The new summer 2013 collection is now in stores! Happy shopping!
24.2.09
Guide to eco-fashion exposes ugly truths
Where to shop and what to avoid for those who want to be hip and green
By CATHERINE SOLYOM
The Gazette
February 9, 2009
By CATHERINE SOLYOM
The Gazette
February 9, 2009
It may be time to rethink the new jeans, the starched white boxers or that little black dress in the window.
A new guide published by Montreal-based environmental group Équiterre
exposes some ugly truths about the things we take most for granted - the clothes on our backs.
The second edition of the guide to responsible clothing, published last week, examines the ecological and social footprint of different materials as well as end products - from cotton T-shirts to bamboo underwear.
It's a practical guide, with examples of places to eco-shop right here in Montreal.
If it's hip to be green - and everyone from Stella McCartney to Paula Abdul knows it - there are a few new rules to learn about organic fashion.
Pre-washed jeans? Out - the process used to shrink most clothing uses toxic chemicals, the guide reports.
Hemp clothing? In - and now perfectly legal.
Anti-wrinkle dress? Out. "Magical" qualities like anti-wrinkle or anti-stain usually mean a lot of chemicals are used - and flushed into waterways.
Ripping an old T-shirt into rags? In - reusing and recycling clothing is all the rage.
But the guide is also an exposé of the clothing industry and the consumers who keep it spinning.
"When you learn the average Quebecer buys 23 kilos of new clothes then trashes 21 kilos every year, it becomes obvious we have to rethink our concept of fashion and our consumer habits," said Andréanne Leclerc Marceau, one of the authors of the guide.
More troubling are the statistics about the clothing industry, and cotton in particular.
According to Équiterre, 2.4 per cent of cultivated land in the world is devoted to cotton, but this crop accounts for 25 per cent of pesticide use.
Now consider that six out of the seven major cotton-producing countries employ child labour to do the picking. (The worst offender is Uzbekistan.)
"It's really the most polluting crop in the world," Leclerc Marceau said, adding that cocoa comes a close second. "And the fact that it's children doing the work is unacceptable."
Happily, there are ethical alternatives, starting with organic cotton (grown without pesticides). It accounts for only 0.1 per cent of the market, but its sales grew by 80 per cent in 2006 and 80 per cent again in 2007.
Then there's bamboo - which grows prolifically without much help - sturdy hemp, and good old wool. (A single Merino sheep can produce one kilometre of wool yarn per hour!)
With so many materials to work with, a new crop of eco-designers has evolved to meet burgeoning demand for ethical clothing that takes into account the environmental and social aspects of the textile industry.
Aesthetics are increasingly important, too. Ethical clothing doesn't have to be frumpy or "granola" anymore, says Marianne Desjardins-Roy of La Gaillarde boutique in St. Henri, which earned a special mention in the guide.
"Ethical fashion has really evolved," she said, pointing out the fine lingerie and designer dresses in the boutique. "In the beginning, it was a lot of patchwork with old sweatshirt material. But now you can hardly tell the difference between recycled and new clothing, and the prices are about the same as in the big chain stores.
"The difference is you're getting a unique piece of clothing and supporting local designers, while making an environmental gesture."
Having opened 10 years ago as a make-work project for former women prisoners, La Gaillarde now showcases the work of 30 local designers, holding fashion shows once a month.
Recycled ties, evening gowns, funky jewelry, organic cotton onesies for babies. The shop even sells fair-trade coffee, chocolate, tea and pineapple and offers sewing classes.
Pre-loved clothing? In.
Équiterre's guide to responsible clothing is available for free download, in French, at www.equiterre.org/equitable/
22.2.09
20.2.09
indie find of the moment : The Coat Check
Shop name: The Coat Check
Shop address: www.thecoatcheck.com and www.coatcheck.etsy.com
Tell me a little about yourself ...
What are your favourite materials?
We love anything heavily textured, soft, and visually interesting. We love vintage textiles, anything woven, especially handwoven, anything with a rough tooth to it and of high quality. Vintage fur and sheepskin fits into this category.
