlemans’ Beef Association (NBCA) payed out some big bucks to lasso McConaughey into the gig. I listened to the spot and got so grossed out that I almost ralphed on my keyboard. Hey Matthew, can you pass the torture, disease, and ecological devastation…? Matthew is certainly not a Discerning Brute.
2. Organic is in Vogue
John Patrick of Organic (one of our favorite labels) has been nominated as a finalist in CFDA/Vogue’s Fashion Fund Award! Congrats Patrick!
3. Stuck on Teflon
I always had a suspicion that using teflon was toxic. Ideal Bite just sent out a little blurb on the cancer-causing coating that slowly poisons us.
I recommend using cast iron – especially because the iron is actually incredibly healthy for you!
4. Volunteer for Hog Days of Summer
Almost 70 pigs were lucky enough to be rescued by Farm Sanctuary which was asked by the state of Iowa to assist with rescue efforts. Farm Sanctuary is in urgent need of volunteers to help us care for more than 60 special needs pigs (some of whom are pregnant and expected to give birth any day!) just rescued from the Midwest floods. Massive rainfall escalated concerns of hog waste lagoons overflowing and flooding waterways with millions of gallons of hog waste. Use this opportunity to tell people about modern pork production and the cruel gestation crates employed by the industry, as well as the environmental devastation brought about by factory farming.
If you want to help, Farm Sanctuary is urgently seeking interns to volunteer at their New York Shelter. If you have experience working with farm animals email scoston@farmsanctuary.org. If you do not have direct experience working with farm animals, but would like to apply to help Farm Sanctuary’s shelter team in other capacities, please contact them today at 607-583-2225 ext. 222 or intern@farmsanctuary.org, or visit http://www.farmsanctuary.org/ for more information.
5. Spanish Parliament Goes Ape-Shit
The Spanish Parliament’s Environment Committee has passed a resolution granting limited rights to great apes. Dawnwatch reported that The Sunday, July 13 New York Times ran a lengthy and thoughtful article on the issue.
“The committee would bind Spain to the principles of the Great Ape Project, which points to apes’ human qualities, including the ability to feel fear and happiness, create tools, use languages, remember the past and plan the future. The project’s directors, Peter Singer, the Princeton ethicist, and Paola Cavalieri, an Italian philosopher, regard apes as part of a ‘community of equals’ with humans.
“If the bill passes — the news agency Reuters predicts it will — it would become illegal in Spain to kill apes except in self-defense. Torture, including in medical experiments, and arbitrary imprisonment, including for circuses or films, would be forbidden.
Etro's Regency Gypsy-Cowboy
In one year, I expect all of you Discerning Brutes to be pillaging the thrift stores to put this look together. Etro, known for a somewhat green approach to fashion (aside from the leather and silk in this collection) has hit a high-note with this eccentric, sexy, and gorgeous spring 2009 menswear collection.
Mixed paisley prints and stripes decorate nearly everything, scarves & ties as cumberbuns & belts – comfy and borderline-psychadelic. Offset these loose serenities with classic shoes, structured tailoring, and a fedora or wide-brim hat. This entire look can be completely achieved at a thrift store apart from non-leather shoes and maybe the hat…
HOW TO GREEN THIS LOOK:
For good non-leather shoes, check out these styles:
LOOK FOR A WIDE-BRIM FEDORA (These are Hemp!)
BAG:
Matt & Nat Mens' Bags
THREADS:
Every thrift store has more paisley, more ties, and more scarves than they know what to do with. Find a fitted pair of striped poly or cotton slacks, a well tailored jacket, and go nuts with the rest!
