The Ayuvastra Healing Fabrics Brand

Based in Ireland, Ayuvastra Healing Fabrics has been keen on showcasing quality yoga wear products, leisure wear items, baby wear options, and linens for beds all made under the standards of eco-friendliness.

Headed by Aslam Noor and Ema Staunton, the brand’s name is taken from the Indian technique of textile dying, successfully working with medicinal herbs. With the said technique taking root from a 5,000 year old healthcare system in India, the technique is revealed to be a branch of Ayurveda.
Ayuvastra Healing Fabrics
Ayuvastra Healling Fabrics’ heads are working in conjunction with the Kerala Weaving cooperative in implementing certain dyeing techniques and modes which had been traditionally passed down from ayurvedic physicians, resulting to the brand’s unique take on quality leisure and baby wear.

As such, the brand’s vision encompasses the promotion of eco awareness and sustainable practices, as well as voices out its support for traditional methods which have been used in the creation of certain garments and fabrics.

With the dyeing processes involved in the making of its products all free from synthetic chemicals, the brand’s line of products are also free from variants of toxic irritants, as well as made to be bio-degradable and organic in their inclinations.

Offering a diverse range of product color options, unique designs and the distinct comfort factors known to hail from organic materials, the brand is also keen on adding more products into their featured inventory, with plans to include organic silk in future releases and showcases.

For those on the lookout for quality organic wear, Ayuvastra Healing Fabrics has got something worthy of your attention.

The EFF’s Source Awards 2012

The final application deadline for the Ethical Fashion Forum-organized Source Awards 2012 is slated to happen on July 31, 2012.

Brands boasting eco-friendly standards in the creation of fashion and apparel products are encouraged to take part in this year’s Source Awards, which remains to be one of the world’s most respected awards for ethical fashion.

Free to enter and not limited to business organizations, the Source Awards also calls for individuals who are engaged in the design, development and release of eco-friendly products.


Steered by the Ethical Fashion Forum, this year’s Source Awards highlights includes categories touching up on brand leadership over men’s/women’s/children’s wear, design innovation, individual contribution, manufacturing and retail processes/operations.

As an award, the Source Awards recognizes the most inspirational and most innovative individuals, business organizations and/or initiatives which are inclined to further propel the eco-sensible and eco-sustainable standards in the fashion industry.

Not just an award positioned to merit brands with aesthetic medals, the Source Awards represents the growing concern and active involvement of various players in the fashion and apparel industry, focusing on the overall impact and future implications linked with the ecologically unstable and unsafe production sites and manufacturing standards.

Given the fact that sustainable standards in the development of fashion items are relevant and important in keeping Mother Earth’s ecologic balance in check, the Source Awards recognizes and gives due merit to those who are constantly innovating and finding environmentally safer and better ways of producing fashion products.

With the increasing demand for clothing and accessories items, going eco-friendly stands to be a choice which fashion industry players have to think about, given the potential damage it could cause if left unchecked.

More than just an award, the Source Award is a bastion that stands up for Mother Earth.

Nomads Hemp Wear – Organic Brand Review

Beginning with the making of clothing items and selling them from a “front shop” van, Nomads Hemp Wear is a clothing company whose name fits well with the brand’s original profile, nomadic in its business model operations yet dedicated in showcasing a diverse range of quality hemp-based clothing items.

Now standing up as a full-featured clothing company with a base in Nelson, BC, Nomads Hemp Wear features quality fashion and clothing items bearing functional-yet fashionable aesthetics, a twist often looked for in today’s fast paced times.

Carrying a wide range of organically grown hemp-based products, Nomads Hemp Wear highlights would include grunge-inspired pants, yoga wear essentials, salsa skirts and even an underwear line.

Featuring printed shirts with unique and impressive designs, as well as intricately embroidered patters on a number of its products, Nomads Hemp Wear’s products come in a variety of colors, and are durable as clothing items, given hemp’s reputation for durability.

Often ascribed to be the most durable fiber in the planet, hemp has long been used in the creation of fabrics, with hemp crops being resistant to insect infestations and certain diseases.

With high fiber content, hemp stands to be the most eco-friendly of organic material options, a fact which Nomads Hemp Wear knows all too well.

Also featuring a line of organic cotton wear and organic soy-organic cotton blends, Nomads Hemp Wear also has a recycled polyester line, as works within the bounds of international fair trade terms.

As a brand, Nomads Hemp Wear does well in living up to its namesake, in terms of how the brand started out and in terms of the quality hemp products which it regularly highlights as its couture-creations.

Topshop and Reclaim To Wear

In response to the on-the-rise demand for organic fashion, clothing and apparel items, Topshop and Reclaim To Wear have joined forces in offering a collection that is worthy of praise, given that the individual collection features are made from discarded materials.

Topshop, a high-street retailer, and Reclaim To Wear, an eco fashion brand, have taken the initiative of utilizing production cut-offs and re-utilizing stock surpluses in the creation of unique dresses, bleached denim shorts and more.


Given the eco-friendly standards and norms focused towards the fashion and apparel industry as a whole, the collaboration is one which comes as no surprise, considering the respective statuses of Topshop and Reclaim To Wear.

“This is the first step towards the creation of zero waste design collections. I trust that the Topshop team’s commitment to new sustainable solutions will lead to the reconsidering of consumption versus disposal throughout the whole fashion industry supply chain,” shared Orsola de Castro, Creative Director, Reclaim To Wear.

The recent endeavors of Topshop and Reclaim To Wear follows after the launch of the Glamour Conscious Collection by H&M, the brand’s response in offering sustainable eco-friendly fashion and apparel products.

As a brand, Reclaim To Wear was established in 1997, standing up as one of the 90’s generation pioneers in the production of eco-friendly clothing and apparel alternatives an solutions.

