With all the buzz about the designs and the Haiti Relief show at New York’s Fashion Week, you may not have heard that the whole thing was a carbon-neutral event. While we’ve noticed more sustainable fashion on the catwalk, Fashion Week itself is full of planet-abusing decadence: celebrities flying in from all over the planet, limos shuffling everyone around, extravagant runway designs, lots of lights, and the cases of hairspray.

This year IMG Fashion, the folks who put on the show, didn’t cut back on any of the traditions, but they did commission CarbonNeutral Company  to conduct a carbon footprint audit. Turns out the show produces just under 1,000 tons of carbon emissions.

To offset all that greenhouse gas, IMG has made some on-site changes, such as recycling and using paper water “bottles.” But the bulk of the effort to bring the show to net-zero emissions is from sponsors Tetra Pak and O.N.E. Natural Experience. For example, Tetra Pak is underwriting two projects: a forestry management effort in the Big River/Salmon Creeks Forest in Mendocino, Calif. and the sustainable sourcing of local natural gas at two dairy farms in Idaho.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Fern Mallis, IMG Fashion senior vice president, said, “I think it’s exciting to think that our runways and lights and shows are lighting up a dairy farm in Idaho….It is the socially and politically conscious thing to do.”

photo credit: Lanterna / flickr

Last Friday evening AirDye® made its second appearance in a Costello Tagliapietra show during New York’s Fall Ready-to-Wear 2010 Fashion Week. (The plaid-clad duo also used AirDye in their spring 2010 collection.) We love working with Jeffery and Robert–they really know how to use color and fabric to achieve some of the best-styled clothing out there.

Of course, we’ve just got to share a few shots from the show, which unfortunately don’t do justice to what Style.com calls “their beautiful palette of desert-sunset hues.” Nor can you see how the duo plays up contrasts in the back of a piece, but we hope you’re as impressed with the collection as we are.

(photos from Coutorture/Getty)

So, now that you’ve seen some of the collection, here’s what a few of the fashionistas who were at the show said:

Women’s Wear Daily:

Going green never looked so chic, as Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra presented a collection of their signature softly draped and pleated jersey dresses and separates in a dusty palette colored by AirDye, a sustainable dyeing method.

Style.com’s Meenal Minstry:

Spiraled and compressed folds added substance and weight to one look’s waist, while on another the pleats seemed almost spontaneously draped around the body. The designers tried out an interesting new technique on their signature jersey dresses and tops, anchoring them with woven silk backs, usually in a contrasting color plucked from their beautiful palette of desert-sunset hues. But for all that, there was actually a gorgeous simplicity to this collection. It marked both a return to their founding vision and a step forward.

NBC New York’s Catherine Blair Pfander on The Thread:

Conceived in a sophisticated palette of rosy browns, golds, and a multi-colored circle print called “Ghosts” (developed by AirDye, which developed a technique of dying fabric without water), the collection was composed primarily of draped dresses and skirt-n-top sets, with a few metallic pants thrown into the mix.  We were digging the “secretarial geisha” vibe, driven home by messy top knots and orangey-red lips.

“The storyline is of this young girl embarking on her life, taking that trans-Siberian train from Russia to Japan.  It’s a young, hopeful attitude,” says Robert.

The clothes did feel youthful–and the styling cast a charming, naive glow to the collection–but off the runway, we think this will prove an utterly ageless collection, with pieces that mothers and daughters will swap.  These are clothes to make women feel beautiful and intelligent. Honestly, who wants to feel any other way?

Second City Style, blogger Carol Calacci:

You have to marvel at how these two burly bears could be the designers of such modern, clean, soft and elegant pieces for women. The intricate gathering, weaving and perfect draping included a lot emphasis on the backs of the dresses this season, which unfortunately you cannot see from the runway shots….I especially like their use of two tones together, which seems to be one of their trademarks, for example the whole back of a dress may be a darker tone of the front.

Ana Louisa on the Grown-Up Shoes blog:

This may strike you as strange while you scroll down this page (of photos): nothing dramatic is happening here. Nothing crazy or mind blowing. But to me, this show is perfection. The simplicity of it, the gorgeous draping, the simple but flattering cuts and shapes are utterly delightful. The prints are incredible but even the solid colors are gorgeous.

What do you think, are these pieces you’d wear? And is sustainability ever going to have a larger role in the fashion world?

This week the Discovery Company’s PlanetGreen channel premiered the BBC series Blood, Sweat & T-shirts. The premise is that six young, fashion-savvy Brits go off to India for a month to see what it takes to put cheap clothes on the racks of their favorite stores.

As you can imagine, this “reality-like” show’s stars are primarily pampered middle-class westerners who quickly breakdown–even after just a few hours in a high-end textile factory. The six live with local workers, spend up to a week working just as the Indians do and immediately see how good they have it back home.

