October, 2009

Enviromental Awareness — No Comments
30
Oct 09

Instead of tricking the environment treat it with these Halloween tips

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-Trick or Treat with Reusable Bags
Try using reusable bags and containers that don’t need to be discarded after they are used.

Check out these easy DIY ideas for Eco-Friendly Trick or Treat bags:
How to make cheap Eco-Friendly Trick-or-Treat Bags

-Make Do-It-Yourself Costumes
Instead of spending money on a Halloween costume that’s going to be used only once, get creative and make costumes from old clothes and other items you already have around the house.

After Halloween, you can either wash and store your homemade costumes for use in subsequent years, trade with friends, or donate the clothing from which they were made to day care centers, homeless shelters, or charitable organizations.

Here are some ideas:
Do it yourself Halloween costumes

-Give Eco-Friendly Treats
There is a growing variety of eco-friendly candy—from organic chocolate to organic lollipops—available online and from local organic groceries, health food stores, or consumer cooperatives. These organic candies can satisfy your sweet tooth without compromising your health, and they are produced using methods that don’t damage the environment.

Choose treats that use little or no packaging that is produced using fossil fuels and cannot be recycled. Whenever possible, buy locally produced treats from local merchants. Buying locally supports your local economy, and also reduces fuel consumption and pollution associated with transporting products.

Check out these Chocolate bars that help save animal species:
Endangered Species Chocolate

-Make Your Halloween Party Eco-Friendly
Host a Halloween party that features organic, locally grown pumpkins for carving, apples for bobbing, and other pesticide-free, locally grown foods appropriate to the holiday and the harvest season.

Use dishes, cutlery, napkins and tablecloths that can be washed and reused instead of disposable plastic and paper tableware.

Preserve has a wide variety of stylish, high performance, eco-friendly products :
Preserve Products

These are just some ideas that will make your Halloween responsibly fun for you and for the environment!

find more ideas here: Go Green this Halloween

Enviromental Awareness — 1 Comment
23
Oct 09

The story of stuff with Annie Leonard

Here at RESTORE™CLOTHING we are very concerned about the true cost of things. Take a look at this video by Annie Leonard that shows how our production and consumption patterns affect the world.

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

www.storyofstuff.com

Uncategorized — 2 Comments
20
Oct 09

Here is what Neil Chambers and Lucy Jones said about RESTORE™CLOTHING on treehugger.com – Thanks for shining the light at us!

RESTORE Clothing Review – Wearing is Believing
by Neil Chambers, New York City on 10.20.09
RESTORE Clothing.jpg
Photos from RESTORE Clothing

Anthony and Celeste Lilore, creators of RESTORE Clothing, are an eco-force to sit-up and play attention to. While other clothing brands merely skirt under the minimum requirements to be called green – the Lilore team put their brand where their mouth is. RESTORE (an acronym for Responsible, Earth Friendly, Sustainable, Technological, Organic, Recycled and Ergonomic) is urban-centric active wear that caters to the needs of both sexes without losing style, functionality or environmental-friendliness. The timeless cuts are modern making the garments easy to wear to a yoga class or out after work. Embedded in each piece of the collection is a commitment for well-crafted details and a taste for excellence.

RESTORE provided Lucy Jones and myself with free samples to try-out to see if the clothes could stand-up to city-life New York style. For two months, Jones and I wore the products to work-out sessions, half-marathons, yoga, pole dancing (Jones, not me), restaurants, events, museums and the park all the while throwing them in the laundry over and over and over to see how durable and true-to-form the clothing real was.

RESTORE Clothing Crossover bra.jpg
Photo from RESTORE Clothing

Jones says:

The fabric stays stretchy and soft to keep the support you need for a yoga class and felt comfortable walking around in the spandex pants in public. When I first was introduced to the pieces, I thought it would feel plastic since they’re made from recycled plastic bottles. I found the clothes are just the opposite – very cottony and comfortable, even when working up a sweat. The design really understands what someone needs to realistically work out. Plus, I like the way the garments look walking around the streets of New York City. I use the pants and the top in my S-Factor classes and they are perfect. The tops have a built-in demi bra so, unless you are busty, it is great for yoga, Pilates, walking or cycling.

