INTERVIEW: Fabrice Penot of Le Labo

by Joshua Katcher

The sophisticated olfactory genius of Le Labo continues to impress most nostrils that come across it. In addition to their most recent writeup in the May issue of W, Le Labo has received international acclaim and garnered a cult following of obsessed aesthetes. From their stores in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Amsterdam and every other major city you can think of, to Barney’s and Colette, to their exclusive line for Anthropologie – the world of Le Labo fragrances is full of intrigue and desire; it is an art, a science, an obsession. I am reminded of the plot from Tom Robbin’s Jitterbug Perfume where two of the main characters are questing for the mysterious secret ingredient to a 300-year-old fragrance that is believed to posses magical properties.  And there is something magical about this brand. People are mad about Le Labo – and they aren’t ashamed to drench themselves in the stuff, and fill their home with their candles, myself included. All of their perfumes are unisex; Rose 31 and Santal 33 are rituals to my day – and forgetting to spray some on often feels like I’ve left something crucial about myself at home. All of Le Labo’s perfumes are 100% vegan – as are the founders Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi (all “musk” and other ingredients are synthesized) – two men that are changing the fragrance industry through their commitment to esthetic olfactology, the environment, and animals.

(On a side note – I will be carrying the entire line of Le Labo on BraveGentleMan.com, and rumor has it that an exclusive fragrance for Brave GentleMan is in development. Shh..)

I had a chance to interview Fabrice recently, and this was our conversation:

Discerning Brute: What is it about fragrances, perfumes, odors, and smell that you love so much?
Fabrice Penot: I am not sure… I think I like to express myself through perfume creation because there is something pretty magical by creating an emotion in people through something unseen.

DB: What is your favorite bit of history about perfume, and how does that influence your work?
FP: There are  so many, but the one that pops into my mind since I guess we’ll talk about animal products is the story of maybe the most mythical ingredient in fine perfumery which is “ambergris”.  Ambergris comes from the sperm whale – it smells of a magical thing that you can’t really define, and you find yourself between disgust and attraction. There is a fecal part for sure, but there is also a soft, musky, very white part that is addictive.

In a nustshell, this ingredient can be found on sea shores, as it is the result of the sperm whale’s vomit (looks like a black stone, with the weight of a sponge). The magic happens while the floating “stone” travels on the ocean, being washed by the water, baked by the sun, and eventually ends on the sand near the coast, adding the marine and musky smell to the repulsive original smell of the rejection. Knowing that this has been used for decades in fine perfumery and that it was one of its most precious elements was always fascinating to me as a young perfume student. Even though you did not hurt the animal to produce this, (you actually don’t even see him or her), nowadays the natural ambergris as been replaced by a synthetic version for perfumery use and Eddie, my creative partner, and I are using a lot in almost each one of our creations. Dirty musky notes are part of the secret of every sensual dry-down at Le Labo.

DB: What is Le Labo, and why is it different from other brands?
FP: The dirty musky note! And many other things, too – but I guess the more important one is the intention behind everything we do: we want to make the life of our clients more beautiful through our craft, perfume creation (and do no harm while doing so). Of course, there is a cult around our creations for what they are and we are proud of it, but I think at one point, people don’t only buy what you do, they buy why you do it, and that would explain to me why our clients are so hooked with our creations.

DB: Tell me about your relationship with animals and how that plays into your business?
FP: I don’t know how to answer that. I guess my relationship with animals changed when I understood my belief in and hope for global peace between humans was kind of useless because there was something about this humanity that was rotten in the first place – that mankind was just a piece of the puzzle, and that of course, there will be no peace between humans as long as they will not respect any kind of life on this planet.

