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 [...]
I love the diversity that is SXSWi! In addition to promoting Storenvy like crazy, I’ve gotten to meet up on the side with some awesome fashion blogger friends, new and old. I just met the founder of the lovely new site Fashism.com, which I think you guys might really like. At Fashism, users can upload pictures [...]
So much print-on-print! It’s perfect. Suno, which launched two years ago with the impetus of bolstering Kenya’s manufacturing industry (and which I first wrote about here), seems to have made an especially big splash at NYFW with its newest collection. Style.com wrote, “Of course, along with a major buzz comes major pressure—but Suno’s confident and spirited [...]
I just (finally) watched Food, Inc. for the first time. Besides providing a continued education on where our food comes from, it reminded me of what a moral obligation I believe we all have to be good and thoughtful stewards of the things we consume. If you haven’t seen this film yet, do! I watched [...]
I think I’ve answered my own question as to why so many cultures around the world have their own different-yet-similar geometric patterns. Looms! The similarity among patterns would come from all cultures having the same design challenge: There’s only so much you can do with line patterns, as in weaving or with a knitting pattern. Right? [...]
Over at Storenvy, we’ve spent the last 10 days or so working on a t-shirt design collaboration to benefit earthquake relief in Haiti. Designers from the community donated designs, and the community voted on their favorites. Based on all the support we got in the voting, we decided to print nine tee designs that are [...]
I just learned via Facebook that my friend Natasha was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. Hearing about the country’s heart-wrenching news has been sickeningly sad, but it wasn’t until I heard about Tasha being there that it really felt heavy. Thankfully, I hear she is fine. But I am humbled. Jon and I donated today [...]
I’m all about geometric designs right now. A year ago I was assigned a story for a local magazine about a local rug shop that specializes in semi-antique hand-knotted rugs, like this: I learned that hand-knotted rugs are so special because they don’t have a pile, which means they don’t wear down like traditional synthetic [...]
This was kind of a big week for ethical fashion news. The New York Times outed H&M for intentionally destroying and discarding unsold merchandise at a New York store, to which the brand responded with a statement saying they would make sure it wouldn’t happen again. And amidst it all, H&M launched a spring line [...]
I love ponchos, and I love belts-through-slots that make baggy things look fitted, and I love trench coats, and I love Built by Wendy. So obviously I love this piece of outerwear. But you would never guess the coolest part about it — Wendy designed it in collaboration with 1800wheelchair as a coat that is easier [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Last week I finally started reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the quintessential book on tracing where the food we eat comes from. I’ve only barely gotten past the book’s introduction, but already it is blowing me away and satiating my “I haven’t taken in anything heady in a while” appetite. I bring it up [...]
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 [...]
Lo and behold, I open up my Style Bubble RSS feed today, and Susie’s designer crush of the moment is none other than Kansas City’s Peggy Noland. Gotta love it! I took the image above of Peggy’s KC shop earlier this summer, covered in stuffed animals, and Susie showed the inside of Peggy’s new shop [...]
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 [...]
Dress by Bibico: Bib Dress Made of jersey Ethically made by women in India and Nepal, as certified by the International Association of Fairtrade £34 £24 (ships from the UK) Necklace by Alkemie Jewelry: Froggy Necklace Made of reclaimed-metal Made in the U.S. 33″ long with a ring-and-toggle clasp $210 Vintage oxfords sold by The [...]
For the past few years, I’ve gotten together with friends every six months or so for a clothing exchange. Without fail, I always find a few things I love. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the clothing swap concept, and many of you have probably done it before, but I wanted to pass along how [...]