I didn’t think the clothing was going to make the grade for me. When I first got the pants, they kinda looked like cotton jogging pants I was issued in jr. high gym…which, I wasn’t a fan of. But you really have to wear them to experience just how amazing they are. Sense I started testing them – I’ve started to wear them more and more. Anthony Lilore told me I’d love them – but I thought he was just trying to be a good salesman. I discovered he wasn’t blowing smoke – they are super comfortable, quite stylish and great for an early morning run. The only drawback is that I found myself fishing out the drawstring of the pant waist. Of course, I keep fishing it out because I like wearing the pants so much.

Video from Eco-Chick

The fabrics used range from organic cotton and Repreve® nylon made from100% recycled fabrics to lining made of Cocona®, an activated carbon from the shells of coconuts. Their zippers come strictly from eco-conscious manufacturers, their hangtags are printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper with soy ink and their garments are shipped in biodegradable bags and recycled cardboard boxes. Plus the Lilores are actively involved in Made in NYC which supports over 7,000 manufacturing companies in NYC employing nearly 100,000 New Yorkers.

save the garment center — 2 Comments
13
Oct 09

Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags, premiers next Monday, October 19th on HBO

Don’t miss the documentary: “Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags” it airs Monday, October 19th at 9 pm on HBO.  The film is a historical look at the Garment District. Viewers will watch how the backbone of the fashion industry and what once was the gateway for many immigrants to the American Dream is now a dwindling industry. This HBO feature documentary explores the rise and fall of New York’s fabled schmatta (rag) trade as a microcosm for the economic shocks that have changed our lives.

Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags Teaser from Chris Walker on Vimeo.

DIRECTED BY | Marc Levin
PRODUCED BY | Daphne Pinkerson, Marc Levin
EDITOR/CO-PRODUCER | Richard Lowe
LINE PRODUCER | Kara Rozansky
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER | Karl Hollandt
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER (HBO) | Sheila Nevins
SUPERVISING PRODUCER (HBO) | Nancy Abraham
FIELD PRODUCER | Donovan Leitch
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Daniel Levin
ASSISTANT EDITOR | Chris Walker
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY | John Zorn

http://www.blowbackproductions.com/schmatta.shtml

save the garment center — 1 Comment
6
Oct 09

Thanks Textile Insight for shining the light at Save the Garment Center in your article “Revival for Survival bringing new york city’s Garment District Back to Life”

By Suzanne Blecher
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With the return of a Made in America philosophy, Manhattan’s Garment Center is reinventing itself as a design destination. Not since the need for soldiers’ uniforms during the Civil War and the ready-made clothing trend of the 1870s has there been as much opportunity for growth in the Big Apple. While we will likely never again see 70 percent of the nation’s women’s clothing produced here like it was in 1910, smatterings of companies large and small are carving out new niches in the heart of the city. Here are some of the best and brightest.

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RESTORE

Celeste Lilore became an outspoken advocate for the Garment District after repeatedly losing contractors in the area. “We lost a cutting room, then another contractor. I got furious,” she says, later realizing that zoning had been changed to make way foor high-rise apartment rentals. Lilore and her husband Anthony, himself on the board of Save the Garment Center, have made it their mission keep their cutting, sewing, design, and distribution for their apparel businesses, NOCHAIRS and RESTORE, in New York.

NOCHAIRS is a uniform design firm catering to fragrance and cosmetics companies including Clarins, who the company just launched uniforms created from Repreve recycled polyester for. Each carries a newly-minted green Made in NYC label.

RESTORE is an activewear and lifestyle brand created from and eco-friendly fabrics including recycled nylon and organic Supima. It is carried in Canyon Ranch and The Sports Club/LA. “It aligns with what we believe in philosophy and business,” says Anthony. “We can continue to do our work and give back to the community.”

Spotted in the RESTORE offices are Recycline cups, business cards printed with soy ink and a couple who prefers public transportation and motorcycles to cars. “We’re saying that if you buy something new, it should be responsible,” says Anthony,  to which Celeste adds, “We like to say our garments are crunchy on the inside.”

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-More than 50 percent of all NYC fashion-related jobs are found in the Garment Center and surrounding neighborhoods. (NYCEDC)

-NYC accounts for 11 percent of all U.S. apparel manufacturing jobs. (NYS Dept of Labor)

-Fashion Industry employment within the Fashion Center BID (i.e. Zip Code 10018) is estimated to be 23,884. (The Fashion Center BID)

-In the NYC zip code are of 10018, based on recent (2008) deals within the Fashion Center BID, retail rents can range from $55.00 per square foot for a side street location to $180 per square foot and higher for an Avenue location, depending on the size of the space. (the fashion Center BID)