I understood you couldn’t believe in the power of non violence and close your eyes to the violence created by your own life style, eating habits, shopping habits or even creation habits on other living things. I think the quote from Tolstoi was kind of a “a-hah” moment for me at that point: ”As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields “… And since then, I never looked at an animal the same way. I understood simply that I do not want to hurt anyone. I need peace and harmony for the world and I am hoping to start here, from my home, my family, my creations, my office, my business. So I became vegan a few seconds after I realized that. My girlfriend and I decided to jump together and all became very natural. Our children have been raised vegan. My friend and business partner Eddie is now vegan and deeply committed with me to change the habits of the perfume industry with the few animal ingredients still used, So I feel like the happiness and the beauty in my life comes from the coherence of everything around.

DB: Is there a code of ethics that is followed at Le Labo concerning people, animals, and the environment? What is it and how to you make sure it is followed?
FP: Well, not everyone in the company is vegan but i can tell you everyone cares. Not only because the owners both are, but also because when they live in the environment we built, they can feel the logic behind it. Everyone has a high level of compassion in our team, and there is no need to recall an ethic code or anything… we are a small company and you can tell when everyone is working with the same quality of intention. The only thing we do is we challenge our suppliers (or even new partners) to commit to cruelty-free ingredients and try to inspire perfumers by using synthetics over naturals for civette and castoreum.

DB: What is something people need to know about the modern fragrance industry?
FP: The good news is the industry is being more and more concerned about environment and cruelty issues.Mainly because of the pressure of consumers and I am glad that works. I am sure some big beauty corporations continue to test their cosmetic products (not perfumes necessarily, but creams for example) on animals secretly, but they know they are taking big risks with the public if this becomes known. I think in a near future this will not exist anymore – one big scandal would be enough to scare them all.  We need a Wikileak on this to solve it. Unfortunately, I have no access to these infos, but what I can tell you is that in the world of perfumery, there are very few animal products left to be used by the perfumers. To my knowledge there is only 2 left: castoreum (which is a by product of beaver) and civette (from a little wild cat that is trapped to extract that smell). There are synthetics available for these 2 products and we are an active force to raise awareness in perfume houses for the use of synthetics over naturals for these ingredients.


DB:  How do people respond to different smells, and how does that influence your recipes?
FP: A perfume is very personal. The sense of smell is very linked to your memories. You can love a fig smell because it relates to a happy memory in your childhood and in the same time I can hate it because my first girlfriend dumped me under a fig tree…you can’t create a perfume anticipating  people’s reaction to it, you just try to reach a certain kind of esthetic, beauty, surprise, elegance, soul with the shape of it. Then, if it is well done, it will connect with the person at a deep emotional level and be worth existing. Or not…

DB: Talk about your favorite aspect of the science and the chemistry involved in our attraction to certain smells.
FP: I am not so much on the science part i have to say. Eddie my partner is a scientist by training (and a poet by choice) so he is more the one who is the expert of that. I am more into the intuitive search of the creation of an emotion. There is actually no science behind that apart from quantum physics maybe, but it is a posteriori, not a priori, meaning after the experience.

DB: You also are very good with presentation – from packaging to the store interior design. How did yo develop this?
FP: It is just Eddie and I trying to marry our love for industrial design, perfumery and the Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi, the art of impermanence.

DB: Which scents do you recommend for men?
FP: All our creations are genderless…but men might connect more with Rose 31, Bergamote 22, Vetiver 46 and our new Santal 33.

DB: What music are you listening to, and food are you obsessed with right now?
FP: Music ( as we speak): my morning jacket, food: Dr Cow’s cheese and your seitan bourguignon!!

