Lessen Your Fashion Footprint

Fashion continually changes, creating new ideas and mixing in the old. As eco fashion is still being defined, this generation is able to have a voice and create the future of fashion through eco-friendly practices.

If you didn't know, I am the Conscious Fashion Editor of Modern Hippie Mag. It's been a dream come true to write for a magazine where I not only can contribute my fashion background but I am helping change the way fashion is.

Eco-fashion is changing the way people buy, wash and wear clothes. Swaping is becoming a new way to buy, convertible clothing is a new way to wear, and environmental hang-tags are being invented for future clothing pieces. It's a great time to be in the fashion world and see what truley is going on and the way fashion is heading.

Jerah Coviello is an eco-activist who is on a mission to change the way people see eco fashion. She was my editor of MHM and passed the torch down to me as she had so many exciting things going on in her eco world of fashion. Not only has she started local clothing swaps, Jerah and her mom, Russett, have created their own convertible clothing line, Ecovogue365.

Started in 2010, as an experimental sustainable fashion project, the mother daughter duo took their love for fashion and turned it into something new for the eco fashion world. "We took an industry we both love for its ingenuity and expression but abore for its waste: fashion. We wanted to know what it takes to start an eco-friendly fashion line. What does “eco” even mean in fashion?" After creating one eco "vogue" garment per day (ecovogue365) and three collections later, some convertible and some not, they found that there really was no industry standard for "eco" fashion. "We came up with a list of 20 definitions including organic cotton, fair trade, slow sew, etc. We re-launched our brand in 2012 to encompass convertible fashion after discovering that the largest energy use in a garments life cycle is during the wash and wear phase accounting for over 60% of it’s energy."

 They wanted to become retail educators, hoping to enlighten consumers. "We felt that we could make a change in the most pivotal point of a garments lifecycle by becoming not only retailers but retail educators giving women solutions to lessen their fashion footprint, providing women with ingenious ways to wear their fashion, and even better, many outfits all fit in one carry-on. It really is fashion convenience."

 Jerah has been living in convertible clothing for over 2 years now and she says getting dressed is a no brainer. "I like fashion, and I want variety, so instead of owning a closet full of pieces that seem to overwhelm me on how to put items together, or lost items shoved in the background, I get to take a slim and trim closet of less items that give me more options. It puts me in the designer seat. It’s me becoming intimate with my body and a mirror, switching up a design in different ways to settle on which one I feel inspired by for the day."

Heres a few tips Jerah suggests for women who want to understand the concept better:

Tips:

1. You can travel with an entire wardrobe in one carry-on.

2. You save a LOT of money owning less items that actually give you more options.

3. As a mom you can look stylish without bartering your time with your family over shopping for new outfits.

4. Keep your fashion footprint low during your wash and wear phase by not washing or wearing so much.

5. For the professional on the go take yourself from Beach to Boardroom with one design during your busy day.

6. Convertible fashion is function meets vogue vision. The ideas are endless, let your mind take you there.

7. Bonus: if the design is made of eco-fabrics, like ours, you truly have a new eco-fashion garment.

Trick: Don’t make it tricky. With any convertible design, make sure you print out, watch the videos, or check into the documentation on “how to wear” the design. Before you give up at the outset, take 10 minutes with the design and enjoy it.

Jerah's role in Ecovogue365 is the marketing and managing side, but with her writing background and knowledge in eco fashion and the design process she has helped reach their goal of informing consumers about the benefits of going eco. Her mom is the designer and has been teaching Jerah all along. "I design as a hobby, still learning from my mom. She is the designer who has been sewing and designing for 40 years. I grew up around sewing machines, cutting boards, measuring tapes and fabric stores as my malls." The two work together to co-create pieces for the line and ideas for spreading the eco fashion word. "What really inspires me is researching what is on the forefront of convertible design. There are designers doing it more and more. Ecovogue365 is really here to showcase that talent, and bring women more options for convenient fashion options that lessen her fashion footprint."

One way they are spreading the convertible clothing and eco fashion word is through clothing swaps, a concept where you can bring items you no longer want or wear and trade them in with other people's items. Both sides walk away with new to you pieces. "It’s like that girlfriend next door who you can trade out a dress that no longer fits with something new from her closet. One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. Swapping also serves as a beautiful way to connect community, bringing strangers out to meet one another over an item that has a story behind it."

Jerah's involvement in the eco fashion scene has created more eco options for fashionistas. As new concepts arise, her and her mother are able to cater to the ever growing eco world. Convertible clothing is a concept that has been around for a while but with more awareness about the multifunctional clothing, people are able to have more options and space in their closets.

For more information about swaps or convertible clothing, check out Ecovogue365.