Help Auralis Herrero Lugo Get to NYFW's The GreenShows

Many of you will recall designer Tara St. James of Study NY’s video fundraising appeal and subsequent democratizing of New York Fashion Week in September 2009. It seems like eons ago given all of the amazing things that Tara has been able to accomplish in just under one year. With the same grassroots spirit, Brooklyn-based fashion designer Auralís Herrero-Lugo is reaching out to the sustainable design community to pull together just over $5,000 for her S/S 2011 runway presentation at this September’s The GreenShows.

Auralís divides her time between New York CIty and Puerto Rico, working diligently on both islands to promote ethical and fair trade production and new jobs for local economies. In addition to her stunning fashion initiatives, Auralís is also an advocate for organic agriculture in numerous regions of her beloved Puerto Rico, as well as supporting urban planning initiatives for pedestrians and cyclists in her Brooklyn neighborhood.

Starre Vartan at Eco Chick did a great write up on Auralís Studio’s sexy and versatile S/S 2010 collection, and I would have to agree that the designer's implementation of soft eco-fabrics and chic black and white silhouettes for her jumpers and dresses makes her a cool favorite for Summer 2010.

Auralís is proposing the following for S/S 2011 via her Kickstarter page:

“Aside from making beautiful sustainable clothing for men and women, I aim to rescue old artisanal and eco-conscious Puerto Rican craft methods from extinction. I will employ and collaborate with local Puerto Rican artists to reinterpret and modernize some of the island’s cultural troves. I also want to showcase select sustainable and ethical fashion initiatives already happening on the island, such as Concalma - a line of sustainable and ethically manufactured bags and purses. S/S 2011 designs will include exclusive custom fabric prints from local NYC textile designers, which will be block printed with vegetable-based, non-toxic inks at my Brooklyn studio. These collaborations will be featured in the upcoming runway presentation with my S/S 2011 pieces."

If you are as inspired as I am by Auralís Herrero Lugo's latest ethical fashion initiatives, please visit Kickstarter to show your support by Thursday, September 2, 2010.

You can also read my article on Hand/Eye about the woven 'Proto hats' that Auralís intends to send down the runway as part of her new ethically-crafted accessories collection.

*top images are of the Auralís Convertible Jumper in black / photography by Raquel Perez Puig

NY Fashion Week Fix: Love Think Deux FM

So excited for Anna Kristina Gilkerson and deux fm's runway presentation at The GreenShows tomorrow afternoon, February 17.



Deux fm is a totally creative womenswear collection, bursting with style and heart, through and through. Based out of Novia Scotia, their timeless, eco chic garments are all crafted locally and domestically under fair labor practices, with a special wink to the down home work ethic of the North Atlantic coast.
Deux FM Kat Dress via Greenloop

I caught up with Anna Kristina Gilkerson a week or so before she headed off to NYC for The GreenShows, and she said some very real and lovely things about her participation in New York Fashion Week as an eco fashion label that keeps gathering momentum and accolades, deservedly so.

"On The GreenShows...This new niche of sustainable fashion is still a fragile ecosystem. It is definitely in the beginning stages where designers are testing the waters in different ways, paving a road for future designers and companies to jump on board. The GreenShows is a platform that allows eco designers to gain publicity on a global fashion circuit. New York is a great place for this because I can see green fashion getting the attention it needs for all the right reasons. Fashion first, with sustainability as a prerequisite. Not sustainability second because that is the whole basis for the shows with fashion being the physical manifestation."

Deux FM at EcoChic Geneva (photo: Johann Sauty)

"On showing at New York Fashion Week...I accepted the invite to The GreenShows not just because I love New York and it is one of the top fashion centers in the world, but because The GreenShows have proven to be, in just one season, the hot ticket of where to see green fashion at it’s best. My goal is to prove that my designs can be just as desirable as any other collection - green or not. I am also very excited to meet the other designers and everyone involved in the eco scene, because we all share at least one thing, we all want to prove that eco fashion can be edgy, innovative, and beautifully made but still kind and full of love."

Good luck, Anna and the deux fm team. We love what you do and think that you deserve the best. Love Think Ecochic.


*deuxfm

NY Fashion Week Fix: Gary Harvey's Bespoke Couture Opens The GreenShows

Gary Harvey's Baseball Puffball Dress created out of 26 nylon baseball jackets, ruched and attached to a striped rib corset, worn over a baseball jacket with socks made from the rib cuffs - presented at LFW Estethica in February 2007


Designer Gary Harvey will be the opening (eco fashion) act for The GreenShows during New York Fashion Week on Sunday evening. Harvey's bespoke couture will definitely create 'un spectacle' worthy of making fashionista hearts flutter on Valentine's night.

One of the best round-ups on the ethical-crafting of Harvey's recycled couture appears on Jill Danyelle's blog fiftyrx3. Like Harvey, Danyelle was definitely ahead of the pack in identifying new aesthetic expressions of the sustainable style movement.


*Stay tuned for more coverage on The GreenShows and the ones-to-watch in sustainable fashion for Fall 2010.