Entries Tagged as 'Culture'

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Zara launched online shopping in the U.S. this week. But is it ethical?

Zara is in the business of fast fashion — and I think we can all agree that fast fashion sucks, fueling a culture of constant consumption that latches onto low price points rather than quality craftsmanship, classic style or supporting independent business. But… every once in a while, fast fashion can have its place. As I’ve [...]

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Implications of the fashion industry: So much broader than we realize

Earlier this week I clicked on this article, devoured it, retweeted it — and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Lecturer and former fashion editor Charty Durrant writes about the impact the fashion industry has had on not only the ecology and economy of countless developing countries, but also — even more [...]

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Beauty products that heal: Prostitutes & addicts transformed by Thistle Farms

We all love hearing about a new for-benefit company, where a business has built its concept around benefitting a social cause. Most for-benefits are based in Africa or other impoverished countries, which is completely awesome — but there’s something especially impactful about hearing about one in my own country. It hits closer to home, literally. [...]

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

How Levi’s is combining style with sustainability

First, a contest! From now through Earth Day, this Friday, Levi’s is running a contest that I thought some of you might be interested in. To enter, just tweet about how YOU combine style and sustainability, whether you’re wearing vintage or building a sustainable wardrobe or reviving old furniture, and include the hashtag #SWTC (as [...]

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

A closer look at labor regulations with Nau Clothing

A couple weeks ago I published my latest piece on for-benefit companies at Commerce with a Conscience, With Benefits: Nau. For it, I got to learn a lot about the labor landscape from talking with Nau‘s product and textile guru: I get a little bit giddy every time I talk to someone like Jamie Bainbridge, [...]

Monday, November 8th, 2010

“Project Runway” winner Gretchen Jones on sustainable fashion, personal style and what it takes to win

Before Gretchen Jones was on Project Runway, she was a sustainable fashion designer in Portland, merchandising her slow-fashion line MothLove. But to take her work to the next level, for the sake of both finances and fame, she knew she needed some kind of jumpstart — so Season 8 it was. I got to chat [...]

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Epaulet in action with Ugglebo clog factory in Sweden

Look – the inner-workings of a traditional clog factory in Sweden! I love seeing the craftspeople in action. (Especially the rivets guy.) I’ve always thought the price point of Swedish clogs were a bit high (No 6, Swedish Hasbeens), but now I get it — plus, Epaulet’s exclusive designs start significantly lower, at $185. Very nice! Via [...]

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Top Fashion & Beauty brands from Newsweek’s Green Rankings 2010

We love our indie brands, but oftentimes shopping at chains can be unavoidable. Last month Newsweek released its Green Rankings 2010, ranking hundreds of the world’s most environmentally sound companies, and I went through and grabbed just the Fashion & Beauty companies from their Top 500 US Companies list — so that when we do find ourselves at [...]

Monday, September 20th, 2010

On fashion and style

This shot from The Sartorialist is fantastic in the first place. But I also love the context in which Scott Schuman posted it: In the midst of New York fashion week, he snapped this and then asked the question, “So what is more important, fashion or style?” Referring to “fashion” as following the trends, and [...]

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

5 things I love about San Francisco’s “green” culture

Lovely to see my new friends Jennine, founder of The Coveted and IFB, and Joslin, owner of EcoCitizen, featured in FASHIONmeGREEN’s San Francisco Project! In the video, Jennine mentions the influence that style bloggers can have in sharing great eco fashion with their audiences, and local designers (The Podolls, Feral Childe, Kayu and Juleselin) weigh in on the benefits of eco fashion. This video has [...]

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Please vote for me at SXSWi 2011!

If you have a minute right now, I would really appreciate your help. Please sign in and vote for my panel at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin next year! » Empowering Conscientious Consumers: Take the Power Back I’ll discuss case studies of brands/concepts that educate and empower responsible consumers through the web, along with: [...]

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Vacationland

Did you miss me? About a week ago Jon and I took a short vacation to Disneyland! But it’s taken me a while to get the wind back in my sails since we got back. It’s just that time of year, I guess, for vacations and transitions and the like. Last week was my first time [...]

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

The Story of Cosmetics, from Annie Leonard + SafeCosmetics.org

How crazy is it that current FDA laws concerning personal care products haven’t changed since 1938? Apparently cosmetics companies aren’t required to meet any standards or regulations with their products. Crazy. But there’s good news! Annie Leonard from The Story of Stuff has narrated this excellent video to educate us about what the heck we’re [...]

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Join me in standing up for Bangladeshi garment workers

“It is shameful that we allow the people who make our clothes to live in extreme poverty.” My friend Mary at Social Alterations (in the pic above) is running a really inspired campaign right now that I am excited to help support. The background: As you’ve probably heard, Bangladeshi garment workers have been on strike [...]

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Summer loving: Saint James sailor shirts

Because I don’t have much of a shopping budget lately, I’m taking in more “inspiration” than “new things.” Right now I’m so inspired by these classic Saint James sailor shirts. I’ve admired this shirt style since it came out at American Apparel earlier this year — until I figured out that AA was just copying a [...]

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Interview with Bright Young Things designer Eliza Starbuck

After helping announce the launch of Bright Young Things earlier this month, I got to catch up with designer Eliza Starbuck for a quick email interview about how her fashion label is doing things its own way. FLP: I read on your blog that at the time you met Sheena of The Uniform Project, you [...]

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Exclusive 15% off on Lalesso’s African-made dresses and jumpers!

Lalesso’s Spring Summer 2010 collection is as sweet as it is socially friendly. And with code “fashion loves people,” you can get 15% off in the Lalesso online store from now through June 30! In addition to dresses, this summer’s styles include two jumpers, two bikinis and even ballet flats. (The Mbari Playsuit, above, is [...]

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Sex and the City 2′s vintage wardrobe

How good is Pamela at Market Publique? I knew SATC wardrober Patricia Fields had a penchant for vintage, but Pamela’s post on how much vintage appeared throughout SATC2 really impressed me. Imagine all the hunting it took to find the right pieces for not one, but four looks, at a time. Check out all these [...]

Friday, June 18th, 2010

One of ethical fashion’s best concepts yet: Eliza Starbuck’s Ultimate LBD

Remember The Uniform Project? To raise money and awareness for the Akanksha Foundation, Sheena Matheiken wore the same little black dress every day for 365 days, styled as creatively as imaginable and photographed daily. Today, the designer of that little black dress is doing something truly disruptive in the fashion industry: Eliza Starbuck is releasing her [...]

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

FLP tees on the cover of KC Magazine!

Look familiar? The artwork from our our shirts made the cover of KC Magazine’s style issue this May! I just got my hands on the PDFs. For those of you just visiting the site for the first time, welcome, and I hope you’ll come back often. My goal is to help us all shop smarter [...]