NY Fashion Week struts in green, but could take a lesson from some Chicago clothiers

Tibetan prayer flag skirt from Frei Designs

If there was one thing demonstrated by the creepy chants of “drill, baby, drill” thundering from the floor of the Republican Nation Convention last week (in response to Rudy Giuliani’s enthusiastic appraisal of McCain’s “all of the above” energy plan), it’s the power of a catchy imperative. So perhaps I should be more encouraged than irritated by footage of models and actresses chirping “Be EcoChic!” for the CNBC cameras on the eve of New York Fashion Week. The squeaky assonance of Fashion Week’s nod to environmental responsibility may not have the same frat-house-kegger infectiousness as the RNC chant, but then haute couture fashionistas fall into a somewhat wispier demographic. Yet somehow the sight of Tamara Feldman of Dirty Sexy Money and Gossip Girl fame clutching her heart and professing her love of the blue whale didn’t exactly fill me with confidence about the efficacy of pop celebs as spokespersons for environmental awareness. 

Don’t get me wrong: There’s no such thing as bad press, and when green has become so trendy that supermodels are willing to press flesh with the decidedly un-sexy Sierra Club, there’s some solace in the thought that the message might reach a few folks whose idea of environmental action is telling the chauffer not to let the stretch Navigator idle more than three minutes. Yes, pesticide-free cotton is a good thing. And yes, buying recycled clothing (some of us call it resale shopping) is an intelligent way to reduce waste. But let's be honest: Fashion is one industry that has room to do better. A lot better. 

Fortunately, a handful of small designers are digging deeper. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of taking with Anne Novotny, the idealistic mind behind Chicago-based Frei Designs. Anne is an Art Institute graduate who spent a few years in the New York fashion world before returning home to start a high-end clothing line that reflected her ethics. All fabrics used by Frei are from natural fibers, all dyes are from organic sources, and Anne goes to great lengths to ensure that the people producing her materials are paid a fair and living wage. Such cradle-to-consumer awareness is a rarity in haute couture—as Anne points out, we’re more accustomed to seeing fair trade and organic stamps on yoga and baby wear—which is somewhat counterintuitive; if you’re going to buy a top-of-the-line garment, shouldn’t it be held to the highest health, quality and human rights standards in every step of production? Anne believes this sort of care and attention makes a difference in the final product, which can be found at several Chicago boutiques including Floradora, Robin Richman and Pivot. Anne also teaches an after-school program at the Art Institute, educating youth on the health hazards of pesticides and synthetic fibers and the exploitation that props up disposable chains like Forever 21 and The Gap.

Fashion is an opaque industry: most fibers for clothing are grown, harvested and milled very far away and pass through a long, international line of hands (many of them female, underage and grossly underpaid) before hitting U.S. racks. Maureen Dunn and Michelle King, founders of Mata Traders, use their “buying power to make a difference,” supporting artisanal block printers in India—where the production of hand-crafted fabrics is a dying art—and purchasing from co-operatives and producers who pay good wages to their workers. Labor exploitation in the garment industry has been called a women's issue, since the majority of workers are female. Mata Traders guarantees that the women who hand-weave, dye and build the garments on their racks work and live under good conditions. Mata Traders sells an array of breezy dresses, beaded jewelry and colorful handbags from their storefront in the Andersonville Galleria. Last week's Be EcoChic event was held at the Museum of Natural History, so the cuteness of the blue whale trumped that of adolescent sweatshop workers in southeast Asia...for now. But the day is quickly arriving when the fashion industry will have to take a harder look at its ethics and practices to survive, particularly in a period of economic decline and increasing awareness of environmental and social justice issues. That is, if sustainability is more than a passing fashion.