Chloé x ERES Summer 2023 Capsule Hugs ERES Castor Oil Based Peau Douce Fabric
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Massimo Dutti's 'Sul Mare' Getaway Clothes Are Using More Planet-Loving Fabrics
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Massimo Dutti shares its summer getaway collection “Sul Mare” with a focus on surface interest fabrics like raffia and crochet and angular cuts. The sophisticated collection modeled by Nikki McGuire is heavy with a rough elegance vibe through its use of natural fabrics including linen.
Styled by Delphine Danhier, the collection is photographed by Misha Taylor [IG], who captures the watery tie-dye prints and classic stripes.
Focus on Linen
Linen is both linen as we know it [which is better than most fabrics] but also 100% European grown linen. This linen is grown without artificial watering and no GMO seeds and defoliants are used. It is produced in Western Europe and complies with the EUROPEAN FLAX® standard of the European Confederation of Flax and Hemp (CELC). Also this item is made in Portugal.
Calling Out Ramie
Massimo Dutti is also using ramie, an eco friendly fabric and the highly sustainable fiber, that is airy and beautiful. Ramie is made from the stalks of flowers and plants and is a chic vegan silk alternative or very lightweight linen which is lighter and airier, while obviously tailoring well.
Actually, I just did a ramie search on MD, and all these items are made with the fiber. It appears that most or all of the Massimo Dutti ramie products are also made in Portugal, which has a better chance of eco-friendly dye processes and positive worker welfare.
Read MoreHumanrace Samba Colors by Pharrell Debuts at VB 'Something in the Water' Festival
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AOC shares exciting news about the ongoing collaboration between Pharrell Williams and adidas — Humanrace Samba Colors by Pharrell, a collection of luxury footwear in a depth of colorways that embody the diversity and energy of Humanrace’s DNA.
Last weekend at Pharrell’s ‘Something in the Water’ Festival in Virginia Beach, music lovers with an Atlantic Ocean view got their first look at five new Humanrace Samba colorways: Yellow, Orange, Pink, Lilac, and Red. A Humanrace green colorway is also available exclusively to friends and family of the brand.
Pharrell elevates the Samba with all-around high-end leather upper and leather shoelaces sourced from ECCO Leather, a world leader in innovative and premium leather.
ECCO Leather’s water-saving tanning technology saves 20 liters of water per hide. The result is environmentally more sustainable production but higher color saturation. Humanrace always uses non-toxic vegetable dyes, and AOC assumes that is the case here. Read the Humanrace sustainability pledges.
Read MoreMaison Valentino Vintage Partners With 7 Global Vintage Stores in Exchange Voucher Program
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Valentino Vintage, an initiative by the luxury fashion house Valentino [IG], has expanded its presence by partnering with vintage stores in seven cities around the world, including London, Milan, Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, and New York. This innovative program allows customers to exchange their pre-loved Valentino garments for vouchers that can be used to purchase new items from the brand, extending the life cycle of luxury fashion.
Each participating vintage store was carefully selected based on its unique identity and cultural relevance within its respective city. For instance, London's Rellik, which opened in 1999, was chosen for its collection of vintage 1960s garments. The updated program now features a variety of Valentino's famous archival apparel in these partner stores.
Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli, BFC 2022 Designer of the Year
The goal of ‘democratizing fashion’ in the luxury market is sincere at Valentino from all we know. AOC focused on Valentino’s brand values and how they fit in with the HENRYS: [High-Earners-Not–Rich-Yet] in a recent April 2023 post.
Read MoreCOACHTOPIA Scrappy Bags 'Think Different' and Sell Out on Coach Website
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On the rarest of occasions, AOC wakes up to a significant new reality in fashion world, a radical process that turns everything upside down. Going foward, we will share the news by playing probably the most important marketing video ever to date ‘The Crazy Ones’.
Today, April 24, 2023 Anne of Carversville shares ‘The Crazy Ones’ worthy: COACHTOPIA.
A defining component of Coachtopia, Joon Silverstein, SVP, global marketing, creative and sustainability explained to Vogue Business, is that it is built as a “community” and has invited a “beta community” of Gen Z environmentally-conscious, individuals to collaborate and give feedback on Coachtopia concepts and products.
Emerging artists will be key players in future product drops and design collaborations.
