ophelia [Spring issue] 1

Ophelia[Spring Issue]

2 o

phelia

[Spring

issue]

oph

elia [Spr

ing

issue] 3

Co

nten

tso

4

fr

om

nic

he t

o n

ec

es

sit

y

06

Stella

Mc

Ca

rtn

ey

: Fas

hio

n &

Su

sta

ina

bil

ity

08

Mu

st H

av

es

10

Gr

rr

l T

alk

: Alex

is K

ra

us

s

& S

am

an

th

a U

rb

an

i

12

Diy

Bo

dy

Sc

ru

bs

14

7 b

ra

nd

s t

o k

no

w n

ow

4 o

phelia

[Spring

issue]

oph

elia [Spr

ing

issue] 5

Coco C

hanel once said: “Fashion is not som

ething that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do w

ith ideas, the way

we live, w

hat is happening.” A

s our world changes socially,

environmentally and econom

-ically, our ideas and lifestyle choices as consum

ers and global citizens have begun to change as w

ell. This shift rais-

es many questions about the

sustainability of our current fashion industry practices, w

hat this will m

ean for young people, and w

hat we should

be doing to ensure a more

viable and innovative fashion industry for our future gen-erations.

With recent global inci-

dents such as the Rana P

laza building collapse in B

angla-desh, dram

atic climate shifts

and increasing conflict over natural resources – sustain-able fashion and ethical busi-ness m

odels are transforming

from a niche to a necessity.

The S

ocial Impact of the

Fashion Industry

The R

ana Plaza B

uilding collapse that occurred in A

pril 2013 was a tragic w

ay to bring to light the situation m

any workers face in som

e of the leading garm

ent produc-ing regions of the w

orld. With

limited w

orkers’ rights legis-lations and poor enforcem

ent

of these regulations where

they do exist, working con-

ditions are extremely unsafe.

Furtherm

ore, low w

ages and a lack of direct m

arket access lead to w

orkers receiving little rem

uneration for the garm

ents they produce, while

large retailers earn hefty m

argins. These conditions

further the poor quality of life and future prospects w

hile increases inequality am

ong w

orkers. The results of these

practices is a fast fashion retail strategy that focuses on bringing trends to the m

arket in the m

ost efficient way,

which brands such as H

&M

and Z

ara have embraced.

A S

ustainable Solution

i What w

ill our future gen-erations face if w

e continue to focus on profits, cheap prices and fast fashion? L

ajeune be-lieves that if w

e do not change how

we produce and consum

e fashion, the future w

ill look dire and “w

e will not be able

to consume the w

ay we do for

much longer.”

Global outcry and action

against the damage done by

the fashion industry has led to a focus on sustainable and ethical fashion. For L

ejeune: “Ethical fash-

ion represents an approach to the design, sourcing and m

anufacture of clothing which

maxim

izes benefits to people and com

munities w

hile mini-

mizing im

pact on the environ-m

ent.” B

y work tow

ards poverty re-duction, sustainable livelihood creation, and m

inimizing or

counteracting environmental

concerns, the movem

ent is transform

ing our approach to production and consum

ption. S

ustainable fashion re-quires num

erous stakeholders to build the ecosystem

neces-sary to penetrate m

ainstream

fashion. These stakeholders in-

clude not-profit organizations providing resources, advocacy and other support, govern-m

ents creating the regulation necessary to encourage ethical enterprise, fashion retailers and consum

ers. It can be argued that fashion retailers play the m

ost critical role in bringing ethical, fashionable products to the m

arket.

What W

ill the Future L

ook L

ike?