DB: Why are you vegan?
FP: Because i think it is key for us to stop taking advantage of other living creatures in the world if we want to see humanity evolve in a more peaceful and sustainable way. I think it might be the most important choice I ever made in my life. Not that I made a lot of them, but still…

2 Comments

joshuakatcher, May 6th 2011 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in animal rights, art, celebrity, cruelty-free, fashion, grooming, interview, local, social responsibility, vegan, vegetarian

Jake Shields, Kill It Cook It Eat It & Suing Fur From Magazines

• Jake Shields recently won Peta2’s most veg friendly athlete of the year! I interviewed Jake way-back-when, and it’s awesome to see his career is becoming so successful – and that someone who demands so much from his body does it without meat. When he fights GSP in April, he will become the highest profile vegetarian athlete in the world. Go Jake! For a glimpse into the life of Mr. Shields, watch the trailer for an upcoming documentary about him here:

kill it cook it eat it.jpg

• LA Weekly is reporting on a new BBC show that will premiere in the US on January 18th on Current TV, called Kill It Cook It Eat It. This show is certain to get a large viewership – but I wonder just how honest a depiction of the slaughter really is, and whether the viewers get to visit large factory farms and USDA slaughterhouses (where 99% of meat comes from) or just the small, killing-with-kindness farms that maintain the bucolic myth of where our food comes from. In addition, pay careful attention to the “It” in the title. It’s not “Kill Them Cook Them Eat Them”  – or “him” or “her” for that matter. They are careful to refer to animals as objects as opposed to individuals.  Current TV’s description is as follows:

” …a diverse group of participants is challenged to procure their main course the old-fashioned way: by hunting and killing their chosen prey, butchering it in the slaughterhouse, helping to prepare it in the kitchen, and ultimately sampling it at the dinner table. Some may enjoy the process while others recoil, but for each diner it’s an intense journey that just may change their perspectives — and appetites — forever.”

•Writer Jim Edwards, from CBS’s BNET website, is calling for Harper’s Bazaar to be sued over it’s fashion spreads – which could open a legal floodgate to help animals on fur farms. Long-gone are the days when fashion editorials were created for the sake of fashion-as-art. A list that was accidentally left in a hotel lobby revealed (what most fashion industry insiders already know) that paid-advertisers are given priority when it comes to shooting fashion “editorials”, which “…appears to be a blatant violation of the FTC’s new guidelines for advertisers.” Edwards c0ntinues, “If the FTC sued Harper’s Bazaar magazine for not disclosing that its advertisers influence its editorial features it would do readers of women’s magazines — and the fashion business in general — a huge favor…the legal framework exists to make it a possibility, and the FTC has shown interest in bashing the fashion biz before. Animal rights attorneys, pay attention!

“A fashion editorial is clearly an endorsement, but does Harper’s disclose the “material connections” between its fashion shoots and the advertisers who buy ads and provide the garments? Not online. In Harper’s December shoot with Iman, the items are identified by designer and price but it doesn’t say whether the Michael Kors fur scarf in shot 1 was selected because Kors is No. 2 on Harper’s list of advertisers.”

A large portion of the demand for fur originates from paid-advertisers, which explains why so much fur is in every fashion mag. Fur marketing organizations that represent independent farms have millions of dollars to play with, considering the exorbitant mark-up of fur garments. There’s a lot of legal jargon in the full article that I’ll leave to you lawyers, but when it comes to heavily-funded designers that use fur, their days gracing so many pages of editorials could be numbered. This also gives stylists something to celebrate, since their craft was hi-jacked in the early nineties.

“Of course, readers of women’s magazines know that most of the editorial is either made up or bought-and-paid for by advertisers, so it’s tough to argue that consumers are “damaged” by them. Still, wouldn’t it be nice if one area of the fashion world wasn’t complete fiction?”


3 Comments

joshuakatcher, January 6th 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, celebrity, event, fashion, film, green, interview, news, sports, vegan, vegetarian, video

Bob Harper Video Interview

Being a loser was never so cool. When I was in Los Angeles a few weeks ago I sat down with Bob Harper, host of NBC’s Biggest Loser to discuss his role as the 2010 National Spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary’s Walk for Farm Animals. We discussed his recent evolution to a vegan diet, how he grew up on a cattle farm, and or course, food and nutrition! Check out the full interview, and sign up for the Walk for Farm Animals in your town! The new season of NBC’s Biggest Loser premieres tonight.

