In a stroke of generosity — for Oklahoma City tornado victims and for letterpress lovers everywhere — everything at Hammerpress is half off today through Sunday, and all proceeds benefit the Red Cross for OKC tornado relief. It must be time for a late spring cleaning at my favorite letterpress shop, because this is a steal of a deal. I’m crazy about this trio of 12×12 art prints on the shop’s trademark super-thick recycled chipboard, now $10 each. Use code OKC2013 at checkout.

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Two things that set the KinderStuff brand apart are your markup-free pricing model and that you take back all garments that you make. What inspired these traits? 

We realized that when it comes to dressing babies, parents face two major pain points that nobody really addresses. So we thought about a new way of consuming baby clothing.

First, premium kids fashion is really expensive. This is due to all the middlemen involved, who all take a share. We have no fancy physical stores, no wholesalers taking their cut, and no crazy brand markups. By selling exclusively on the web, we can offer amazing baby clothes at great prices. It’s an unconventional retail model that we believe creates great benefits for parents.

Second, kids grow but clothes don’t. When kids outgrow our clothing, parents can send their used KinderStuff products back to us, free of shipping charges and in return for a discount on future purchases! Returned used clothing is then donated to charity, recycled, or resold at a discount.

KinderStuff manufactures only in the U.S. and Germany. Why is this important to you? 

For us, “sustainable living” was part of growing up. I mean, we did not fanatically try to save the planet, but small things such as turning off the lights or our mothers’ honest attempt to buy at the local farmers market influenced us a lot. So when we came up with the idea for KinderStuff, manufacturing in the U.S. and Germany just felt like the right thing to do.

Among others, two reasons drove us to do so: First, only we can ensure that every KinderStuff product is 100% safe, non-toxic and organic. There’s just been too many scandals where even big corporations couldn’t ensure that their clothing, which was manufactured in low-cost countries, didn’t meet minimal standards. By manufacturing in the U.S. and Germany we can furthermore ensure that our products are truly of superior construction and durability.

Second, we think this is a great step to revive local apparel industries and create jobs. Besides that, it enables us to ensure fair labor practices. The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over a thousand people last month was far from the first fatal accident in the country’s garment industry. We just don’t want to be part of that system. All the factories we work with are certified manufacturers and we personally regularly inspect them. We screen every potential partner thoroughly in order to be able to keep the promises we made to our customers.

The line illustrations on some of your pieces are really unique compared to most graphic baby clothes. What’s the story behind them?

Glad you like our designs! When it comes to organic (baby) clothing there is one more thing that we would like to change: Most organic clothing is usually pretty dull. We aimed to create products that are fun and hip. We actually collaborated with various urban artists to come up with refreshing new designs and will keep on doing so.

Your site doesn’t yet have any returned garments for sale. When can we expect that?

That depends on when customers start sending back their used KinderStuff. It will probably take another couple of months until people start doing so. However, people seem to respond very well to the offer and we’re therefore confident it will happen soon. Many customers are very excited about this part of our business model.

As a special treat just for us, get $10 off your KinderStuff purchase
with code TEDDY3248!

The post Q&A with new baby brand KinderStuff: “We have solved the problem that kids grow but clothes don’t” appeared first on fashion loves people.

As you no doubt know, three weeks ago on April 24, an eight-story factory building collapsed. Early reports counted a death toll of a few hundred, and especially at first, the event felt more like a far-away bullet point in the news than something that might actually affect you or me.

But soon, we heard that the factory building was one where garments have been produced for brands that we know well, like Zara, Lee, Nike, Walmart and more. Last week the body count continued to climb, now reaching over 1,100.

I wasn’t initially going to write about this, because my goal is to cover positive news about ethical fashion, not negative. But this event is a game-changer — which I realized fully only after listening to a Terry Gross interview on NPR with Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion.

“I’m 100 percent convinced this is the turning point,” she said. “I feel like it’s too bad of a tragedy for the brands to bounce back this time.”

She pointed out that the media coverage has been linking the connection between the demand we create for cheap fashion and the tragedy that happened as a result of unsafe factory conditions. This connection wasn’t being made a year ago, she said, and the turning point will happen because brands can sense that.