What inspired you to do this?
Many things, but in short: Dr Zhivago, Mongolian herders, and the bandit cave in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. We think modern design sometimes becomes too sterile and de-naturalized, and we felt we wanted to make things that were sensual and pleasurable. We are natural recyclers, too, partly because we simply prefer the quality of older materials - we don't really feel that most contemporary materials have the kind of quality and texture that the older ones did. Before we began working with vintage fur and sheepskin coats, we were already salvaging vintage textiles from the rag house (where old textiles go to die and be recycled) and when we saw mounds of coats that had been rejected by vintage clothing shops lying in piles destined for the landfill, we felt that was very wasteful, very wrong.
Do you remember the first thing you made? What was it?
It was an amazing pillow, 22" square, made from a superb sandy brown French rabbit coat with rips under the arms. A friend gave us the coat, and we had no idea how to make a pillow but we just figured it out. Considering how much we didn't know then that we know now, that pillow is pretty amazing. It's still on my bed 6 years later. Instead of framing the first dollar we made, we've kept that pillow.
What's new and exciting in your store?
Sarah just made the most incredible giant fur throw or carpet. We called it "Nordic Flying Carpet" because that's what it reminds us of. It took months to make so we've had to put a high price on it. All of the very fancy trims from most of the coats we've ever dismantled were used, so it's the most amazing mixed surface with caramel, beige, grey and white colours, very wild, very soft, with a rough silk backing in pewter tones. It looks like something off a movie set. It was great to be able to use up every square inch of the coats we've dismantled.
What is your favourite item? And why?
Apart from the item above, we guess we just love our regular pillows. It's nice when you knew the person the coat belonged to.
Why should people buy handmade?
Because factory processes are wasteful, factory made products are often made very, very far from the buyer, and mass-produced products can look and feel really characterless or soulless. The difference is palpable.
Anthing else?
Shop address: www.thecoatcheck.com and www.coatcheck.etsy.com
Tell me a little about yourself ...
We're two artists who also have backgrounds in design and writing.
What are your favourite materials?
We love anything heavily textured, soft, and visually interesting. We love vintage textiles, anything woven, especially handwoven, anything with a rough tooth to it and of high quality. Vintage fur and sheepskin fits into this category.
What inspired you to do this?
Many things, but in short: Dr Zhivago, Mongolian herders, and the bandit cave in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. We think modern design sometimes becomes too sterile and de-naturalized, and we felt we wanted to make things that were sensual and pleasurable. We are natural recyclers, too, partly because we simply prefer the quality of older materials - we don't really feel that most contemporary materials have the kind of quality and texture that the older ones did. Before we began working with vintage fur and sheepskin coats, we were already salvaging vintage textiles from the rag house (where old textiles go to die and be recycled) and when we saw mounds of coats that had been rejected by vintage clothing shops lying in piles destined for the landfill, we felt that was very wasteful, very wrong.
Do you remember the first thing you made? What was it?
It was an amazing pillow, 22" square, made from a superb sandy brown French rabbit coat with rips under the arms. A friend gave us the coat, and we had no idea how to make a pillow but we just figured it out. Considering how much we didn't know then that we know now, that pillow is pretty amazing. It's still on my bed 6 years later. Instead of framing the first dollar we made, we've kept that pillow.
What's new and exciting in your store?
Sarah just made the most incredible giant fur throw or carpet. We called it "Nordic Flying Carpet" because that's what it reminds us of. It took months to make so we've had to put a high price on it. All of the very fancy trims from most of the coats we've ever dismantled were used, so it's the most amazing mixed surface with caramel, beige, grey and white colours, very wild, very soft, with a rough silk backing in pewter tones. It looks like something off a movie set. It was great to be able to use up every square inch of the coats we've dismantled.
What is your favourite item? And why?
Apart from the item above, we guess we just love our regular pillows. It's nice when you knew the person the coat belonged to.
Why should people buy handmade?
Because factory processes are wasteful, factory made products are often made very, very far from the buyer, and mass-produced products can look and feel really characterless or soulless. The difference is palpable.