9 Comments

joshuakatcher, September 21st 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, celebrity, food, green, Health, interview, news, vegan, vegetarian, video

VEGAN TANK: Not TOFU-K With

Noah Hannibal, AKA Vegan Tank, is one tough Aussie. That’s right, not every dude down-under is clogging up all their plumbing at Outback Steak House, or hunting crocks and kangaroos with boomerangs and giant knives, or any number of other ridiculous stereotypes that most Americans think about Hollywood’s Australia. Competitive powerlifter, hero to animals, photographer, designer, and all-around gentleman, Vegan Tank is a true 21st century man, blazing a trail that redefines masculinity and stands proudly by conscientious machismo. Vegan Tank and I spoke recently, and here is his interview:

The Discerning Brute: When did you start lifting, how serious are you about it, and what are your current stats?

Vegan Tank: I first started lifting around maybe six or so years ago when a bodybuilder I knew was mocking vegans saying we were all weaklings and it was impossible to get strong without meat. The guy was built like a semi truck, juiced up to his eyeballs and had arms like logs. I was outraged by what he was saying and challenged him to an arm wrestle, which was the source of much derision at the time. I was given three months to train and, having thrown myself in at the deep end with concrete blocks chained to my ankles, got straight into some serious arm training.

On the day of the arm wrestle everyone laughed and said I had no hope in hell and my enemies showed up to see me humiliated. To the surprise of everyone, myself included, I slammed his hand to the table and he had to eat his words that vegans can’t be strong.

Since that introduction to strength training I’ve slowly become more and more serious about the iron game, receiving a lot of help along the way from the vegan fitness ( http://www.veganfitness.net) forums where many of the strongest vegans from around the world hang out. For the last two years I’ve been competing as part of Powerlifting Australia (IPF affiliated) and in competition have squatted over 460 pounds, bench pressed over 400 pounds and deadlifted over 500 pounds. This year I was lucky to win gold in the heavyweight division of the Australian National Bench Press Championships.

DB: Tell me about MVS (Melbourne Vegan Strength). Are you one of the founders? How long have you been involved, and do you rule the night?

VT: There is this ridiculous stereotype that vegans are all pale wasting away weaklings. MVS (http://www.veganstrength.org) started as a few guys training in my back yard to show how easy it is for vegans to get monster strong, and to smash those stereotypes. Since we started training about four years ago many of the participants have gained massive amounts of strength and gone on to compete in all sorts of strength competitions, from powerlifting to bodybuilding, strongman and arm wrestling, and done really well in many instances. For example Joel Kirkilis (http://www.treehugger.uproar.org.au/joel-kirkilis/) has recently won some big bodybuilding titles against tough competition.

DB: You and your crew have proven that one can be a successful vegan power-lifter. What is it like to see a skeptic disproved? How do mainstream people react to you and your friends?

VT: The first time I trained at the Powerlifting Club I told the Coach I didn’t eat meat and he told me to get out as I would never make any progress unless I ate animals. I stayed anyway and have had a great time showing that you can make progress as a vegan. We get random drug tests and the first time the testers came in someone said don’t bother ever testing that guy he’s a vegan. Now I get drug tested all the time!

It’s a gym and there are some pretty funny attitudes, one guy thinks I’m a born again Christian because he doesn’t realize there’s a difference between born again Christians and vegans. But on the whole everyone has been fantastic to the point where they now go out of their way to make sure there are vegan options at Club dinners, and I think even the Coach has warmed to me now!

Many people that we meet are surprised because we don’t fit their (incorrect) pre conceived notion of what they think a vegan is. One person flat out refused to believe it and said that we must secretly eat meat. Often people are just curious and have questions such as ‘where do you get your protein?’. The thing is our results directly challenge anyone who thinks that vegans are emaciated weaklings. When people see strong vegans smashing heavy weights it causes them to see veganism in a whole new light. It’s great.

