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Eco-Fashion Takes Center Stage
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 LaMont Jones - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
NEW YORK -- The house lights dim, sounds of falling rain and claps of thunder follow. Then come the models, adorned in clothes with colors and patterns aimed to evoke a sense of the sea, sky and wild lands, often made from fabrics that require less processing and by workers who are paid fair wages.
Such was the scene at several shows during the fashion industry's premier annual showcase, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which wrapped up this week in Bryant Park and other Manhattan locales. As they unveiled their spring and summer lines to the news media and the public, several designers played up the eco-fashion theme, so called because it reflects concern for the environment and sustainable living practices.
There were biodegradable and recycled fabrics such as hemp, bamboo and cotton grown without pesticides, developed at factories where working conditions and wages were deemed to be clean and fair.
Marc Bouwer and other designers incorporated these environmentally friendly textiles into their lines, while many more cited the pure craftsmanship of early America as a source of design inspiration.
The movement, which first made a splash at fashion week two years ago, comes in a year in which being socially responsible and concerned about the world has become the right, if not hip, thing to do.
Sales in the fickle fashion business are all about buzz, and these days, much of the buzz is centering on clothes that consumers can feel good about buying.
While apparel sales have continued to hold up in the face of a slowing economy, there is concern that the subprime mortgage market meltdown, mixed with falling home sales and prices, and rising oil prices, could spawn a recession. Short of that, there are fears clothing sales could slip just as the holiday season is about to get under way.
Thus anything that can infuse a little enthusiasm among shoppers is seen as a good and necessary thing. That is why this year's fashion show took on an added sense of urgency among several designers and the retailers who will peddle their goods.
Starting with the music the influence of nature was everywhere during the past week. Sea- and sky-themed sets, earthy colors and animals all played a role.
Tadashi Shoji, whose eveningwear included a bamboo bustier and ocean-inspired colors, was explicit about how nature inspired his collection.
"In all its colors and rhythms," he said, "from the shallow clear tropical waters to the mysteries of the depths, from the coral gardens and the creatures that lie within, to the swell of the first wave of a rising tide, the infinite seas have long nourished the daydreams and wonderment of the peoples who reside upon their sands and shores."
Zac Posen was among the designers whose spring collections were informed by early American handcraftsmanship. It was sort of Shaker chic, a young designer's ode to the simple design and construction of clothing within that distinctive American culture.
A fan-shaped cluster of wheat adorned the front of a linen mini dress in one look, while an edgy "urban scarecrow" frock with laser-cut taffeta trim resembled a sheath of wheat.
Posen's finale, one of the week's most dramatic, featured five couture-style gowns cut from the same sky-hued fabric but in different silhouettes named after cloud formations: serene, nimbus, cyclone, cumulus and cirrus.
His vision was inspired by rural landscapes, country sides, wheat fields and big, open skies with "probably the best clouds in the world," he told newspaper fashion editors during a breakfast preview the day before the show.
LaMont Jones can be reached at ljones(at)post-gazette.com. For more stories visit scrippsnewscom. |
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