Organic Fashion at Mudshark Streetwear

Obviously (by the title of this blog) I am fascinated by the movement from top fashion designers to create gorgeous garments and accessories using sustainable and environmentally sound materials.  I am thrilled this is not just a trend- but a permanent fixture in the fashion community.  Every so often I discover little gems that I like to share (and sometimes wear if I am lucky).  I was excited to come across  Mudshark Streetwear, an online retailer featuring the best & up and coming Canadian designers with a wonderful selection of Independent and Eco Fashion at a reasonable price.  

I absolutely love the look of this Elroy Apparel Sequoia Dress (pictured above).  The dress is fully lined and made from fabric that is a mixture of soy, organic cotton and a touch of spandex jersey knit for that comfy T Shirt feel.  The design is an open round neck dress with large front pockets set in seams, rouched center front, and back waists and hems for a bubbled look. It is fully lined. 

 

  Check out this sleek & hot backless Elroy Apparel Idesia Dress.   It ties at back waist for a perfect fit.  And the best part: the fabric is 100 percent bamboo jersey knit.  I love the simple elegance of this peice and the tie back would make this a flattering fit on just about anybody.  

Think Pink- Fighting for the Cure

The Leakey Collection has created a special line of Zulugrass jewelry to help the fight against Breast Cancer.

So Charming

 

 

I have a new “must have” item:  A Good Charma Bracelet.  I would personally like to have the Good Luck one.  These bracelets are sexy, cool, can be worn with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or with a slinky dress for a night out.  There is something very special and appealing about Good Charma bracelets;  they been a favorite among celebrities like Demi Moore & Beyonce and Madonna (she has reportedly gifted over 100 sets to her friends)!

These feel good bracelets are designed to stir the soul and bring forth feelings of well-being and peace. Rachel Smith of Giving Tree Jewelry says the bracelets are packed with great energy and wildly popular at her gallery because they appeal to such a wide audience.  “They are incredibly comfortable, and everyone who buys one, comes back to the gallery and still has it on! It’s comfortable, stylish, and brings great things!” 

 

Good Charma- Love

 

Favorites among her customers include the Good Charma Luck bracelet and the Good Charma Love bracelet.  The jewelry recently caught the attention of Extra’s Tanika Ray who interviewed Smith (see clip above). Bracelets are hand made and composed of 6 strands, either sterling silver or 14 karot gold.  Each charm is packed with great energy and holds a significant spiritual meaning.  The bracelets are sold at http://www.givingtreejewelry.com.  Happy Shopping….

The Leakey Collection features the beautiful and sustainable jewelry handcrafted by the Maasai women of Kenya

 

Few have experienced the exotic lifestyle led by Philip and Katy Leakey in the rural bush of the Rift Valley in Kenya; and in 2002 they had an idea:  bring a piece of their world to the rest of the globe. The Leakey’s vision was to utilize their artistic talent and passion for African culture and create beautiful, stylish and sustainable accessories while providing income for the Maasai in Kenya.  The Leakey Collection was born.

The Maasai women work under acacia trees at mobile work sites in the Rift Valley, spanning 150 miles.  The Leakey Collection provides work opportunities where work is needed, and is currently offering employment to over 1200 Kenyans.   Katy Leakey is hopeful this statistic will grow by reaching a wider audience through their new retail site, http://www.leakeylife.com. “We developed this company with the goal of enhancing understanding between developed nations and Africa using products and commerce as a vehicle.” says Ms. Leakey.  “Consumers want quality products made from sustainable and natural resources; and that is exactly what they will find from The Leakey Collection.”

Philip Leakey is the third and youngest son of paleo-anthropologists Drs. Louis and Mary Leakey. He was a Member of Parliament in Kenya for 15 years, a Deputy Member of the Cabinet for 14 years and a Member of Cabinet for 1 year. Philip is known in Kenya for his dedication towards improving conditions for all Kenyan’s with particular attention to the areas of business opportunity and the environment.  Katy Leakey’s talent as an artist and designer has allowed her to connect diverse cultures through art and lecturing in university systems in the United States. She spent time studying ancient cultures in the unexplored areas of the Amazon of Peru and Ecuador before moving to Africa in 2001. In 1964 Allen and Helen O’Brien along with Katy Leakey’s parents, Robert and Evelyn Moodey along with three others, co-founded the L.S.B. Leakey foundation, lending a cultural anthropological bent towards Katy’s life long work in art.

The Zulugrass and Zuluwood lines feature the most popular products of The Leakey Collection; and have found their way into the global market.

Zulugrass is the cornerstone of The Leakey Collection and contains vibrant and exotic necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  Each piece of Zulugrass is assembled by the Maasai women from grass beads colored with low impact textile dyes.  The grass is harvested and cut into beads by hand.   The pieces are then mixed with hand blown Czech and Japanese glass beads and strung on a special blend of elastic that was used in the movie, Spiderman.

ZuluWood necklaces and earrings are made from the native woods of East Africa and is the natural compliment to Zulugrass jewelry. All wood used to make the Zuluwood products are collected from fallen and sustainable pieces of acacia.  Sustainable methods of planning and collection are utilized in this process.  In addition, wood is hand tooled and burnished for a gem like finish; there is no wax, lacquer or varnish used on any of the beads or wooden products.  

From high fashion jewelry to home interior design accessories, The Leakey Collection’s natural elegance distinguishes this high end product line as one of the world’s premier offerings.  These extraordinary pieces are now available http://www.leakeylife.com .