DB: The weightlifting world seems very full of machismo. Meat-eating goes hand-in-hand with manliness in our culture. How do you keep your manhood while bottle-feeding lambs?

VT: It’s funny because I can’t think of anything more cowardly than causing the killing of an innocent animal for some food you don’t need. To me ‘manhood’ is about standing up for what you believe in no matter how inconvenient or unpopular, and I think it takes a lot of guts in our culture for people to say I’m not going to support animal abuse. I also think a lot of good hearted people continue to eat meat, eggs and dairy because their mind somehow blocks out the fact that animals are suffering as a direct result of what they put in their mouth.

All you have to do is look at some of the vegan gorillas out there like wrestler Mountain Mike , strongman Joni Purmonen, arm wrestler Rob Bigwood, the original vegan tower of power Ryan Wilson , or some of the monster vegans in Germany who deadlift cars as they walk down the street, and you’ll quickly disabuse yourself of the notion that there is any connection between meat-eating and macho. It’s true what they say, real men are kind to animals.

DB: What do you eat on a typical day that you are working out? What do you indulge in?

VT: I’m not what you’d call a fussy eater, if it’s vegan and not nailed down I’ll eat it (I’ll probably eat it even if it is nailed down. If the nail is vegan I’ll eat that too). On training days I always try to get big feeds in. Breakfast is a huge bowl of oats with blueberries, sultanas and soya milk. Right after training i have a pea protein shake and about an hour or so later a big protein heavy meal. Throughout the day I’ll eat things like tofu burgers, mock meat curries, tempeh stir fries, satay seitan wraps, and chomp on nuts for snacks. I try to eat as clean as possible but don’t always succeed, I’m a bit of a sucker for vegan heart attack food.

DB: Why do you think so many men think that caring about animals or the environment is for sissies?

VT: Just like some of the worst homophobes are repressed homosexuals, I think maybe a lot of guys who think giving a fuck about animals and the environment is for sissies are really repressed animal loving treehuggers who are too afraid to show their real feelings. Hugs for them from me.

DB: Has anyone around you unexpectedly been influenced by your lifestyle? if so, tell me what happened.

VT: I hope so, I think if you do your best to be a good example of how easy and healthy it is to live as a vegan, and let people come to you with their questions, they will be a lot more receptive. It’s always a great feeling when someone comes up to tell you that you’ve helped them make their decision to go vegan.

DB: What else do you do aside from weightlifting, both professionally and socially?

VT: I’m heavily involved with a new animal rights group www.uproar.org.au – working on factory farm animal rescues and campaigns to promote veganism like Not Your Typical Treehugger (http://treehugger.uproar.org.au/). For a job I run a web and print design company with my friend Erik Gorton, we set up www.ethicaldesign.com.au basically as a way to fund our activism and ensure we wouldn’t have to take on any clients that would make us want to shower six times after meeting with them. In the very ancient past I was an aspiring academic philosopher doing post-grad research on the moral status of animals, which is something I may return to at some stage if I ever burn out on activism. I don’t really have much of a life outside of all that but I do love discovering amazing new vegan foods and traveling to the remote reaches of the world, when I can.

DB: What advice do you have for a scrawny dudes to want to get big and strong?

VT: In the words of someone much wiser than me, SFW! The main thing is to cover the basics – train intelligently and consistently, eat properly for your goals, drink lots of water and get plenty of rest. This is an article I’ve written with some information on how to gain mass and strength on a vegan diet: http://www.veganstrength.org/veganstrength.pdf. The veganfitness.net forums are a great resource as well.

DB: What is the next big event your are preparing for?

VT: Training wise my short term goal is to compete and do well in next year’s Australian Powerlifting Championships. Long term I want to nail an 800kg powerlifting total and the really long term goal is to compete in the World Bench Press Championships. Personally I hope to contribute in some small way to making the world a kinder place for all animals.



