• Loomstate has partnered with Keds to make these cool, vegan, organic canvas boots with recycled tire soles and faux-shearling lining. These are great for cold weather and for looking snappy. Might I suggest waterproofing the canvas with a vegan waterproofer? Sustainably leather-free and $110.
by contributor, Matt Lara
Hark the herald angels shop…
I am packed in a department store dodging the usual giant shopping backs full to the brim, and eagerly browsing customers searching for the perfect deal. Normally I would panic seeing as I thoroughly loath any store during the holidays. This year is different, however, as I have risen and shipped out early on the final day of Divine Design—the annual charity shopping event created by Project Angel Food. The group truly is divine, as they provide food and care to those unable to provide for themselves due to HIV/AIDS, and other life-threatening diseases. So, today’s shopping spree is more of a joy. How nice to actually shop in Beverly Hills without having to incur serious debt. You see, the deals are fantastic with each item marked down 50% off on the first day, then down another 10% for each succeeding shopping day. And this isn’t discount crap either — the merchandise consists of brand new packaged goods donated by retailers and most are quite a steal. Today, I’m wandering through apparel, shoes, a large selection of Barbies (I don’t know), and spend most of my time plucking home goodies and gifts for my family. I walk away with happy to have supported such an amazing organization.
With every Christmas card I trash…
I must admit that I am in the spirit, although I’m just as likely to be a big Scrooge among the hassle, traffic, and cost of it all. I pull out my Christmas box full of old holiday cards wondering if I should keep them. I have card conflict—someone took a moment and spent a few dollars on that little piece of plastic-coated card stock. (Are these even recyclable?) I decide not to throw them away, but turn on yet another one of my very manly talents: crafting. You just watch out for my glue gun…
Every crafter knows where to look… let’s just call her Mother Martha. She’s one of the most successful, and more notorious, craft queens ever. And her website has the perfect craft for that stack of cards as thick as a two-by-four. My new family heirloom:
Handsome, right? Basically, you’re going to need to cut about 20 circles out of holiday cards, and be really savvy with the scissors and glue. It’s
easier than it looks. By the way, I buckled and purchased a box of simple greetings from Quotable
Cards. Each one is made from recycled paper, soy-based ink, and manufactured using wind power. I think an elf must have guided me to these smart little cards. Another holiday tradition I have conflicts with: wrapping paper. It’s so sleek, and I love a well-wrapped gift, but I can only imagine a landfill piled high with that lawnbag-full of discarded paper city after city has thrown out (not to mention the mountains of cardboard and plastic packaging). This year, I’m turning to my late Grandfather—a cowboy, veteran, and rough-and-tumble S.O.B. when he needed to be—for inspiration. He was notorious for wrapping gifts in newspaper. Too tacky? Fine, pop a sticky-bow on there if you want. I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t. I got some good ideas here and here.
Magazine pages work well too. If you really, really want those snowmen and candy canes all over your gifts, use holiday catalogs. Remember how much our junk mail is wreaking havoc on the environment? Take it from a Brute who loves to wrap gifts—reuse!
Oh Christmas beans, oh Christmas beans…
I feel like I’m in holiday therapy, what with me spouting off my conflicts and solutions and so on. I have yet one more to chew over. Holiday meals conjure visions of some old school cooking—can green beans drowned in canned mushroom sauce and crispy onions. How in the world did we come up with this dish with it’s odd, crunchy, salty comfort? (this is how, according to Wikipedia) This year, my family and I are perfecting our attempt at deconstructing Green Bean Casserole as inspired by VeganYumYum (where are you Lolo? We want you to 
update the blog!). We’ve since abandoned the deconstructed part, but let’s just say we are never going back to the canned crap. I never say never but…never. Another conflict solved! Make a holiday classic from scratch, and see just how good it gets.
Silent night, scandalous light…
I’m signing off until next year, but not after I tell you about some last minute shopping. If you’re in Los Angeles and surrounding areas, you have to check out Spork Foods. I went up to their Holiday Bazaar this year and ran into good friends Ari and Mikko from A Scent of Scandal and browsed the array of naughty aromatic candles. I want to be a good boy for Santa therefore I cannot say the names of scents without having to wash my mouth out with soap. All I can say is, there’s Scandal wafting through my holiday…
Have a happy and conscious holiday. We face a new year of both challenges and triumphs. I believe if you’re here reading this, you’re making an effort to do good in the world, and that is the greatest gift one could hope for this holiday.