 

MyItThings Column

Recycled with Style

Earrings from Bottled Up Designs- Made From Recycled Glass

Why designers and artists are eager to utilize recycled materials

Stylish Escama Clutch Bag- Made from Recycled Aluminum Tabs

America Ferrera as "Ugly Betty" carrying a Rebaz Tote

 

Recycling materials and transforming them into fashion accessories is a win-win situation.  Designers and artisans who work with recycled materials are taking a product at the end of its useful life and turning it into a usable raw material to make another product.   As a consumer, you are helping the environment when you support businesses that manufacture clothing and accessories made from recycled materials.

How are you helping?  Scientists are noting our planet’s landfills are filling at an alarming rate; many of the materials filling these landfills will remain for thousands of years.  And the consequences will be disastrous if we do not follow basic recycling principles.  Recycling reduces the demand for raw materials- and preserving our resources.   It reduces air and water pollution along with energy usage. 

The consumer in turn is rewarded by acquiring a quality product that is unique and well made.  Products made from recycled materials are often handcrafted and manufactured by a fair trade organization that provides a fair wage and favorable working conditions for their workers.  

Celebrities and fashionistas alike are spotted everywhere donning everything from bags made from recycled juice boxes, plastic bags or rubber tires to earrings made from old mason jars and Clorox bottles. As more and more of us are beginning to follow the green movement, designers are creating fantastic well crafted pieces fashion consumers will enjoy for generations to come.  Making treasures out of trash has come a long way. 

 

Here are some of my favorite recycled fashion pics:

 

Vy & Elle Bags- Made from PVC Vinyl (Recycled Vinyl Billboards)

An average person will spot hundreds of billboards with advertisements made of PVC vinyl each day.  When these billboards are no longer needed, they are discarded into landfills where they create toxic pollution. Upset by this wasteful practice, Nicola Freegard and Robin Janson founded Vy & Elle in 2002 in order to transform this landfill-bound material into durable and vibrant products. The strength of PVC vinyl makes it an ideal material for reuse, and because of the different images printed on the vinyl, it’s even more interesting as a fabric. The material offers colorful graphics that take urban art into everyday living. Each bag and accessory item Vy & Elle makes is unique: with random colors and designs, every product made is different, offering a chance to carry a piece of art on a shoulder, in a pocketbook or in the home.

http://www.raindogsonline.com

 

Rebagz from Half the Sky Designs- Made from recycled juice boxes

Moms everywhere love the convenience of disposable juice boxes. The square boxes used for liquids are called “Aseptics”.  Aseptics are made from complex layers of plastic, metal and paper. The aseptic industry has spent millions in public education on the issue of aseptic recycling. However, the actual recycling process is very expensive and awkward, and is therefore only available in a very few places.  Fortunately, a group of enterprising women in the Philippines have found a way to incorporate this awkward material into fabulous designs.  They cut the juice packs into strips, fold and weave them together to create some very cool stuff! Well-made, vibrant, fashionable and functional are just some of the ways to describe these water-resistant handmade creations. Rebagz is a line of bright durable totes, packs, handbags and wallets made from recycled juice packs and nylon rice sacks.

http://www.organicbug.com

Escama Bags- Made from Aluminum Tabs

These elegant and eye catching pieces are all made from recycled aluminum tabs. Based in San Francisco, Escama Studio works directly with two Brazilian craft cooperatives – Cia do Lacre and As Panteras do Lacre – to design and produce these sleek, modern pieces using traditional crochet techniques and recycled aluminum pull-tabs. Escama Studio believes that the world’s abundance of ‘junk’ offers a lot of creative potential.  Did you know that recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy cost of processing new aluminum?

Sold at http://www.raindogsonline.com

Bottled Up Designs- Jewelry made from recycled glass

Why use recycled glass?  The manufacture of glass uses energy in the extraction and transportation of the raw materials, and during processing, as materials have to be heated together to a very high temperature. Large amounts of fuel are used and the combustion of these fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas. Glass can be recycled indefinitely as part of a simple but hugely beneficial process, as its structure does not deteriorate when reprocessed.

The artisans at Bottle Up Designs polish and mold the recycled glass to eliminate any sharp edges. The glass is then skillfully mounted in delicate spirals of sterling hoops to produce enchanting pendants and earrings that catch the light with every move! Each pendant is strung onto a simple contemporary round neck cord made from recycled rubber tires. Each piece comes with the Story of the Glass, so the artist includes a card with each selection relating the approximate age and original use of the antique glass. The Amber Square Pendant & Earrings hail from the broken remains of antique Clorox bottles!  The vivid deep blue color of the Antique Cobalt Glass Square Pendant & Earrings comes from the broken remains of old Noxema bottles! 

http://www.organicbug.com

 

Maasai Beaded Necklaces- made with recycled paper beads

The young women from the Teenage Mothers and Girls Association of Kenya (TEMAK) use a combination of handmade paper beads and Maasai glass seed beads to string fun, colorful jewelry. TEMAK, a Fair Trade organization, trains young women in life skills and craft making to support themselves and their families. Using recycled materials such as magazine, calendar & brochure pages, tin cans and wire taken from car engines, each artisan develops her own unique style that is apparent in each piece of jewelry. The paper is cut into triangles then rolled to form the beads—wide, short strips for narrow beads & long, thin strips for chunky beads. Applying a high-gloss varnish as a finish, each recycled paper bead looks like polished stone or wood! It’s amazing! Some necklaces have matching beads but most are mixed with an array of muted colors as you can see by the images.

http://www.organicbug.com