Coach flipped its traditional production process on its head. Rather than a vision and a sketch, designers started with scraps on a cutting room floor. The handbags are made almost entirely from materials that were destined for landfill, with excess leather fragments arranged into vibrant floral patterns and zipper tracks repurposed into embellishments. The waste-forward products are a bid to transform the supply chain and move toward a circular industry, Coach says to all press inquiries.
Read MoreCherokee Jack for Polo Ralph Lauren Spring 2023 Country Workwear by Sharif Hamza
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Rising [star] model Cherokee Jack appears in Polo Ralph Lauren ads, lensed by Sharif Hamza [IG]. The country clothes include denim, workshirts and timeless outerwear — “made to be worn and made to last.”
Some or all of the collection are produced in partnership with The New Denim Project an innovative textile group based in Guatemala.
Finely crafted from upcycled materials, this denim collection is designed to reduce the use of virgin cotton by incorporating cloth scraps into new yarns and fabrics.
Read MoreIs Mycelium the Connective Tissue of Nature's Global Communication Network?
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In the words of The National Forest Foundation: "Taken together, myecelium composes what’s called a “mycorrhizal network,” which connects individual plants together to transfer water, nitrogen, carbon and other minerals. German forester Peter Wohlleben dubbed this symbiotic network affecting about 90 percent of plant life on the planet -- including trees -- the “woodwide web.” It is through the mycelium that trees 'communicate.'
Botanists and mycologists have understood this grand symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants for over a century. But positing the existence of a linguistic communication system founded on 'intelligence' is another subject entirely.
Read MoreKing Charles III Joins TIME 100 Most Influential People List 2023 As Beloved Mushroom Hunter
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King Charles III, awaiting his coronation as king of the United Kingdom on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey, was honored by TIME Magazine on their new TIME 100 Most Influential People 2023 list.
When the new annual list is released, the person chosen to write about the TIME 100 honoree, can be as interesting as the list itself.
The person introducing King Charles in the TIME 100 2023 issue is Edward Enninful, OBE, editor-in-chief of British Vogue and Vogue European editorial director. [OBE stands for Order of the British Empire.]
The high-achieving Enninful agrees that on the face of it, he grew up a young Black boy in Ladbroke Grove without understanding how intimately involved then Charles, Prince of Wales was with the Prince’s Trust. The charity had dramatic impact on the lives of Edward’s community, directed by the then Prince on many fronts.
Just as British Vogue’s EIC Edward Enninful seeks to humanize King Charles III in his commentary for the TIME 100, AOC was impacted by a story that broke last weekend by royal biographer Robert Jobson. As AOC drills deeply into the topic of mushrooms, mycelium, talking plants and future fabrics made of mushrooms and other natural materials, then Prince Charles pops up frequently in our research.
Mushrooms came to play a critical role in comforting King Charles in the final hours that would physically take his mother and Queen away from him.
Then Prince Charles returned to his estate at Birkhall for a walk in the woods, drawing emotional and psychological sustenance from the trees, the earth and the quiet sound of the River Muick. Charles made good use of himself, taking a wooden cane and a basket to forage for mushrooms along his walk.
Read MoreThe Health Benefits of Natural Pools, Thanks to Edita Vilkeviciute in Mango Swimwear 2023
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Top model Edita Vilkeciviute is blessed to have a home in Ibiza, one featured in the July 2021 issue of Vogue Spain. We’re not clear if the top model swims in a natural pool on her property, but they are prevalent on the famous Spanish island in the Mediterranean.
In these images Edita poses in Mango swimwear from the 2023 spring/summer collection. The shoot takes place in San Andrés, Tenerife — part of Spain’s Canary Islands off the coast of southern Morocco and the disputed Western Sahara. Photographer Pepe Lobez [IG] captures the famous Lithuanian beauty — who is in high demand for sensual summer fashion stories and campaigns — styled by Rebeca Abad and Pili Álamo. Patricia Diaz Manzano provides the art direction.
A core way to experience the benefits of biophilia is through swimming, an activity that not only connects us with water, a vital element of nature, but also offers numerous physical and mental health benefits. Water is also key to Jungian psychology and the unconscious mind is symbolized by the vastness of the ocean and its crashing waves.
