Who They Are: Brooklyn-based designer Tara St James, previously of mainstream eco-friendly sportswear label Covet, creates city-friendly pieces often with trompe l’oeile details and quirky-cool prints.
What They’re Doing: Uses organic cotton, linen, hand-dyed fabrics and recycled materials. Strives for no-waste pattern-making and production, and makes everything locally in New York. St James is also involved in several mentorship programs for eco-minded emerging designers, and is Fashion Director for The Uniform Project, a fundraising platform using sustainable design to raise money for underprivileged children.
Favorite Pieces: Sophia shirt dress (pictured), Julie high-wasited print short
Price Point: $75-$398
Alabama Chanin
Who They Are: Designed and produced in Florence, Alabama, Alabama Chanin produces an array of products, from wedding dresses to lifestyle items like quilts and placemats, with an earthy, homespun vibe.
What They’re Doing: Each item is made by hand by talented artisans who live and work near Florence, Alabama. They use a combination of new, organic and recycled materials and stress the importance of sustainability and “slow design,” the countermovement to “fast fashion” which takes into account a wide range of material and social factors as well as the short and long term impacts of the design.
Favorite Pieces: Billie hand-stitched wedding gown (pictured), beaded criss-cross top, American flag quilt.
Price Point: $90-$4000
Who They Are: Titania Inglis, now based in Brooklyn, cut her teeth at cult New York designers Camilla Stærk, Jean Yu, and Threeasfour before recently launching her eponymous solo line. Inglis was recognized for her minimalistic, inventive designs as well as her environmental efforts with the 2012 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award in Sustainable Design.
What They’re Doing: Every garment is sewn in a small factory in New York from sustainably sourced fabrics including Japanese organic cotton, French vegetable-tanned leather, and dead stock wool from New York’s garment industry. Inglis’ innovative designs mean that many garments can be worn a multitude of ways, reducing the consumer’s need to purchase more (and therefore reducing production).
Favorite Pieces: Diagonal hemline skirt, which can be worn three ways, mulett-hemline white/black blouse (pictured).
Price Point: $120-$525
Who They Are: The brainchild of fine-art-trained bi‐coastal design duo Moriah Carlson (Brooklyn, NY) and Alice Wu (Oakland, CA), Feral Childe produces quirky-cool pieces based off of their one-of-a-kind collaborative drawings.
What They’re Doing: Use sustainable fibers, manufacture locally in New York and dispose of production waste responsibly by either donating remnants to schools or sending them to a textile recycling facility. They produce to order to prevent excess inventory and will provide transparent reports about their sourcing and manufacturing techniques upon request by customers.
Favorite Pieces: Pink t-shirt dress (pictured), high-waisted floral shorts.
Price Point: $80-$400
Who They Are: An offshoot of Peruvian non-profit Awamaki, an organization dedicated to helping impoverished Quechua women weavers, Awamaki Lab brings young designers to rural Peru to work side-by-side with members of their artisan cooperatives to create modern designs influenced by traditional Peruvian textiles.
What They’re Doing: Each item purchased helps women weavers, seamstresses, and knitters in the Sacred Valley of Peru to develop a sustainable income for themselves, their families and their communities. In addition to helping local women by honoring their artisanal skill, the organization’s commitment to hand-weaving techniques (which do not require electricity) and sustainable materials like wool means there is little impact on the environment.
Favorite Pieces: Chakra colorblock sweater (pictured), Cacao jacket, Awaykuna skirt
Price Point: $30-$400