If you’re at all interested in ethical fashion, definitely listen to this interview: Elizabeth describes how our relationship to our clothes has changed over the past few decades and how our consumption has changed as a result, and she describes her experience reporting undercover for her book in Bangladesh specifically. (She wasn’t surprised to hear this latest news.)

Her message for people who are wary of spending more on ethically produced garments: “Sometimes it’s about how you shop, not where you shop.” Don’t think of your clothes as disposable, think of them as pieces you’ll wear for years.

Some effects of the factory collapse: Retailers including H&M and Zara have signed onto a plan that finances fire safety and building improvements in factories they use in Bangladesh (NYTimes). As many as 300 factories in Bangladesh have closed due to demands for safety from workers (BBC). The Bangladeshi government is now allowing trade unions to form (BBC). The minimum wage in Bangladesh is increasing, though it’s still one of the lowest in the world (BBC).

Read more real-talk coverage on Bangladesh from Ecouterre.

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I’m a Refinery29 “cool mom” today! Sharing three of my favorite Bay Area picks for kids. Tantrum in Cole Valley, Fairyland in Oakland and the kid’s section at Cotton Sheep in Hayes Valley made my list. I can’t wait to check out new spots from the eight other moms featured.

Refinery29′s BEST kid-tested, mother-approved spots in the Bay »

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My sources tell me that less than 500 out of 1500 Genet scarves are still available, and after that, this design will be gone for good!

Following the scarf design contest I won at Alt Summit in January, the scarves went on sale last month, and mine just arrived on Saturday. I haven’t taken it off since. I don’t get anything out of the sales of these scarves — except infinite satisfaction! (And a small 10% kick-back if you buy through a custom link from my site, full disclosure!)

Still on the fence about springing on this $65 scarf? Like all FashionABLE scarves, it’s woven by hand in Ethiopia by women who are able to turn their lives around thanks to the work of Barrett Ward and his company. Genet, who leads the production of this scarf — AND SHARES MY NAME! — had a baby at 15 after being raped and turned to prostitution to provide for her and her daughter. A life I can’t even fathom, but that breaks my heart. Today, she continues to develop valuable trade skills while also working through counseling to overcome the impossible challenges she’s faced.

From these images, you can get a sense of the feel of the scarf. The black threads are quite light and even see-through, and the white threads add weight and warmth. (Just how I’d envisioned it!) Its large size makes it perfect for cozying up around your neck, for men or women… or even using it as a throw, seriously! I’m in love with both sides of the scarf and how they look together.

For more, you can read a Q&A I did for Disney Baby, with my Mother’s Day wish for Genet, and watch a video I made for FashionABLE.

Top image by Shilpi Tomar. To wear it as a circle scarf, I tied the ends together. 

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“As miniature and uncynical as a toddler’s beating heart” — yes, that’s Fairyland! (As described by San Francisco Magazine.) Last week, my friend Dionne and I took our toddlers to Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, and there was so much to love. I only found out about this place about a month ago, but as a lover of all things old and awesome, I had to go. It opened in 1950 as the first amusement park created specifically for kids 8 and under, now with about 60 different storybook scenes. It pre-dated Disneyland by five years and, not surprisingly now that I’ve visited, was one of Walt Disney’s inspirations. The Magic Keys that activate talking story boxes throughout the park are an East Bay icon, inked on t-shirts and even tattoos.

Fairyland is full of gems. Like rides that only allow kids of a set height and UNDER! Like the ferris wheel that you had to be under 54″ to ride. Dionne and I laughed at ourselves for feeling wary about letting our two 18-month-olds ride it ALONE. No adults allowed. Turns out it was a bigger deal to us than them. They’re still a bit young to appreciate a place like this — their favorite feature was a little waterfall with stepping stones below it. But how they loved that.

We were there for a few hours and didn’t make it through the entire park… we left more discoveries for the next time we visit. More pics after the jump.

Viv and Milla’s first ferris wheel ride. By themselves!

Beautiful Dionne and Milla after sliding down an astroturf hill on a piece of cardboard.

The detail in all the Alice in Wonderland scenes was amazing. 

The little kids’ carousel. There’s another one for big kids. 

Inside the mouth of the whale. (It’s a fish tank.) 

Thanks Fairyland, we love you.  

