Recycled Fashion | Inhabitat

Wearable Shelter: Clothes You Can Turn Into a Makeshift Home

Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino

With the economy in the shambles that it’s in, who knows when you’re gonna be forced to find shelter on the streets? If things do get that bad, you’d feel a lot more prepared sporting the “Wearable Shelter” collection of fashions that actually transform into sleeping bags and tents. Designed by a trio of Philadelphia student designers, these smart clothes/homes were a hit at the So Re Fa (Socially Responsible Fashion) eco-fashion show in Philadelphia this past week and are a commentary on these uncertain times.

EASTER STYLE: Bunny-Inspired Jewelry

by Olivia Chen, 04/12/09

Clockwise from left: Bunny stud earrings $20, Bunny necklace $40, Bunny circle earrings $45

Understated and quite adorable, this recycled bunny jewelry from Figs & Ginger is perfect for celebrating spring. Made of a minimum of 50% recycled sterling, each piece is hand-crafted by North Carolina-based couple Elijah and Rhonda Wyman. We couldn’t help but release a delighted squeal when we saw the bunny earrings — and then we realized this was only the tip of the iceberg. The bunny pieces are part of a larger assortment of exquisitely-shaped, forest-inspired earrings, rings, and necklaces. With fawns and perched birds, we are reminded of just how important the forest is for protecting a number of animals, cute and un-cute ones alike. And with prices like $20 – $45 for a pair of earrings, we’re positive that anyone could snag up a pair of bunnies earrings, a fawn necklace, and maybe even a bird ring. Read on for a special offer for Earth Day 2009!

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SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Ciel, A-List Ethical Fashions

by Kate Andrews, 01/18/09

Founded by designer Sarah Ratty, Ciel is a UK-based environmentally conscious fashion label with a festive party style, and a celebrity client list to match — including Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller, and Zoe Ball. The current Fall/Winter collection features shimmery evening satin looks, super soft organic cotton t-shirts, and cozy, hand-knit items to warm the body on the chilliest of days.

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SPARE TIRE Recycled Bike Tube Belts

by Alexandra Kain, 10/05/08

Fashion forward bike aficionados can now make an eco statement with the new Spare Tire Bike Tube Belt designed by Surya Graf. The stylish Spare Tire Belt is constructed out of reclaimed bicycle inner tubes, allowing bikers to sport their passion on their sleeve (or at least around their waist).

Surya Graf is a Brisbane-based product designer who cleverly strives to mesh functionality and environmental sustainability in his designs. An avid cyclist himself, he was in search of a smart recycling solution to all of the tube garbage from old inner tubes. He began to collect used mountain bike tubes from local cycle shops who were glad to have them off their hands and out of the trash, and the Spare Tire Belt belt was born.

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SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Preloved’s Recycled Vintage Couture

Combining something new with something old, Canadian design house Preloved specializes in turning vintage dress wear into modern recycled fashions. Our Green Room neighbors at Designers & Agents LA last June have recycled more clothing than ever this past year, salvaging 60,000 wool sweaters, 12,000 t-shirts, 5,000 dress shirts and 6,000 trench coats in 2008 alone! Preloved CEO, designer, and founder Julia Grieve successfully marries fashion with ethics for a brand born and manufactured exclusively in Canada. We heart Preloved’s eco-aesthetic and agenda, and we think you will, too.

SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Sid Vintage Reclaimed Jewelry

With the Project Earth Day Eco-Fashion Show less than a week away now, Inhabitat’s Sustainable Style team will be providing its readers with a sneak-peek preview of some of the hottest green fashion to ever grace NYC’s runways and Earth Day venues. Inhabitat’s edgy and stylish Editor-in-Chief, Jill Fehrenbacher, will be a judge for the student competition this year, and the buzz is already circulating about just how much the designers have upped the ante with their sustainable design ingenuity and eco-know-how. (Ahem, move over Project Runway, there are some new couture-stars set to take the stage.) We are launching our designer previews for the April 24th event with the totally alluring designs of Sid Vintage Jewelry. One glance at these ‘tangled’ creations will clue you in as to why designer Nanci Bennett has really ‘caught the eye’ of eco-fashion connoisseurs and style mavens everywhere.

SUSTAINABLE STYLE: William Good Recycled Fashion

Nick Graham, creator of Joe Boxer, is putting a new option on the apparel menu: boxers, briefs, or good. William Good, his newly launched line of re-made fashion, is a collaboration with GoodWill, turning secondhand fashion into re-interpreted sportswear with embellishments like appliques, colorful stitching, and combining two garments into one. Each item is one-of-a-kind, earth-friendly, made from post-retail donations that have been destined for recycling or salvage, and people-friendly, training existing GoodWill employees to run every level of the business from stitching to merchandising (even the store space is located in a San Francisco GoodWill!).

ANDREA CREWS: Reinterpreting Second-Hand

Sustainable Style Sunday is on a recycling roll, so we figured we’d continue the theme with Andrea Crews, a Paris-based creative collective whose work defies definition as solely design, art, or fashion. Their projects are based on the use and reinterpretation of the second-hand garment as a social, economic and ethical choice. One part Swap-o-rama, one part Imitation of Christ, mixed with a let’s-play-dress-up enthusiasm, they express their vision in workshops, performances, fashion shows, and eventually the commercial sale of their creations.

MARTIN MARGIELA ARTISANAL: Reclaiming (Clothing) Design

In honor of our Inhabitat panel, Reclaiming Design, which takes place at HauteGREEN today, Sustainable Style Sunday serves up a favorite fashion designer that is also fond of reclamation, Martin Margiela. He is a designer we can relate to here at Inhabitat. A visit to the Margiela store feels like taking part in a sophisticated craft lab experiment, white interiors and lab coated salespeople coexist with rough hewn details. This is fitting for a designer who after all is known for serving red wine in white beakers at his presentations.

LONDON FASHION WEEK: Ethical Fashion

As the following posts might illuminate, when it comes to fashion, London is a hot bed of ethical design. Given the size of London Fashion Week in comparison to New York, proportionally there was a lot more green going on. Estethica, a special ethical section of the fashion exhibition, happened for it’s second season. We …