14 Comments

joshuakatcher, August 5th 2010 | Tags: , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, art, Health, interview, social responsibility, sports, vegan, vegetarian

Michael Paul Crockett: Not TOFU-k With

Heavy-metal-headbanging, hard-hitting, hillbilly-pro-wrestling Mountain Mike Paul Crockett is not your typical vegan. In fact, along with ex-cattle rancher and “Mad Cowboy”, Howard Lyman, he’s one of the few people I’ve come across who’s been able to do such a drastic lifestyle 180º – defying all odds, and in the process, saving his life (along with many animals). The fairy tale that “quality” protein only comes from eating muscle still persists in machismo culture, yet time and time again, people like Mike prove that the idea that eating muscle makes you muscular is as silly as eating a feather to fly.

I had some time to chat with Mike recently, and here’s our interview:

DB: You have such an unlikely and amazing story – how and when did you become a vegan?
MPC: Thank you. I have only been a vegan for a few months…..but I have been a vegetarian since March 31, 2009. I made the decision to become a vegetarian after meeting my girlfriend, who has been veg for 15+ years. She made a suggestion that I cut back on meat, because she was worried about my gargantuan consumptions of animal flesh: 3-5 lbs a day! I had considered becoming vegetarian several times in my life prior to meeting her, but never went through with it because of the whole “animal protein = strength” bullshit that is fed down society”s throat, but once she showed me some slaughterhouse videos, that was THE END of my meat consumption! A few months ago, I decided that I cannot support ANY kind of animal cruelty, so I gave up eggs and dairy, and now as a vegan, I am looking into changing out the leather seats in my truck, getting rid of my leather wallet, boots, jacket, etc!  In my 31 years on this planet I have selfishly taken so much from animals that had no choice in their death, and dammit, I will spend the rest of my life making it right to the animals that I would have taken from had I not become a vegan….

DB: As a self-declared “hillbilly” and country boy, how is your new lifestyle perceived by your friends and family?
MPC: My family don’t really understand my passion, since I used to be the one in the family to BBQ and cook the steaks to perfection, but they know when my mind is made up about something there ain’t no changing my mind about things – honestly it hardly ever gets talked about, I have a wonderful family, my friends are also understanding, and a lot of them always ask me what I eat so they can keep those groceries on hand in case I drop by. But where I come from in East Texas, most people think something is wrong with you if you don’t wake up and shove fried chicken and beef brisket down yer throat – but I can kick their asses, so whats the problem? That’s right, there ain’t one. Lol…..

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DB: Who is Mountain Mike, and how did you create this persona?
MPC: When I became a professional wrestler in Jan 2009, I created the character known as Mountain Mike because I was weighing over 500 pounds, and always wore overalls……it really made the crowd pop, I came out there in the ring looking like a big ol’ mountain man, and everyone loved it, especially the kids!!

DB: Only because I know you must love answering this question a thousand times a day, where do you get your protein?
MPC: I get plenty of plant protein from a wide variety of sources: black beans (which are an absolute staple of my diet), peanut butter, hummus, whole grains (brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa), soymilk and Ezekiel cereal. I definitely got to be a morbidly obese 535 pounds by consuming huge amounts of animal protein and FAT! Now that all of my protein is plant based, I am much leaner (425 lbs), stronger, and more agile than I was when I was eating animals, and I am continuing to drop that nasty fat that I accumulated while eating unhealthy animal protein.

DB: Do you like to cook? What is your favorite dish, and what is your specialty?
MPC: As long as I can make it quick, I like to cook! And favorite dish? BLACK BEANS AND BROWN RICE! My specialty is a healthy vegetable stir-fry with peanuts and brown rice: quick, easy, and too spicy for most human beings. Haha!


