Vogue recently announced their list of top Ethical and Sustainable Designers to know, and I was inspired by Carry Somers’ hat line Pachacuti. The hat line started when Somers, on a trip to Ecuador, witnessed inequitable and polluting trading patterns where intermediaries made all the profits. Pachacuti is the first Fair Trade organization to complete the pilot for the new World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) certification process, has a extensive sustainability initiative, and became the first international Fair Trade business to be able to put ‘Certified Fair Trade and Sustainable’ on all products. To top it off, the hats are really cool and come in so many different styles and colors. Most of the hats are cruelty-free, but I’m not crazy about the fact that some have leather (the worst possible thing to use if you care about ecology).
A lot of the others on the Vogue list lead me to ask what they think is ethical or sustainable about leather & wool? Not to toot my own horn (toot! toot!) but The Discerning Brute’s Top 20 Designers To Know by Earth Day list is a bit more accurate and informed when it comes to tackling the real ecological problems with fashion production.
My Life’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades. Acetate or Silver and Bamboo Aviator Unitdot Bamboo Sunglasses, by Designer Cyrus Wong, come in 3 stylish designs and are available with a promotion price of $120. With every Unitdot Bamboo Eyewear sold, $3 will be donated to UNICEF for the orphaned street children worldwide and Excentree will donate a tree for each pair sold.
