The GreenShows Fall 2012 Collections: Fashionable Eco-Friendly Fashion

The Fall 2012 GreenShows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week featured ethically sustainable fashion from eight fashion designers in conjunction with a jewelry and accessories display.

Featured designers included:

• United Bamboo
• Bamboo by United Bamboo
• H. Fredriksson
• Study NY
• The Battalion
• Luis Valenzuela
• Ajna
• Artists & Revolutionaries

Looks ranged from hand knit sweaters to dresses and separates. Prominent materials included organic wool and cotton.

I was actually first introduced to sustainable fashion from my friend, former FIT classmate and eco-friendly fashion designer Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda. She was recently featured in the Green Fashion Show competition in Amsterdam Fashion Week a few weeks ago. 

So what is sustainable/eco-friendly fashion?

A few of the major rules of sustainable fashion state that fair/ethical trade must be enforced where the production of the garments are made in a legal and safe environment as well as produced locally. Garments are also made to order to avoid over-production. 

Organic/natural textiles and materials are used which may include fabric from natural sources like bamboo, seaweed, corn milk-fiber, hemp, nettle, wool, peace silk, soy silk, wood, rubber, cork, cupro and exotic sustaining plants. If the fabric is dyed then it must be from dyes made from a natural class of colorants extracted from vegetables. Finally the major component is it must be animal/cruelty free.  
Personally, I think eco-friendly fashion needs to be more accepted in mainstream fashion. The one thing that I would never wear is real fur. I’m all about rocking fabulous faux furs and I think more people need to realize that you can still look good and be eco-friendly.

For more information about the GreenShows and sustainable fashion visit www.thegreenshows.com.