DB: What do you wan to say to men who think that caring about health, animals, or eating tofu is for sissies?
MPC: Get destroyed by me or Rob Bigwood on the armwrestling table and then tell us we are sissies…or come watch me do 700 pound shrugs in the gym for reps – the real “sissies” are the ones who shoot animals for sport, recreation, or whatever the fuck their coward excuse is. That’s right, I am calling out HUNTERS and calling them the real “sissies” of our world. Anyone else throwing around that word is just misinformed about our passions. Sorry about the rant, I have no tolerance for cruelty.

DB: Now that you have changed your lifestyle, have you influenced anyone around you to do the same?
MPC: I have made my family and friends look at what they are eating in a different way, and I encourage them to follow their heart and do what is right for our animals, environment, and humanity in general. I hope in time, they will feel the same compassion as I do.

DB: What is next in your career? I saw the trailer for “Wrestling Demons”, how is that going?
MPC: I am working on becoming a motivational speaker. After all of the changes that I have been through over the last two years, I really want to help other people who might be struggling with depression, addiction, or believing in themselves. “Wrestling Demons” is currently under network consideration, and I believe that it is going to happen. I promise to help educate the public about veganism, and all the important issues that we consider to be our credo if it gets picked up by a network.

DB: What s the best thing about becoming a vegan? The worst?
MPC: Well as you can see, I am very passionate about animals  – the greatest thing about being a vegan is knowing that EVERY bite of food I put in my mouth has no suffering behind it, nothing sucks about being a vegan, we rule!!

DB: Where can we see you arm wrestle, wrestle, or play in your band?
MPC: Currently my band is on hiatus, but I am working on a New Age record that I hope to release next year. I am taking a break from professional wrestling due to a neck injury, so all my passion and heart is into armwrestling right now, and I am competing again in August at the Europa Supershow in Dallas, TX.
DB: If any of our readers are near Dallas next week, hopefully they’ll come by and cheer you on!

6 Comments

joshuakatcher, July 22nd 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, food, interview, news, pets, vegan, vegetarian

PARISIAN PIONEER: C-PAS’ Pierre-André Senizergues

Pierre-André Senizergues has a Hollywood story. He went from a Parisian childhood, to being homeless on the streets of Venice Beach, to becoming an international skateboarding champion and then one of the most influential and respected businessmen in the apparel and skate industry, heading-up Sole Technologies, Inc. Now, with over 25 years of revolutionizing skate culture, Pierre is again setting new standards and breaking new boundaries with social responsibility and environmentalism. C-PAS is Pierre’s latest personal endeavor, and along with designer Pierluigi Pucci, Senizergues is making menswear from recycled parachutes and tarps, organic cotton, soda bottles, sustainable fabrics, and he is finally addressing the fact that leather can never be sustainable.

I stopped by the Soho, NYC studio to try on some of the clothes, and chat about C-PAS, sustainable fashion, and menswear.

4 Comments

joshuakatcher, May 5th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in accessories, activism, animal rights, cruelty-free, energy, fair trade, fashion, green, interview, news, recycled, Skateboard, sports, sustainable, trend report, vegan, vegetarian, video

Oil Spilling & John Bartlett’s Awakening

• An interview with designer John Bartlett over at Tim Groen has me pretty inspired and excited! We all know how rare it is to meet other fashion people interested in compassionate lifestyle and cruelty-free design. Bartlett, who is ardently anti-fur and veg, has committed to eliminating all leather from future collections, saying “I decided that I’m not going to work in leather anymore at all.”