-Matt Lara
What do you get when you combine a recycled hot air balloon, vintage linen, organic cotton, recycled poly, dead-stock fabric, hemp, and aesthetic genius? You get Turk + Taylor’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection! I love how the cold hasn’t even hit us yet and we’re already talking about next spring! It’s like the winter won’t even happen.
I chatted with Turk + Taylor at a trade show this week and got to see this collection up close and personal. The details are meticulous, the materials are sustainable, and the colors are bold and bright. The Bohol Jacket (made from the defunct 1980s hot air balloon) was my favorite, made from blue, orange and yellow silky-soft ripstop. Enjoy these gorgeous photos from their SS11 look-book:
UHURU, a Brooklyn-based design + build furniture company dedicated to sustainability has crafted some gorgeous furniture for The New Museum‘s cafe. The cafe’s new design will feature communal tables, as well as intimate settings for conversation, enhancing the New Museum’s Lobby as a gathering place for visitors and the creative community. The newly designed tables and stools were commissioned especially for the New Museum. The stools are made from scraps of hardwood collected from local wood shops and the tables are crafted from high-percentage, post-consumer recycled steel and aluminum and finished with a zero VOC powder coat. Attentive visitors will notice the shape of the New Museum building playfully seeded in the top of each puzzle-like Stoolen. The cafe’s counter top, which displays baked goods, is IceStone, a durable surface made of 100% recycled glass and cement, also manufactured in Brooklyn.
After looking at the cafe’s menu (designed by Birdbath, an “environmentally conscious” division of City Bakery) I noticed that livestock products like butter and eggs were still being used in the baking. Here at The Discerning Brute, I applaud any effort to further sustainability, but I also must point out that the largest impact for sustainability exists within the food itself, and whether or not dairy is local or organic, the impact that the livestock have ecologically can simply never be considered sustainable. The ease with which those products can be replaced with more sustainable options is nearly seamless. Here’s to hoping they include their vegan on the menu also! Heck, why not go all the way and make the entire menu vegan?
You have been patiently waiting for NOVACAS’ Fall 2010 lineup, and here it is, 100% vegan, and sustainably leather-free . NOVACAS emerged from the phrase “No Vacas” meaning, “No Cows” in Portuguese, where the shoes are constructed under fair conditions, and consist of 100% PVC-free, high quality faux-leathers (What wrong with leather?).
Featuring last season’s smash-hit the Leo, now in black, as well as my new personal favorite, a fold-down, refined work-boot, the Milo, in both black and gray. What I love about a refined work boot is it’s versatility – great with some jeans for a autumn hike, and equally appropriate with some slacks, a blazer and tie. The shoes will be available starting Sept 15th online and in-store at MooShoes (to pre-order, email MooShoes). Click here for a list of additional stockists.
Their shiny new website was designed by DB contributor Troy Farmer of Raven + Crow.
Lu Flux is a London designer who specializes in creating unique pieces of ethical clothing that seem to emerge from fairy tales. By working with salvaged, vintage and organic fabrics, combined with traditional techniques of knitting, pleating and patchwork, the contemporary menswear and womenswear collections represent an antithesis to the modern trend of expendable fashion. The aim is to make something new out of something old, so as to consume less and reduce waste.
I spoke with Lu recently, and explained the environmental toll that livestock like sheep (wool), and cows (leather) take – even if it’s “organic”, as well as the ethical implications in general of wool and leather. I was told that there is never fur, and that Lorica (a vegan “leather”) is sometimes used. There are a few pieces in wool or leather, but Lu said, “I am thinking about using vegan Lorica for the shoes in my new collection – [and] you have put my mind in overtime with your sheep thoughts too.” I’m excited to see what sustainable, vegan creations Lu Flux will pull out of the magic hat next!
Anntian, a fresh, young label out of Berlin, Germany, utilizes regional manufacturing, ecological fabrics like organic cotton, and is continually seeking out sustainable methods and materials. These shirts are all 100% organic cotton and available at these shops , with several in the United States. The company does use some wool and silk in other garments, but they do not use fur or leather at all.
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.
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.
• Braintree is a UK based clothing line offering up some basics in sustainable materials. Polos, tees, henleys and button-downs in hemp, bamboo and organic cotton blends from.
• The New McDonalds campaign has me rolling my eyes, not rocking out. The “Come As You Are” ad series, created by European ad agency BETC Euro RSCG, is basically the European equivalent to “I’m Lovin It” and, while making a Nirvana reference, is trying to appeal to all sorts of white people in France. They have also changed their logo colors to green! This must mean they are now environmentalists, right? Now I can get gas at BP and drive through McD’s and know they are committed to green. The color.
Thanks to Andy for the tip!