Anthing else?
They say that within 20 years, fur will be grown in vast petri dishes... that's a weird thought.
16.2.09
15.2.09
Récup ta mode 2009
Le FEMSI (Fonds étudiant de la Faculté de médecine en santé internationale) vous invite à un défilé de mode avant-gardiste sur le thème du vêtement éthique/responsable et de la récupération des matières, Récup ta mode.
Danse, mode éthique et humour seront au rendez-vous, avec 5 écoles de danses participantes ainsi que Myco Anna, Harricana, .tomate d'épingles., la friperie Lobo Lavida, Séraphin, Respecterre, et plusieurs autres écos créateurs de Québec.
Quand? dimanche, 19 avril 2009 à 19 h 00
Où? Théâtre du Capitole de Québec
Combien? 20$
En plus de l’objectif de sensibiliser le public à la surconsommation, la récupération et le respect des travailleurs de l'industrie, l’événement a pour but d’amasser des fonds afin de financer les stages en santé internationale dans des pays en émergence pour plus de 60 étudiants.
Si vous êtes intéressés à assister à cet événement et par le fait même à encourager le FEMSI, les billets sont en vente au coût de 20$ sur le réseau billetech du Capitole de Québec ou en contactant par e-mail mlle Sarah Lapointe à l'adresse suivante: sarah_lapointe@hotmail.com
1000 places sont disponibles, plus de la moitié sont déjà vendues! Faites vite!
Un peu plus sur Récup Ta Mode et le FEMSI :
Récup Ta Mode est un événement chapeauté par le FEMSI c’est-à-dire le Fonds des Étudiants de la faculté de Médecine pour la Santé Internationale. Cela signifie que le projet a pour second but d’amasser des fonds pour permettre des stages internationaux aux étudiants de notre Faculté. De tels stages de formation à l’étranger sont importants pour le bagage du futur médecin, physiothérapeute et ergothérapeute.
En plus de contribuer à la formation d’une nouvelle génération de professionnels de la santé centrée sur les valeurs de coopération, de tolérance et de débrouillardise, le FEMSI permettra également l’installation d’une aide substantielle aux populations, par exemple, du Mali, de l’Inde, du Costa Rica et du Burkina Faso. En effet, nous investissons dans ces pays en émergence par des dons de matériaux permettant d’améliorer les conditions de vie des populations y vivant.
En somme, notre souhait est de partager notre vision qu’un jeune peut être à la mode tout en encourageant le développement durable et la coopération internationale.
14.2.09
LAST DAY! .tomate d'épingles. Etsy Anniversary Sale!
We are celebrating 3 years on Etsy and want to share our joy with you!
From January 14th to February 14th, buy two items and get the 3rd one FREE!
That's right, buy any two items already available in the shop and get the 3rd one, of equal or lesser value, for FREE! This offer excludes custom orders. Shipping charges will apply.
From January 14th to February 14th, buy two items and get the 3rd one FREE!
That's right, buy any two items already available in the shop and get the 3rd one, of equal or lesser value, for FREE! This offer excludes custom orders. Shipping charges will apply.
13.2.09
15 000 thank yous! 15 000 fois merci!
We've hit 15 000 views on our blog! what a milestone!
Thank you all so much for reading us!
nous avons atteint la marque des 15 000 visites sur notre blog! c'est incroyable!
Merci, merci mille fois de nous lire!
12.2.09
indie find of the moment : erinzam
Shop name: erinzam
Shop address: www.erinzam.etsy.com
In a nutshell: Erinzam is the easier to pronounce name representing the work of Erin Zamrzla (me!). I am a designer, bookbinder and artist.
Shop address: www.erinzam.etsy.com
In a nutshell: Erinzam is the easier to pronounce name representing the work of Erin Zamrzla (me!). I am a designer, bookbinder and artist.
Tell me a little about yourself ...
Hmm. I grew up in a very small town in Kansas. I now live in L.A. I ride my bicycle just about everywhere I go. I like to cook and eat yummy foods. I have many houseplants. I almost always read nonfiction books. I like to laugh. My husband is a designer and artist too.