John Bartlett by Tim Groen (Portrait and Interview)

John BartlettJohn BartlettJohn BartlettJohn Bartlett

• 42,000 gallons of crude oil are spewing out into the Gulf of Mexico very 24 hours. Experts say it could take months to stop the leak that has already covered 600 square miles and threatens wildlife areas and coastlines, like the sensitive Louisiana coastal ecosystem and the Mississippi Delta, now mere miles from the slick. The explosion that caused the oil rig to collapse and killed 11 crew members remains a mystery. BP (Beyond Petroleum), Transocean (the rig’s operational company) and government have not been able to stop the oil from spewing out of a broken pipe 5,000 feet below sea level. And lastly, the blowout-preventer – a device designed to stop a leak in scenarios like this, did not deploy and remains unable to be triggered. Burn the oil. Skim and collect the oil.  There is no harmless solution and, in the fashion of an addict that never learns the lesson, the oil economy chugs on. We will all be reassured that “everything is being done” and “no one could have predicted this” and “it’s an unfortunate but unavoidable risk“.  Who is doing the reassuring? Well, according to a NYT article yesterday, BP is and their profits more than doubled in the first quarter of last year, thanks to increased oil prices.

How can we ever move on from oil? Will these disasters ever cease and, if not, what does that mean?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo/2010-04/Oil-Spill-Satellite-View_53490467.jpg

3 Comments

joshuakatcher, April 28th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, cruelty-free, design, fashion, green, interview, news, vegan, vegetarian

DBTV: Red Carpet, 24th Annual Genesis Awards

The red carpet is no place for talking about things with substance…or is it? These celebs who strutted their stuff at the 24th Annual Genesis Awards had some interesting things to say about animals – and clearly, the ladies like compassionate guys.

I caught up on the red carpet and talked with Matt Grant of “The Bachelor: London Calling”, Kelly Carlson of “Nip Tuck”, Emily Deschanel of “Bones”, Wendie Malick of “Hot in Cleveland”, Michael Vartan of “Hawthorne”, Jon Lovitz, Owain Yeoman of “The Mentalist”, politician, Pedro Nava, Dominic Scott Kay of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, recording artist, Daniel Landers, and Twilight’s Booboo Stewart.

If you missed my interviews with Moby and Jeff Corwin, just click!

Special thanks to my sis, Joelle Katcher for shooting the vid!

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joshuakatcher, April 19th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, celebrity, event, interview, news, vegan, vegetarian, video

Eco Designers Show Us How It’s Done & Jake Shields Can Beat You Up

• Swing by Hint Magazine today through Earth Day and check out Part 1 of 4 of the article I wrote on the top 20 Eco Designers to know by Earth Day!

• Strikeforce Champion MMA fighter, Jake Shields is not mincing words. He can “run further, train harder, and pack a meaner punch without eating animals“. I did an interview with him back in 2008. Check out his new campaign for Peta2.


Learn more about Jake Shields at peta2.com.

http://www.peta2.com/outthere/page/jakeshieldsP2veg.jpg

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joshuakatcher, April 15th 2010 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, cruelty-free, design, fashion, interview, news, social responsibility, trend report, vegan, vegetarian

DBTV Interview: Jeff Corwin

I recently interviewed Jeff Corwin, wildlife conservationist and television host/producer, about some environmental issues. We discussed everything from palm oil plantations to endangered species, extinction, and his breathtaking documentary: 100 Heartbeats for MSNBC. (Special thanks to Joelle Katcher, for shooting the interview!)

While I respect the amazing work he does educating people about wildlife conservation, I do wish Corwin had stuck to his vegetarianism due to meat production’s connection to deforestation, global warming, air and water pollution and worse. When asked about his stance on being veg at a talk documented on Youtube, he avoided any of the facts, and fell into personal defensiveness, evoking the cliche rationalization,  “if lions can do it so can we…and I am hungry“.  C’mon, Jeff! You don’t see lions making gazelle factory farms. They kill for survival. We torture for the taste. You are smart enough to see the difference. At least acknowledge that meat production is a huge environmental disaster and one of the most powerful things we can easily give up to help the environment.

Regardless, Jeff is pretty awesome, and his mission to educate people about endangered species and the current extinction event we are causing is so critical to the future of the planet and our survival as a species. So watch the trailer for 100 Heartbeats:

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joshuakatcher, April 13th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in activism, animal rights, books, celebrity, green, interview, news, vegan, vegetarian, video
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