While the drama leaves a bit to be desired, in our opinion, the message that this series is attempting to highlight is important. One of the Londoners, Georgina says early on, “I just love the fact that you can buy something really, really cheap wear it once and chuck it away.” As a matter of comparison, clothing uses less of our income now than it ever did. In order for the West to have “disposable” garments, the people who grow, weave, and make our clothes live and work in often unbearable conditions.

The 4,000 workers in the first factory the show visits make little more than $2.00 a day. And that’s for the coveted spot on the sewing floor. The team is trained and tested to see if they can make the grade to sew shirts, and it turns out the work is not so easy. Three of them find out that they can’t even keep up with the quotas for ironing and buttoning. While the Brits are at this factory, they earn only as much as the Indians do. When they collect their paychecks, of a few hundred rupees, and go shopping, they quickly discover that a tube of deodorant costs more than a day’s wages. Not exactly what they’re used to back home.

From the factory that pumps out 10,000 garments each day, the six journey to a family owned operation where there are only a handful of employees and produce discount clothing destined for Western stores. Here they are asked to each make six garments from start to finish each day–well beyond their sewing and productivity skill level. To top it off, they get paid by the piece and sleep with the rest of the workers under the sewing tables. We think you can guess how well this went over with the group.

As we watch the group in the premier they are certainly getting a sense of the human costs of cheap textiles. But we have a feeling things are going to get much worse. In future episodes the six Brits will pick cotton, accompany a labor inspector searching for kids working in factories, and follow the entire supply textile supply chain.

We wonder if they’ll make it to the dye factories that pump out millions of gallons of toxic water or if they’ll be exposed to the massive amounts of pesticides used on the cotton crops?

Even as we watch these spoiled “kids” cry, giggle, and whine their way through the harsh realities of India’s textile industry, perhaps we should all take the core message to heart: the textile industry takes a toll on the people, water, and land involved in putting giving us those $5.00 tees.

Mass-market retailer H&M made the news last weekend when the New York Times reported that the 34th Street H&M store threw away clothing that went unsold. But they don’t just throw it in the trash, which was bad enough; employees were slashing the garments to make them unwearable. Between the massive amounts of waste and the fact that these perfectly good items could be recycled make this entire practice shameful.

As a result of the article, H&M quickly came out and said that they would stop mutilating and throwing away unsold items at the New York store. The store said their policy is to donate the clothing to charity.

affordable sustainability

With all the news about the slashed clothing, not much attention was paid to another bit of H&M news. Last week they announced that with their spring line they would introduce items made from sustainable fabrics. The company’s new eco-friendly Garden Collection will have dresses, shirts, and other offerings made from organic cotton or linen, recycled plastic bottles and Tencel.

Clothing made from sustainable fabrics is often quite expensive, but H&M’s Garden Collection is keeping in line with the store’s “affordable fashion” pricing. The most expensive item are two spring dresses that go for $49.95. Many of the items are under $20.00. For example, the tunic above is only $14.95.

We think this is a great start–a major retailer offering eco-friendly fashion for a great price. Of course, we’d like to see H&M review the entire life cycle of their clothing to ensure they are only making as many garments as will sell, implementing water- and energy-saving processes, and then properly managing unsold inventory to ensure it’s reused or recycled.

While we’re at it, the entire fashion industry should consider their sustainability practices.  And as consumers, we must vote with our checkbook and buy from retailers who are making an effort to create a more sustainable world.

Will you buy any of H&M’s Garden Collection?

photo credit: h&m

Yes, we know, there are lots of “green” gifts out there to choose from. And we know that money is tight this year. But we think that two of our retail licensees make extra special, eco-friendly and affordable gifts you’ll be proud to give to family and friends this holiday season.

Both of these companies offer products that are made from recycled materials and can be recycled yet again! How’s that for sustainable? No green washing here. Our partners A Lot To Say and JulieApple are the real deal.

Here’s what they’re offering to kickoff the season with an extra green start…

eco-fashion with a powerful message

We’ve told you about A Lot To Say’s great t-shirts before. They’ve also added scarves, undies, umbrellas and tote bags–all made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles (and yet so incredibly soft!) and dyed with AirDye technology. They are offering their biggest sale ever with 30 percent off any purchase, of any size. The sale ends Monday, and you’ll need to use promo code: ALTS30.

long-living handbags that never stop

Julieanne Applegate’s adorable bags line just keeps expanding. I just noticed the Make It Up bag and it’s only $38! But, best of all, if you’re quick you can win a free Hardworkin Hobo bag. All you have to do is tweet about JulieApple or become a fan on Facebook. The deadline is noon ET on Tuesday. Full details are on their blog.

We’re pleased to see our partners doing so well and being part of eco-friendly businesses. Support them and a sustainable world, but be quick, the sale and give-away won’t last long.