White Apricot

It was a packed house at the only "green" fashion show during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and actress Amy Smart, who is passionate about eco fashion, and heiress and eco lifestyle expert, Anna Getty, were front and center with photographers and microphones all around them. I was very excited to attend this show because it featured six green fashion designers I didn’t really know: M the Movement, Lady Muse, Andira Rain Tees, Lilikoi, Vintage China and Rene Geneva.  Although each line had at least one great piece, for me, there were two stand-outs. The Fall 2008 collection from Lady Muse featured exquisitely baroque, rich, regal and feminine brocade coats, made of recycled and rescued fabrics, mostly done in luscious combinations of cream, camel and black. The second was Vintage China, a more edgy urban line for women and men with an Asian influence, known for its Japanese and Chinese denim, that featured the Chinese characters for “Vintage China” spelled out in various studs, on the back of all of its tops and jackets.  The final showpiece in this particular collection was a long gown with a train, made out of patched together recycled jeans. Breath-taking!

Rene Geneva’s collection was also striking, featuring dresses done with her unique and elaborate corsets, all made of eco friendly and recycled materials. Rounding out the show, created by PR and marketing company, The Gallery Los Angeles, was Andira Rain Tees, a socially conscious company, showing Rain Forest-inspired cotton designs with the goal of planting trees in Central and South America, Lilikoi’s Hawaiian-inspired designs, made of bamboo, soy, organic cotton and linen and M the Movement, which was cool street wear, mostly for men, in sustainable fabrics…all in all a very cool fashion show that introduced each designer with a music or dance interpretation befitting the style…from break dancing to modern lyrical dance to yes…coconut shell bras, grass skirts and a whole lot of shakin’!

Guess, Inc. has announcedthat it will unveil "Guess Green," starting with four eco friendly styles next month. The first pieces will be boot cut jeans for women and men, a t-shirt for men and a tank top (pictured here) for women, all made of organic cotton. The jeans will be a dark wash that minimizes the use of chemicals. Guess has also developed a new "Guess Green" logo for the new line that will be printed on the bottom corner of the tops. Look for Guess to start to roll out the eco styles next month in 79 of its top stores and on its website. Jeans will retail for $178, men's tee for $39 and women's top for $29. The company is also donating 10% of proceeds to the Environmental Media Association. www.guess.com

Spring is a time for new growth and premier organic lifestyle company, Under the Canopy, is doing just that by introducing its new Spring 2008 collection, featuring some of the most feminine and wearable tunics, sweaters, tees and dresses to spring forth from organic materials, including linen, cotton voile and bamboo. We are crazy about the Madeline organic linen cropped jacket in acid green that will have you right on the pulse of the mainstream spring brights trend. We also love the Carrie organic cotton voile white tunic and the silver organic cotton Pearl sweater (available soon) with its bell sleeves and flared shape. On the sportier side, there is a vast assortment of soft tees, tanks and pants that look and feel so perfect, you will never want to take them off.

Under the Canopy will be showing the newspring eco friendly clothing collection at the second annual thinkVitality Fashion Show, taking place in Anaheim this week as part of the Natural Products Expo West. The event will bring together 20 of the world’s top natural industry executives to spread a collective community message about illness and disease prevention through healthy living. The goal of the show is to raise $200K to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer organization. Finally, look for Under the Canopy to show up in several major retailers and catalogues this season including Macy’s, CB2, Origins and Red Envelope. It’s an exciting new season for this leader in the ECOfashion® industry. But what else would you expect from the company that coined the term? www.underthecanopy.com

If the fragrance of products is very important to you (like it is to us), then have we got a skin, body and hair care collection for you!  We had several of our best “snoots” check it out and use body washes and shampoos from Sea Chi Organics and the consensus was unanimous…some of the most enticing fragrances we’ve come across. And, the amazing thing about these Kombucha-based organic body, skin and hair care products is that they are all synthetic fragrance-free, made from all organic and wildcrafted ingredients.  So, the basis for the scents we now lust after is all natural. Try the South African Lime, the Lemongrass or, for those who like floral, the Rose Geranium body washes. We’re also fans of the Peppermint shampoo and Tasmanian Lavender shampoo (love the name!). On another note, the Sea Chi Cream, which we also tried, absorbs quickly into the skin without any oily residue feeling and pore clogging and is formulated to work on whatever happens to be ailing you…blemishes, brown spots, wrinkles...and it smells good too. Check it out at www.seachi.com.