You heard it here first! I got my eyes and hands onto a handful of samples from the forthcoming men’s collection, M:ZERO, from Melissa Plastic Dreams: the sustainable, zero-waste, fair-trade, recycled plastic shoe company known for their cutting edge design and collaborations with fashion superstars like Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and others.
Kaight Shop in New York City’s Lower East Side held a launch party for the pop-up installation of Melissa’s “Shop Within a Shop” inside of Kaight. They were so cool, I couldn’t help but jam my giant, size 11.5 foot into one of the samples that were all size 8, just for the sake of a photo. Considering that these are touted as some of the most comfortable shoes out there, it really wasn’t that bad at 3.5 sizes too small. One that fits must feel like walking on pillows.
The new men’s collection features an oxford, a loafer, and a driving shoe. By far, my preference is the oxford, especially the gray, fuzzy one and the white matte one. Look out for these fantastic plastics arriving for retail Autumn/Winter 2010!
• GQ’s Spring Must-Haves include a vegan new-wave boat shoe from Sperry Topsiders (without those leather laces, finally), fancy pocket squares of every pattern and color, bright and bold striped ties and straw fedoras.
When searching for a striped tie that isn’t made from hundreds of worms who are boiled alive, we suggest hitting up your local thrift or vintage store which typically have piles of ties or our favorite vegan tie company, Jaanj.com. As for straw fedoras, that one thing we love about spring. You can avoid the wool hats and go with a 100% plant-based straw hat. LiViTY makes recycled, hemp, organic, and fair trade fedoras in some bold patters and classic shapes, and Engineered Garments makes an organic linen boater cap. We suggest keeping a lid on it and sticking to classics like these:
The Hill-Side offers some selvedge Pocket Squares that we find quite fetching:
• I’ll be as happy as the next guy to see SeaWorld go under. The next guy is our pal Gary Smith, and he’s written an article on SeaWorld and the exploitation of dolphins and whales that flooded the enterprise with a 1.4 billion profit last year. In the article over at Elephant Journal. Ric O’Barry, who was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary film “The Cove” and serves as the marine mammal specialist for Earth Island Institute, shares some thoughts with Gary on the recent killer whale tragedy. If you needed to be convinced that captive seas mammals are unhappy, this will do it!
“Orcas are the most social animal on the planet, even more so than us,” said O’Barry. “Males will stay with their mothers their entire lives. When we capture an animal like Tilikum, we take him away from the two most important things of his life; the world of sound and family. We put them in a concrete box and expect him to stay mentally healthy. It simply doesn’t work.” - Rick O’Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist EII
• Is Discovery’s Planet Green FINALLY getting the meat/global warming connection? Or not. The promos for Emeril’s Green(washed) Kitchen still lists “beef” as a major ingredient, but I got a recipe for vegan chocolate mousse in my inbox this morning, and they have a vegan section. Strangely, their new showFuture Food: Gastronomic Geniuses seems like a bunch of dudes playing with their meat. The video showcases these “geniuses” shooting bratwurst with paint-balls, and trying to figure out the tastiest way to serve this meat up in mad-science ways. The maddest science is showcasing meat on a self-proclaimed “green” network when it’s the #1 cause of global warming! Hey Discovery, WTF!?
• Rock It Out: A Night to Benefit New York’s Farm Animal Sanctuaries
Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary
This benefit will feature live musical performances, a scrumptious vegan bake sale, and an awesome raffle all to benefit farm animals at Farm Sanctuary and the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! Check out what these sanctuaries do to save animals like Billy, who was taken in after almost being killed by a sledgehammer at a dairy farm just a few weeks ago:
Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Reidy Hall at All Souls Church, 1157 Lexington Ave @ 80th St, Basement Level
$10 pre-sale, $15 at the door (cash only)
Pre-sale tickets can be purchased at: https://www.mycommunitytickets.com/event_info.asp?eventid=26496
• Did society create monstrous people, or do a collective of monstrous people create civilization? This was the topic of last week’s Hardcore History, and we suggest you listen. Totally mind-bending! Could widespread child abuse and bad parenting in earlier eras explain some of history’s brutality? We think so.
