I’ve written in the past about Nike’s Considered Design initiative, which I think is one of the most brilliant out there. This weekend, the brand introduced its newest Considered Design collection, N7, which benefits Native American youth sports. Read more about the shoes’ particulars at GreenBiz.com and Reuters. If you haven’t heard about Nike’s green [...]
Tomorrow night I’ll be diving into “the art of conversation” at Pecha Kucha Night, an awesome concept that invites creative people on stage to talk about anything they choose for 6:40 at a time — 20 slides at 20 seconds each. About 200 cities around the world host their own local events. I went to [...]
It’s taken me ages to finally post about this. But I’ve been feeling compelled to share my “evolved” feelings toward American Apparel — and they’re not so good anymore. Yes, I’ve posted about the company a fair amount here, and yes, I own a fair amount of the brand’s pieces. But no longer can I [...]
I’ve been a reader of Inhabitat for a few years now, soaking in their coverage of green architecture and consumables. They’ve always covered eco fashion to some degree, but as of today, they’re launching a new blog devoted entirely to it: Ecouterre! It’s about time… I’ve always really enjoyed Inhabitat’s fashion coverage (yes, even from [...]
A few weeks ago I attended my first TED event — but before you assume I dropped a couple thou on a conference, this one was right here in Kansas City and FREE. And totally awesome and inspiring. John Gerzema, author of The Brand Bubble and CIO at Young & Rubicam, kicked off the TEDxKC event of [...]
Lalesso is a socially aware company to watch — and right now, it’s one to buy from ASAP. The Maridadi Dress above is now just $30 (plus $12 shipping) during the company’s annual end-of-summer sale! From Lalesso’s site: ”All Lalesso clothing is manufactured under strict and extremely conscious ethical conditions in our self owned workshop in [...]
Earlier in August, the UK’s Sunday Times published a long look at garment manufacturing in Lesotho… and it was pretty scary. The scariest part? That this is where Gap’s Product Red is manufactured, initiated by Bono with the best of intentions, and yet so many adverse effects have gone on outside the factories. It’s a [...]
Yesterday the eco web was abuzz about PACT, a new underwear line designed by Yves Behar and supporting several causes of your choice. By my choosing, 10 percent of the $24 sale of this boy short (which, yes, I’m a sucker for) goes to support 826 National, an organization developing young writers. PACT looks like [...]
After reading up on the journalists that Bill Clinton helped free last week in North Korea, I read that Laura Ling and Euna Lee had been arrested while working on a documentary about human trafficking — the very issue that got me interested in ethical fashion a few years ago. I did a bit of [...]
For the second time this year, FLP is happy to participate in Max Gladwell‘s “10 Ways” series. This particular post is a collaboration between that series and Mashable’s Summer of Social Good charitable fundraiser, and it is being simultaneously published across more than 100 blogs. Social media is about connecting people and providing the tools [...]
Last month about seven of my coolest friends pointed me to a site they knew I’d love: The Uniform Project. They were all incredibly right. As an exercise in sustainable fashion, Sheena Matheiken is wearing the same dress every day for a year — the charcoal tunic you see above. In her words: There are [...]
First posted at the PopTech blog. It’s such a simple idea. And that’s the beauty of it. The 3/50 Project is a grassroots campaign to save independent businesses — “the brick-and-mortars our nation is built on.” It suggests that we choose our three favorite locally owned businesses, and at those three shops combined, commit to [...]
CITIZEN JOURNALISM, OPEN GOVERNMENT, STATUS UPDATES, COMMUNITY BUILDING, INFORMATION SHARING, CROWDSOURCING AND THE ELECTION OF A PRESIDENT In March at SxSW, I got to have a martini with Rob Reed, the person behind the persona of Max Gladwell. In following his work since then — particularly writings on the Max Gladwell blog about the intersection [...]
Remember Suno? Here’s another GORGEOUS little line bringing industry to Africa. “The Bantu concept is one which recognizes that we as consumers have the ability to make a difference in Africa. However, Bantu does not ask you to buy an ugly t-shirt in which a fraction of the proceeds go to one cause or another. [...]
Editor’s note: Today, I was excited to be able to publish a piece on the PopTech blog about my passion, ethical shopping. It gave me a great excuse to polish up some of that “permanent content” I’ve been promising for this site, so consider this the starting point for something of an “ethical shopping manifesto.” [...]
“Yoko and I, when we got together, we knew that whatever we did was going to be in the papers. So we decided to utilize the space we would occupy anyway by getting married with a commercial for peace.” Strategic. I like it. A lot. (Just finished watching the 1988 documentary Imagine: John Lennon.)
The story of Suno is the kind that makes me so happy. Designer Max Osterweis, whose “real” day job is as a screenwriter and film director in San Francisco, has been collecting traditional East African textiles for more than a decade. With the objective of bringing work to local factories in the struggling Nairobi, Kenya, [...]
All of these “exhibitions” combine two excellent things: Passion and Diversion. British artist Stuart Semple released these “happy clouds,” made of biodegradable soap and helium, into the London skies last week. I’m cheered, just looking at pictures! Via even*cleveland and today and tomorrow. Artist Neozoon has cut up old fur pieces to tag “fur graffiti” [...]
Mr. Kristof, Thank you for your editorial last week defending sweatshops. It was an informative, pleasantly written piece with the just right amount of personal account — how postmodern of you; who can argue with one’s own personal experience?! I’m an ethical fashion blogger who, like you, takes a healthy all-things-considered approach to my opinions. [...]
I’m thinking very hard right now. The NY Times’ amazing Nicholas Kristof published an op-ed piece Wednesday, Where Sweatshops are a Dream, that makes the reasons for supporting overseas manufacturing — even sweatshops — painfully clear. Most notably, because the alternatives to factory jobs are much, much worse. As an ethical fashion advocate, I don’t [...]