What are your favourite materials?
I love to work with paper, acrylic paint, fabric, and thrift store finds. I also enjoy working in digital media.
What inspired you to do this?
It must be my nature. I've always been inspired to make things.
Do you remember the first thing you made? What was it?
I don't remember the first thing, exactly, but I do remember making drawings even before I started to go to school. I would roll up each drawing, tie them with a string, and then hand them out to people who visited my family's home. I also remember making a fancy hat out of a paper plate and feathers during kindergarten class. I was very happy about my accomplishment.
What's new and exciting in your store?
My newest item is a book binding kit and tutorial. I love to teach, and for this kit I created illustrations to teach four different Japanese bindings. I am also very excited about an upcoming Etsy store that my husband and I will open together.
What is your favourite item? And why?
The kit is a favorite, but I also really like the mini tag books. I have one that I carry around with me all of the time.
Why should people buy handmade?
Buying handmade supports the creativity of others. Instead of one person creating a design to be mass produced, many people can create their own designs and share them with the world.
11.2.09
Une fillette passe devant une structure haute de 12 mètres faites de récipients de plastique conçue pour conscientiser les passants à la conservation de l'eau à Bombay.
Plastic water bottle scuplture in Mumbai.
10.2.09
i am a magpie
Our friend K of the rikrak studio has this great new blog that we adore
We read it everyday!
She even did us the honor of talking about us in her Great Green-ies series! Thanks, K! You are the bestest!
Lately she posted about her love for her fabulous fabric and her sadness to see them go, when they are all used up and transformed into awesomeness
K says:
"when i've used almost all of a certain vintage fabric, i feel this tiny, little sadness. this missingness and this real covet-ing of the little tiny remaining scrap. alas... no more of this brilliant fabric.. or no more of this delightful print!"
It got me thinking...
I feel the same way!
i have some supplies i cant part with at all!
i hoard all sorts of shinny colourful bits and baubles and curios and then never want to let go
I'm like a magpie lining up my nest with shinny fun things
When i do force myself to use some of them, its always with a little regret
i did so last week...
I used vintage Rhinestones to make fancy faux heirloom necklaces, a new line of products available in stores in Montréal now
Those lovely shinny vintage beauties have a history too!
They come from old, vintage broken jewelry pieces i collected from estate sales
they where once loved by their former owner, so much so that the piece was worn to the point of breaking!
i removed them carefully (and my sister Isabelle less carefully... she cut herself REALLY BADLY while doing so!) and put them aside
I've had them for YEARS until i finally decided to use them
i hope whoever buys them will love them as much as i do!
do you have the same love for your supplies as K and I?
We read it everyday!
She even did us the honor of talking about us in her Great Green-ies series! Thanks, K! You are the bestest!
Lately she posted about her love for her fabulous fabric and her sadness to see them go, when they are all used up and transformed into awesomeness
K says:
"when i've used almost all of a certain vintage fabric, i feel this tiny, little sadness. this missingness and this real covet-ing of the little tiny remaining scrap. alas... no more of this brilliant fabric.. or no more of this delightful print!"
It got me thinking...
I feel the same way!
i have some supplies i cant part with at all!
i hoard all sorts of shinny colourful bits and baubles and curios and then never want to let go
I'm like a magpie lining up my nest with shinny fun things
When i do force myself to use some of them, its always with a little regret
i did so last week...
I used vintage Rhinestones to make fancy faux heirloom necklaces, a new line of products available in stores in Montréal now
Those lovely shinny vintage beauties have a history too!
They come from old, vintage broken jewelry pieces i collected from estate sales
they where once loved by their former owner, so much so that the piece was worn to the point of breaking!
i removed them carefully (and my sister Isabelle less carefully... she cut herself REALLY BADLY while doing so!) and put them aside
I've had them for YEARS until i finally decided to use them
i hope whoever buys them will love them as much as i do!
do you have the same love for your supplies as K and I?
9.2.09
Happy birthday to us !!! .tomate d'épingles. Etsy Anniversary Sale!
wow!
has it been three years already?