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• INBOX ZERO! Last Friday I hit Archive on thouuuusands of emails in my nightmare of an Inbox. And over the past week I’ve totally kept up with new stuff. It makes me feel so much more in control. I’ve historically been awful at responding to emails and keeping up with un-immediate relationships in general. This new Inbox thing even makes me feel better at everything. Like I don’t have a looming to-do list of a zillion unread emails, so I can actually initiate new things outside of my Inbox as well. Side note, if you sent me an email prior to the 19th that I haven’t responded to, feel free to ping me again. Natch! Image of Odette’s inspiration board, from an inspiring round-up on Simple Lovely.

• Thanks in part to my new Inbox competency and in part to being a regular blogger again (after my year-plus hiatus), I’ve been connecting recently with some amazing ethical brands. I’ll start sharing new interviews and features from them next week.

• Let’s see, how do I turn this one into a positive… “Learning to not stress”? Viv has un-learned the ability to fall asleep at night over the past few days. Which has translated to me laying in my bed with her rather than putting in a few more hours of work on my laptop. Which has translated to not being able to post a few posts that I have mentally queued up. But as Jon suggested, “Don’t stress.” An important reminder. The rebellious toddler, putting out her cigarette… behind the lens, I didn’t know what she was picking up until after the fact! 
• Jon and I are coming up on our 3-year mark as San Franciscans. I realized recently that living here has turned me into an EXPERT parallel parker.

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Several days ago Refinery29 published a piece comparing the ethics of eight popular brands. It opened with a few great quotes from the director of a social good nonprofit in Kenya.

“The clothing we wear reflects the choices we make: thousands of economic votes that have the power to shift the clothing industry,” explains Zane Wilemon, executive director of CTC International and eco-clothing-brand L.I.F.E. Line.

“The clothing industry plays a very significant role in global sustainability. Customers should start asking where materials are sourced and find out exactly what are the working conditions of the people making this clothing…after asking those questions we may not like the answers, but that’s where change begins.”

I wish the article had mentioned the idea of quality over quantity, and supporting independent and mid-sized brands — where those dollar votes really matter.

But for the times that we find a void in our closets only chain stores can fill, here’s R29′s take on how eight companies weigh in. They ranked each on Transparency, Ethical fabrics/care for the environment, Worker treatment and Donations to charity, listed respectively below. (FWIW, it appears that the sources about each brand were their websites as opposed to brand spokespeople.)

1. H&M: High/Yes/Yes/Yes
2. Gap Inc.: Medium-High/Somewhat/Yes/Yes
3. UNIQLO: Medium-High/No info/Yes/Yes
4. Forever 21: Medium/Yes/Yes/Yes
5. J.Crew: Medium/Somewhat/Yes/Yes
6. Victoria’s Secret: Medium/Somewhat/Yes/Not sure
7. Zara: Medium-Low/Yes/Poor/None
8. Urban Outfitters: Low/Not sure/Not sure/Not sure

You can read more in past articles of mine, like Top Fashion & Beauty brands from Newsweek’s Green Rankings and 15 Big Brands ranked according to labor rights. Image from a R29 feature on model Lily Aldridge.

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Enjoy the earth today! Matching stripes optional.

(See more matching parents and babies on my incognito Tumblr, Mini Moi!)

The post Happy Earth Day appeared first on fashion loves people.

• The best use I’ve ever seen of recycled denim: Scandanavian-inspired rag rugs! By Nudie Jeans in collaboration with their Turkish organic denim supplier Bossa. The limited-edition rugs are available for $599 at the brand’s concept stores, the only U.S. one being in LA. More info at Cool Hunting. Via Ecouterre

• Alyson Fox home and studio tour. 

• Organic baby turbans. I know.

• My dear friend Lindsey Lang recently launch an amazing textiles and homewares line. These are her cement floor and wall tiles, made in the traditional encaustic process. So stunning, so versatile. Lindsey and I are fellow Kansans — we met in college. She now lives on a house boat in London with her husband.

• This Decemberists song has been in my head since I heard it covered on — of all places — The Office. It’s kind of a perfect song. The harmonies on The Office version were so good. (Even better than the original. Don’t tell The Decemberists I said so.)

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