If we do not change our be-

havior – our future generations could see a w

orld where w

ork-ers continue to be exploited, resources becom

e even scarcer leading to m

ore irreparable dam

age and conflict, and profits are m

ore important

than values. How

ever, we could

reverse this trend if we focus

on the triple bottom line, by

ensuring that the processes w

e use in supply chains are ethical. Fashion developm

ent is supposed to be a creative and aspirational process. W

ith the industrial revolution and a focus on m

ass production, m

uch of this changed. Creativ-

ity was replaced w

ith efficiency and quality w

ith quantity. Our

future should not and cannot

from

N

Ich

e To

Nec

essity

be that. Our future should be

one where people consum

e less and value the item

s they consum

e more, all com

panies adopt a vision of sustainability and the supply chain becom

es an em

powering and inspiring

process. A

s our climate changes,

our political values evolve, our econom

ies see turbulent shifts and our social consciousness progresses – these changes m

ust and will transcend into

our ideas and discussions around a m

ore sustainable fashion industry.

6 o

phelia

[Spring

issue]

oph

elia [Sprin

g issu

e] 7

Stella M

cC

ar

tney:

Fash

ion

& Susta

ina

bility

Stella M

cCartney w

as one of the first designers in the fashion business to

embrace a sustainable atti-

tude in her business model

– from the production to the

final collections.

I design clothes that are m

eant to last. I believe in creating pieces that are not going to get burnt, that are not going to landfills and that are not going to dam

age the environm

ent. For every piece in every collection, I am

alw

ays asking what have w

e done to m

ake this garment

more sustainable and w

hat else can w

e do. It is a con-stant effort to im

prove…

The com

pany is always look-

ing for new w

ays to be more

sustainable as it feels respon-sible for the resources it uses and the im

pact its activities have on the planet. T

his sense of responsibility and forw

ard thinking is present w

hen they design their collections, w

hen they m

anufacture the clothes and even w

hen they open new

stores.

All S

tella McC

artney stores, offices and studios in the U

K are pow

ered by wind

energy and abroad, they use renew

able energy to power

their stores and offices not to m

ention that 45% of their

operations are run on 100%

renewable, green energy.

Equally interesting, in S

tella M

cCartney‘s collections, they

use as much organic cotton

as possible and continue to do research to find new

m

aterials and new ecological

processes.

Recycling is one of the key

points of this company’s

philosophy. In 2012, 34.3 metric

tons of waste w

as diverted from

landfill and recycled or reused – they recycle all textiles that could be used. M

oreover, all Stella M

cCart-

ney locations have recycling system

s.

And w

hen it comes to get in-

volved in green projects, Stella

McC

artney did not hesitate to take part on the N

atural Re-

source Defense C

ouncil NR

DC

C

lean by Design P

rogramm

e, becom

ing the first company

of luxury goods to contribute to such initiatives. C

lean by D

esign,“focuses on improving

process efficiency to reduce w

aste and emissions and pro-

tect the environment”.

Textile manufacturing has a

big environmental footprint,

it pollutes around 200 tons of w

ater per ton of fabric using m

any harmful chem

icals, and consum

ing enormous am

ounts of energy for steam

and hot w

ater. This program

me aim

s to reduce the use of w

ater (about 25%

) and energy (about 30%).

It’s really the job of fashion designers now

to turn things on their head in a different w

ay, and not just try to turn a dress on its head every season. Try and ask questions about how

you make that dress,

where you m

ake that dress, w

hat materials you are using. I

think that is far more inter-

esting, actually. I think that the w

ay to create sustainable fashion is to keep asking these questions w

hile making sure

to make desirable, luxurious,

beautiful clothing and accesso-ries that w

omen w

ant to buy.

Am

ong the Stella M

cCartney

eco-friendly products we can

find a sustainable eyewear

collection made from

over 50%

natural and renewable

resources using raw m

aterials from

natural origins such as

castor-oil seeds and citric acid; the biodegradable soles m

ade from

a bioplastic called AP

INA

T, w

hich will degrade w

hen placed in m

ature compost and the

beautiful lingerie line, which uses

recycled metal for hardw

are and organic cotton for the gussets.