Read MoreGuerlain #WomenforBees Project Led by Angelina Jolie in Yucatan for 2023
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The partnership between Guerlain and UNESCO launched in early 2020, with the training of beekeepers with more than 50 hives based in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cambodia and China. The five-year project has a goal of training 88 beekeepers from 44 biospheres maintaining 4.400 beehives, after which the partnership can be renewed.
In 2023, the program expanded to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, in collaboration with the Fundación Selva Maya and Maroma, a Belmond Hotel.
To learn that the new LVMH Belmond Maroma Resort and Spa, re-opening August 3, 2023 is also a co-sponsor of the #WomenforBees project, gives Maroma a sense of purpose that has deep roots in ancient practices and traditions.
Reading Maroma’s IG description of its “place” is quite breathtaking and a tribute to LVMH’s approach to 21st century values in creating brand identity with real integrity and an embrace of ancient wisdom.
Maroma is a space of enchanting natural refinement, where ancient mysteries meet modern revelations. Our hotel is based on higher design—infinite and larger than the place itself. It was created originally by true believers of the Sacred Geometry, who aligned our white stucco buildings with the surrounding energy fields.
Understanding the respect that LVMH is giving to ancient wisdom and practices — writing about sacred geometry and the energy fields involved with the design of Maroma — had great impact on me, and I continue to process the many ways that LVMH is touching our lives in the world of luxury.
Read MoreIs SHEIN the Biggest Polluter In Fashion? Stats Are Damning and Astonishing!
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Almost like a fashion space rocket, China-based Shein [pronounced she-in, not shine] now owns almost a third (28 per cent) of America’s fast fashion market.
Few sustainability warriors saw it coming. And for all the convos about young people being passionate eco-conscious caretakers of our planet, at least in America, they have given a big hug to Shein.
In 2021, the Shein app became the most downloaded with over 17.5 million downloads across the Google Play and Apple stores.
Read MoreLevi Strauss & Co Partners with Pakistan's Artistic Milliners Organic Cotton Production
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Denim giant Levi Strauss & Co is now sourcing organic cotton directly from farmers in Pakistan as part of its membership of the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) initiative.
Levi's is sourcing the organic cotton through Pakistan-based denim mill Artistic Milliners' Organic programme which involves 2,000 cotton farmers in the Kohlu region of Baluchistan.
The vast majority of cotton farmers and pickers are women, and the focus of Artistic Milliners is female empowerment. Founded in 1949 with a small factory of 22 women, the company now has a workforce of 18,000 employeess.
Read MoreSydney Sweeney Joins Armani Beauty As Face of 'My Way' Sustainable Fragrance
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The story of Armani Beauty’s ‘My Way’ journey to market is deeply rooted in the sustainability values of the younger generation, many of their boomer grandparents and conscientious consumers of every age.
Photographer Dario Catellani [IG] photographs Sydney Sweeney in the 2023 campaign. The Italian visionary is known for his deep attachment to nature — beautifully expressed in the Etro FW 2020/21 ‘We Are All One’ Campaign.
Reading more information about Armani Beauty on the L’Oreal website — L’Oreal holds the beauty license — claims and certifications about sustainability are monitored and validated by the Sustainable Product Optimization Tool (SPOT) developed in 2013 to measure social and environmental impacts.
Based on 14 key sustainability criteria, it covers the entire process from production to the end of the life cycle, including the purchase of raw materials and the product’s use by the consumer.
Read MoreOlivia Martin in Miss Dior Fragrance by Brigitte Niedermair | Dior's Flowers Biodiversity Update
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Spanish model Olivia Martin poses in Dior Beauty shots for the house’s core Miss Dior Fragrance. Lilly Marthe Ebener styles Martin in images by key Dior photographer Brigitte Niedermair.
Dior writes: “At Dior, we are dedicated to preserve biodiversity. For our Maison, this mission particularly resonates through our never-ending love of flowers. They are not only the beating heart of our creative vision, they are also the origin, present and future of beauty. In the context of COP 15, we are reminded ambitious actions are essential to preserve flowers from extinction.”
By 2030, 100% of Dior gardens and partner gardens will be operated in organic or regenerative agriculture. Additionally, Dior Beauty is committed to reducing their carbon emissions by 46% by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to +1.5°C.