Sharing their increased knowledge in the making of sustainable eco-friendly products with Topshop, the Reclaim To Wear and Topshop union proves to be a healthy collaboration, one which benefits both entities, customers and Mother Earth.

So if high fashion made with organic sensibilities is what you’re after, look no further than over what Topshop and Reclaim To Wear has to offer for you.

Buying Natural Fabrics and Dyes from Tobacco

Tobacco is not known for its dye potentials, but a relatively young organization based in North Carolina has come up with a way of deriving natural dyes from tobacco, along with producing essential oils and textiles also coming from the use of tobacco.

In fact, Ploughboy, the Raleigh-based organization, just recently garnered an investment-boost amounting to $1 million USD from the Canada-based ComWest Enterprise Corp.

Patenting the utilization of tobacco in deriving fabrics, essential oils and dyes, the overall utilization of tobacco is likened to the use of jute and hemp, churning out bast fibers which are often made from organically grown crops.

Needless to say, the tobacco used by Ploughboy is organic in its growth and crop production practices.

Given that tobacco is mainly used in the making of smoking products, the concept of utilizing it as a sustainable means for producing natural and organic fabrics and fabric ingredients is one which extends from its typical purpose as a crop.

Given the consumption drop of tobacco-made products, the idea behind Ploughboy’s tobacco-inclinations is quite easy to figure out – tobacco crop producers can still continue with their operations, even if demand for tobacco in smoking products are dwindling.

“There is likely to be excess production capacity for tobacco plants that will allow its economical use as a natural textile and other natural products,” shares Suzanne DeVall, CEO and founder of Ploughboy.

With its patent filed, the organization, in its adherence in maximizing the use of tobacco, represents a forward thinking approach in sustainable production practices, thinking out of the box in addressing concerns for the environment and concerns over the financial-sustainability and production feasibility of materials geared in the production of natural fibers. Need I say these are worth the purchase?

Rapanui

The Essentials

Rapanui was set up in early 2008 by brothers Mart and Rob Drake-Knight. Their products range from underwear to accessories, and include comfy essentials like t-shirts, hoodies, jeans, tanks, and polos sure to please the inner California girl or boy in us all. Bespoke versions of its clothing have also been made for multinationals and charities including Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and the Marine Conservation Society.

Ethic-Chic

Rapanui is about making cool eco-fashion for young people; that means clothing that is eco-friendly, ethical and sustainable: Made from natural organic fabrics in a Fairwear Foundation audited, wind powered factory. Rapanui has also developed a unique traceability tool and eco labelling system which allows visitors to their site to find out exactly where and how their clothing is made and shop quickly with a conscience.

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Prancing Leopard

The Essentials

PRANCING LEOPARD ORGANICS is a sustainable, multidimensional and philanthropic apparel company dedicated to eco-conscious living. With fashion-forward styles inspired by Yoga, Pilates, Dance and Fitness as well as luxury organic cotton fabrics, Prancing Leopard Organics represents the ultimate in exclusive apparel for fitness and leisure.

Ethic-Chic

To benefit both the wearer and the world, Prancing Leopard choses organic fabrics. Their goal has been to find the most beautiful fabrics, combining natural organic fibers with comfort and performance. Prancing Leopard apparel is made with sustainable fibers to support organic farmers and sustainable farming practices.

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Poplove

The Essentials

Street-wear meets glam through PopLove’s eco conscious designs. The designers Shai Wallach and Andrea Hughes use recycled and organic materials to create their garments.

The duo produces unique garments which leave a minimal impact on the environment. Their primary concept is that style should not be sacrificed for sustainability.

Ethic-Chic

PopLove designs two lines of clothing:
- T-shirts made from 100% Organic cotton certified by G.O.T.S. with prints using eco dyes.
- Fashionable streetwear created from recycled materials. The textiles used to produce their items are sourced from local charity organizations as well as a local clothing recycling programs.

All Poplove items are produced either in their independent studio or with local small-scale manufacturers in Tel Aviv, supporting their local economy and minimizing transport fuel.

Each PopLove garment utilizes unique finishing techniques such as hand-painting, hand-dyeing or screen-printing, all of which are done in their independent studio.

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Positivitee

The Essentials

What’s a better way to support animal protection organizations and other good causes than to give them money? Wear the T-shirt! In partnership with non-profit organizations, Positivitee creates sweet designs, which they silkscreen onto T-shirts, and donate 10% of their profits to the relevant organization. Aside from their tees, which are a big success in yoga studios and spas, they offer a bestselling Signature Wrap.

Ethic-Chic

Positivitee’s tag line is “clothing with meaning” and they truly mean that. All tees are 100% organic with water-based dyes. Each T-shirt carries a label with information on the charity it’s dedicated to and the words “I support ……(name of the charity)” printed inside. Positivitee is FLO certified, and as member of the CarbonFund it also offsets its carbon-shipping footprint.

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Peligrosa

The Essentials

The story of Peligrosa starts on a sunny day with the meeting of two sweater designers in an LA café. She had worked for a big company and created her own line. He had a design studio that handcrafted jewelry and textile design products. Their common interests led to love, and love led to the birth of a family and a clothing label. Peligrosa creates casual silhouettes with a modern twist for men and women. Their elegant designs stand the test of time and trends, and have been picked up by media like FOAM and Women’s Wear Daily.

Ethic-Chic

Peligrosa exclusively uses certified organic, sustainable and re-appropriated materials in all clothing and packaging. To reduce their carbon footprint, they have moved eighty percent of their production back to the U.S. In an effort to educate and nurture, Peligrosa donates a portion of their net proceeds to non-profit youth programs. Green America Seal of Approval.

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