• Learn to Lobby for Animals with the HSUS. We are only a few weeks away from the 2010 New York State Humane Lobby Day on Wed, March 24th in Albany. Join fellow activists to help pass legislation to crack down on animal fighters, stop puppy mills, end canned shoots of captive exotic wildlife, and protect farm animals from cruel treatment. To RSVP and get more info, click HERE.
• Jessica Reid asks GGA readers if a No Kill Nation is possible when it comes to dog shelters. There’s always a fierce discussion on the GGA comment-board, so have you say!
“The truth is you cannot blame having to kill shelter animals on an “irresponsible public” or “too many animals” when a shelter doesn’t implement lifesaving and low cost programs. I personally witnessed missed opportunity after missed opportunity from alienating potential fosters to terrible customer service to rude behavior toward rescue groups. I heard the same stories from other volunteers. These were not isolated cases. These were failures of management and staff to do what they should be doing: saving lives.”
• We have green souls, right? Rachel Comey is back with more Vegan Spillers. This time, the cap-toe oxfords are in a beige canvas upper with a green sole. $208 at Steve Alan
• Planet Green weighs in on, the horror!!! - living without your Blackberry. “I was like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings, devoted to fondling My Precioussssss.”
• SUNDANCE FUR FESTIVAL : Heartless or Stupid? We know it’s hard for celebs to express how rich they are, but you’d think the creators of the The Green would have an anti-fur policy at their festival. Sundance has become known for it’s unhealthy association with fur-drenched celebs strutting around like idiots, literally. I mean you either have to not know how it’s made, or not have a heart. Usually the ladies are taking heat for wearing fur, but check out these images of some less-than-men I’d like to sic Mac Danzig on: Ashton Kutcher, Wesley Snipes, Nick Cannon, and Nick Hogan, all from the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. Find out what you can to help end this archaic industry.
• Six Reasons for Dudes to Hit on Etsy
1. Shoot dirt dead with gun soap scented with black tea! Practice your best Dirty Harry while scrubbing your hairy-dirty areas. vegan glycerin soap base and scented with black tea. $8.50
2. Yes, it’s OK to embrace the murse. But call it a portfolio and you’ll sound so much manlier. UNI-LAP portfolio case, vinyl $125
3.Find great one-of-a-kind vintagelike this Vintage Tan Faux-Suede Jacket $40
4. Don’t Hurt the Bean Curd! Clever and/or offensive Organic cotton items like Tofu Never Screams and Small Hanging Wang Underwear! Also Skeletons and wings always make gentlemen happy.
5. Find rebellious ties and bow-ties from Toybreaker. Silk-like microfiber and nontoxic water-based inks, $10- $40
6. Stinky Bomb Lip Balm! Place some explosive kisses on your lover: candelilla wax, coconut oil and sweet almond oil, 5$
New shoes and ankle-boots from the spring 2010 Bourgeois Boheme mens’ collection knocked our socks off – and who needs em’? These sharp kicks will look just great without socks beneath a pair of cuffed up jeans or shorts, come spring time. We are drooling, here. The leather-free, fair labor, cruelty-free accessories label is certainly stepping it up. Who knew leather-free could mean classic, smart, and sexy. They are not yet available for sale, but will be soon enough. Save up, boys! Thanks to reader Gareth for the tip-off!
Brice Partouce has a vision. The Parisian-Jewish-punk-rocker-record-label-proprietor-fashion-designer not only makes some of the most cool and sought-after threads, but he’s also reshaping the industry landscape. Throngs of rockers and hipsters seek out his signature denim, each pair endowed with a loaded guitar pick-holster, allowing the bearer to play a power-chord at moment’s notice. Drawing on his adolescence as a hardcore kid, and following the guidance of his conscience, Partouche has carved out a role for himself as both rebel and savior. In an age where the “rebel look” equates the irony of supporting some of the most mainstream and problematic industry practices, a real iconoclast emerges, and he’s wearing a vegan biker jacket.