Read MoreElsa Hosk's Launch Campaign for her Helsa Brand, Lensed by Yulia Gorbachenko
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Supermodel Elsa Hosk looks like she walked out of a 1950s movie, filmed in the south of France. Elsa is wearing tailored must-haves from her new Helsa Collection — created in the mood of Katharine Hepburn and lensed here by Yulia Gorbachenko [IG]
Writing about the debut of Helsa last August, I said: “Hosk is keeping this launch like a quiet ebb. The Scandi beauty has always stressed the importance of sustainability and it would be shocking if she doesn’t create sustainable products.”
Many of the Helsa pieces are made with Recover, a recycled, heavy-duty cotton. Bravo. I love Elsa Hosk with my whole heart, but sustainability is not a strong message in Helsa so far.
Read MoreTED Talk Favorite: Janine Benyus' 3.8 Billion Years of Nature-Inspired Design
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Janine Benyus and the Biomimicry movement are gaining enormous respect in the world of product innovation and design. The biometric path is simple and described in four steps: quieting human cleverness; listening to life’s genius; echoing what we learn; and giving thanks.
Partnering with Nature is an eyebrow-raising metaphor for super-rational human minds coming to grips with understanding that human brilliance in innovation and scientific discovery may also kill planet Earth.
Men [and fewer women] should be partnering with Nature, not dominating her.
Read MoreMyriem Boukadida in Prada Eternal Gold Collection for Vogue Arabia November 2022
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AOC returns to Prada’s Eternal Gold Collection in this fashion story ‘Now and Forever’ for Vogue Arabia’s November 2022 issue.
The new Vogue Arabia story features Tunisian model and actor Myriem Boukadida, styled by Eline Hoyois in images by Luka Booth [IG].
100 per cent of the gold used in Prada’s new Eternal Gold Collection is Certified Recycled Gold which meets the Chain of Custody’ standards set by the Responsible Jewelry Council.
Read More10 Things to Love About Copper Jewelry and Ancient Goddesses
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The human desire for self-adornment is universal, and writing about copper jewelry trends should be a snap for most people. Not for Anne. I can make writing needlessly complicated, but in this case, the writing took me back to the continuously-revealing story of women’s history.
Only Anne of Carversville whips up a narrative around copper jewelry that takes us back to the dawn of human existence, and then out of Africa between 60,000 and 90,000 years ago into the Levant, a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia.
Background: in understanding the importance of human history and invention, jewelry was not very high on the list of primarily male researchers and scientists.
Frankly, jewelry as artifacts was considered inconsequential and frivolous in the story of human development. Copper jewelry was so frivolous that the existence of The Copper Age, dating from the mid-5th millennium BC, and ending with the beginning of the Bronze Age proper, in the late 4th to 3rd millennium BC, was barely worth mentioning in the scientific community.
You’ve heard of The Stone Age and the Bronze Age. But few of us — including me — knew about The Copper Age. The REAL history of copper jewelry starts to upset several thousands of years of assumptions around women’s lives.
Read MorePrada Launches Fully Recycled Eternal Gold Collection with Aura Blockchain Certification
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American poet, activist, Prada ambassador and UNICEF supporter Amanda Gorman; Dutch-Korean-Canadian singer, rapper and dancer Jeon Somi; and American actor and model Maya Hawke, daughter of actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke star in Prada’s 2022 launch of Eternal Gold, representing the luxury brand’s first forray into fine jewelry.
In addition to being made from certified recycled gold, every piece of jewelry in the collection will be fully traceable, thanks to blockchain technology. Every purchase will be traceable by logging into the Aura Blockchain Consortium.
The Prada Eternal Gold collection is very modern a 100 percent recycled collection that pushes category boundaries. Amanda Gorman came to Prada’s attention, not because of her 2021 Inaugural Poem, but because of her environmental activism.
Read MoreKezako Paris Rolls Out Real-Deal VS Angels in More or Less Magazine by Oliver Hadlee Pearch
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This fashion story ‘Earth Angels’ from More or Less Magazine [IG] adds a fabulous new twist to the VS Angels saga. If you don’t know, the magazine is devoted to sustainability and our living with less. More or Less wrote:
Hallelujah! For our final cover, we assembled an all-star cast of Earth Angels, styling nine ex-Victoria's Secret models in faux-fashion label Kezako’s upcycled underwear made from aluminium wrap, dried-out loaves of bread, old newspapers, cuddly toys and then some.