Today, February 9th 2009, it's been three years since we started selling on Etsy! Etsy was only a few months old when we joined!
Quite a few things have happened since the launch:
we've sold over 250 items
we've received over 350 positive feedbacks
we've collected over 1400 shop hearts
we where on the Etsy front page in a Featured Seller interview
From January 14th to February 14th, buy two items and get the 3rd one FREE!
That's right, buy any two items already available in the shop and get the 3rd one, of equal or lesser value, for FREE! This offer excludes custom orders. Shipping charges will apply.
5.2.09
des bonnes nouvelles
Nous sommes très heureuse de vous annoncer que nous sommes en vedette dans le Journal Le Soleil de Québec de ce jeudi 5 février 2009!
Nous avons eu le plaisir de rencontrer Annie Lafrance, une journaliste de Québec. Nous suivons ses articles depuis un certain temps (vous en avez vu des extraits ici même sur ce blogue).
Annie est venu nous rencontrer dans notre atelier du cartier Saint-Roch. Elle a su tout de suite nous mettre à l'aise et nous a donné des bons conseils!
Vous pouvez lire son blogue ici. Et l'article de son blogue qui porte sur nous est ici.
Merci, Annie!
Annie est venu nous rencontrer dans notre atelier du cartier Saint-Roch. Elle a su tout de suite nous mettre à l'aise et nous a donné des bons conseils!
Vous pouvez lire son blogue ici. Et l'article de son blogue qui porte sur nous est ici.
4.2.09
indie find of the moment : TheBlackSpotBooks
Shop name: The Black Spot Books
Shop address: www.TheBlackSpotBooks.etsy.com
In a nutshell: I make things out of other things. Older things with stories already. I collect and combine them. I make them my own.
Tell me a little about yourself ...
Oh, about myself. I suppose I would have a different response to this everyday, so for to-day about myself is lost and wandering but in a closet. Not a big space like The Sea or A Desert but a small, a very small space. I keep hitting my forehead on things. I have bruises that have no real shape.
What are your favourite materials?
Mmmmm. Things that are worn and perhaps even weary, but have strength enough to last a new lifetime. Olde leather, olde fabric. Bits and pieces of unidentifiable things. Skulls. Love. Hmmm, hm. Metal too, I love olde metal bits.
What inspired you to do this?
I have always had a love for what was. I am not sure what it is that makes one of these. One of these me’s. We are all a formula of sorts and this is me. It makes me crazy to think of things that were. My grandma told me that there used to be a bead cart (CART!) near where I now live (she died years ago, before I lived here) and I walk on the street and try try tryohsohard to imagine little Sara Waltson asking The Bead Man for a bead. I just learned that they were so poor that they moved every month. My great grandmother ran a card game in the back of my Great Grandfathers cigar shoppe. I just learned this. So simple and not that far back but my brain suffers at trying to feel it. A trip to city hall again for histories. Ooooo. What inspired me? When I was wee my ma would say, “can you imagine infinity?” why did she torture me so? (my brother is in prison now… because of this question?! AGH!)
Do you remember the first thing you made? What was it?
Well, one of the first things that I made was a book yes! A book called cirsis actors for mommy. I would have forgotten it (I did!) had I not found it. I used to make books all of the time. I was less than 8 when I made it. 6. 5? I dunno. Wee.
What's new and exciting in your store?
New and exciting has not yet arrived. Or daily arrives. I am looking forward to 2 new photograph Ideas that I have and also to using unfound leather that I hope to find in Israel next month and leather that my husband wijll search for whilst at war (he will be in iraq, in Kuwait now) new stuff new stuff sniffy.
What is your favourite item? And why?
I love Søren’s little Side Scuttle, but really I haven’t a favourite. Or, I have SO many favourites! I try to make everything that I make special. I hate to be incapable of saying, but I am! I am incapable of saying!
Why should people buy handmade?
Because cheap multiples are so irritating, or conversely, why wouldn’t everyone want something made with love that is one (orish) of a kind?
Anything else?