Discerning Brute:What’s it like being a fashion designer in Paris who has ethical convictions? How does the industry respond to your values?
Brice Partouche: First, I don’t consider myself as a fashion designer. I use fashion industry to show my vision, and so my ethical convictions,but I also talk about music with APRIL77®collections, and more specifically about rock n’ roll and youth movements.
I was vegetarian for 13 years and recently turned vegan. Not a lot of people knows that APRIL77 is a cruelty-free label because we always have communicated on the music side but never on the “animal liberation” idea. But I think people will find out next winter when they will notice that wool has been banned from our collections.
The cruelty free ethic does not fit into the fashion industry right now. But I hope a change and I really think that APRIL77® could help for a change. We are the only fahion and trendy brand that is animal friendly. I’m not saying that others ethical brands doesn ‘t exist but I’m just pointing the fact that those brands are not into the “fashion/trendy” circuit but into the eco/ethical market.
DB:That’s rare, and that’s brave. Speaking of cruelty-free, what inspired the “Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather” line, and what shoes and boots can we expect to see in the future? We need an amazing men’s lace up boot! Do you have any other accessories planned? Driving gloves? Faux leather buckle suspenders maybe?
BP: The name comes from the Minor Threat song (which is a cover song) “Good Guys Don’t Wear White” because hardcore music made my mind and my vision. We launched this line with 2 shoes (derby/cowboys boots) last year but a real leather free shoe/accessories line will be launched next year. But it has to be perfect, and good leather alternative are hard to find and to develop…
DB:Your English is so much better than my French! You also run a record label. What came first, the clothing or the records, and give us a band we should check out that New York may not be aware of yet.
BP: The clothing line came first but music inspired the collections… It’s like the chicken and the egg. Top band: Semen Sundae. It’s my band and we are serious, 10 songs in 20 min…. Really I don’t listen to new bands… I’m kind of stuck in oldies punk/hxc/Black Metal/Hard Rock…
DB: Obviously, you don’t use any fur or leather. Why do you think people are so obsessed with leather and fur – and will we ever be able to move beyond them?
BP: First, leather is just like denim. Leather lives, get older.. So yes leather is beautiful. Same for fur… The problem with consumers is that they stop thinking after noticing that something is beautiful. That’s pure hypocrisy. Same with food. Meat is tasty/ good.. “Ok that’s enough…I don ‘t want to know more…” If people would have to kill by their hand the animals they are wearing, well the story would be different. Leather/fur supplier are just like butchers. And people are hiding behind them…
DB:We love the look of your wool garments, but many of us don’t wear wool because of how the animals are bred, raised and treated for this purpose. Do you have any plans to make similar garments in a cruelty-free option or to discontinue the use of wool?
BP: I turned vegan 6 months ago , just when I started to work on the winter collection. It was logical to me that I should banned wool from the collection. Some people tried to change my mind or asked me to wait before doing such an important change, but I couldn’t be in harmony with myself if, as a vegan, [if] I was producing wool. In future collections, we are replacing wool by really thick and heavy cotton. Sometimes we mixed it up with some synthetic threads just for a hairy look. We are trying as much as we can to use only natural knitting fabrics.
DB:I was recently in Paris and had an amazing experience with food. What would a perfect weekend for a vegan in Paris look like? What is your favorite places to visit for fashion, food, and entertainment?
BP: Haha, eating vegan in Paris is like being satanist in Vatican…
Almost all vegetarian/vegan restaurants are owned by sects…but a good place to eat is Le Potager Du Marais on rue Rambuteau in the 3rd. I will pass on the fashion/entertainment question…But, the best bar/pub is Stolly’s , awesome music and cool people.
DB: When will the online boutique be open for business? Where can people outside of Paris purchase your clothing?
BP: Soon a new website…
DB:What would the world be like if you were in charge?
BP: A vegan reich
Check out some of our Fav April 77 Records Garments
• Did society create monstrous people, or do a collective of monstrous people create civilization? This was the topic of 