2.2.09
Tendance jouets écologiques
Pensez-y deux fois avant de jeter vos canettes de boisson gazeuse, votre gobelet de café ou votre bouteille d'eau vide dans le bac de récupération: ces objets pourraient être réutilisés pour fabriquer des jouets écologiques.
La dernière tendance des fabricants en matière de conception de jouets respectueux de l'environnement n'est plus simplement d'incorporer des matériaux verts dans la production, mais d'utiliser ces objets de tous les jours pour leur donner une seconde vie.
A la 69e Exposition canadienne du jouet et du passe-temps, qui s'est terminée lundi à Toronto, plus de 90 fabricants de jouets, distributeurs et inventeurs ont présenté leurs nouveaux jouets, jeux et autres activités qu'ils espèrent vendre aux consommateurs au cours des prochains mois.
L'entreprise torontoise Playwell a présenté plusieurs «écojouets» dont le «Soda Can Robug», un robot-insecte qui bourdonne lorsqu'il est mis en marche grâce à deux piles AA.
L'«Amphibian Rover» est un robot amphibien constitué de quatre bouteilles d'eau recyclées. Selon Cale Nicholson, de l'entreprise Playwell, le jouet devrait être disponible sur le marché en mars.
«Cela encourage la réutilisation, particulièrement celle des bouteilles de plastique transparent, qui sont difficiles à recycler et qui se retrouvent très souvent dans des sites d'enfouissement. Elles peuvent donc être réutilisées pour des fins plus constructives et amusantes», a ajouté M. Nicholson.
«Ce qui est bien au sujet de ce type de jouets, c'est que l'imagination des enfants est illimitée, a-t-il ajouté. Cela les encourage à utiliser des objets qu'ils ont déjà à la maison.»
L'«Uberstix», un jouet de construction qui incorpore des matériaux recyclés, a été conçu pour être compatible avec des gobelets en polystyrène et en carton, des pailles et des trombones à papier. Tandis que le «Outrigger», un jouet du fabricant Scavenger, demande aux enfants de rassembler une liste de matériaux recyclés pour les intégrer aux différentes parties de l'«Uberstix».
«Pour un investissement minime, un enfant peut construire quelque chose à partir du monde qui l'entoure», a affirmé Merle Tubman, de l'entreprise Borgfeldt Canada.
Malgré l'émergence de ce type de jouets écologiques qui intègrent des objets de la vie de tous les jours, les jouets fabriqués à partir de matériaux respectueux de l'environnement étaient toutefois à l'avant-scène de l'exposition.
Par exemple, le fabricant allemand PlayMais offre aux enfants la possibilité de créer des oeuvres à partir de matériaux 100 pour cent biodégradables, grâce à des composantes colorées à base de maïs.
Les petites voitures «Sprig», fabriquées en Ontario par l'entreprise SprigWood, fonctionnent grâce à un mécanisme à pompe plutôt que des piles. «Sprig Hollow» est quant à elle une nouvelle série de produits verts pour jouer dans le jardin, le sable ou l'eau.
«Alors qu'il y a eu de nombreux rappels de jouets et d'avertissements au cours des dernières années, les parents commencent à se poser des questions au sujet de la sécurité des jouets afin de mieux protéger leurs enfants», a affirmé une importatrice de jouets et distributrice pour Stortz et Associés, Linda Stortz.
«Ce sont ces parents qui, lorsqu'ils entrent chez les détaillants, se demandent: «est-ce que cela est bon pour l'environnement?'. Parce que finalement, ça concerne leurs enfants», a-t-elle conclu.
1.2.09
and the winner is...
The winner of our Valentine's day contest is
H.S.!
She wins a pair of pink . recycled negatives earrings !
H.S. says: "This would be THE piece for my friend who loves and adores pink! She's been such a great friend all these years and i'll love for her to receive such a smashing gift."
Congratulations!
H.S.!
She wins a pair of pink . recycled negatives earrings !
H.S. says: "This would be THE piece for my friend who loves and adores pink! She's been such a great friend all these years and i'll love for her to receive such a smashing gift."Congratulations!
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