These are just a portion of all

the activities and initiatives undertaken by S

tella McC

artney. U

ndoubtedly, this is a very good exam

ple for the fashion indus-try, w

hich unfortunately doesn’t alw

ays comply w

ith such ethical practices. I hope that m

any other designers and established com

-panies w

ill follow her exam

ple in the years to com

e.

8 o

phelia

[Spring

issue]

oph

elia [Spr

ing

issue] 9

10 o

phelia

[Spring

issue]

oph

elia [Spr

ing

issue] 11

Gr

rr

l talk:

These ra

d la

dies m

ake a

ca

se fo

r switc

hin

g o

ver to

all

na

tur

al bea

uty pr

od

uc

ts.

While there m

ay be nothing granola-looking about them

, A

lexis Krauss of S

leigh Bells

andSam

antha Urbani, w

ho sings w

ith Blood O

range, make

a case for switching over to

all-natural beauty products.

Sam

antha Urbani: You know

w

hat’s really crazy? When

we first m

et, we bonded over

using and loving all-natural beauty products. W

e were just

like, “Duh!”

Alexis K

rauss: It’s really in-teresting! I alw

ays grew up as

a relatively conscious con-sum

er— but m

ore with food

and the environment—

until I learned that exfoliants contain m

icro beads of small pieces

of plastic, which accum

ulate across oceans and great lakes and dam

age ecosystems. I

think there’s still ignorance about how

ubiquitous certain ingredients are in beauty prod-ucts because consum

ers are told that it’s not toxic if it’s in a low

dose—but w

e’re getting low

doses of these ingredients in so m

any different products that it adds up.

SU

: Totally!

AK

: I got so passionate about it and w

anted to write som

e-thing on the topic, but found m

yself frustrated with a lot

of mainstream

beauty sites and the fact that they didn’t dive deep into issues like how

certain ingredients affected w

omen’s bodies and the envi-

ronment. B

ut then I met this

wom

an named Jessica A

ssaf, a cosm

etic activist, and it was

like meeting m

y bandmate.

We w

ere just like, “Fuck, let’s

start a website that w

omen

can go to and share their own

stories”— so w

e launched a blog called B

eauty Lies Truth.

It’s exciting to see how m

any eyes w

e’ve opened.

SU

: That’s so exciting! S

tarting som

ething like that and seeing it grow

as a movem

ent.

AK

: Yeah! I mean it’s really all

about taking raw, w

onderful ingredients that com

e from

nature and turning them into

formulas that w

ork for your skin and body. It’s also about consum

er activism; w

e have a lot of buying pow

er, especially as w

omen. T

here are things that w

e haven’t seen until the past 50 years w

hen chemicals

really started to inundate our lives in a crazy w

ay.

SU

: That’s so scary!

AK

: I know! H

ow did you get

into using all-natural beauty alternatives?

SU

: My m

om has alw

ays been into organic things like ho-m

eopathic medicine, food, and

things like that. When I w

as grow

ing up I had a love-

hate relationship with the idea

of femininity and the idea of

what it m

eans to be a girl. For years, w

hen I was a teenager, I

totally swore off m

akeup and didn’t w

ant to wear any ofit-

atall.ThenIgottoa point w

here I didn’t w

ant to be so obstinate against fem

ininity, I wanted to

take it in my ow

n hands and em

brace it. I started thinking about all these things that you’re talking about because I w

as raised to think about what

I’m putting in m

y body and w

hat’s going on my skin. E

s-pecially w

hen I started to tour, things like essential oils and certain oils for m

oisturizing w

ere very important to m

e.

AK

: Yeah, sure. Nobody teaches

you to look at ingredients on products like you look at labels on food because people can’t

pronounce them and they

don’t know w

hat they are.

It’s overwhelm

ing.

SU

: Exactly! People assum

e that they m

ust be OK

because they’re telling you to put iton your skin and the m

odels look beautiful.

AK

: What are som

e of your favorite ingredients?

SU

: I love tamanu oil. It’s su-

per reparative to your skin—it

works for scarring, for zits, for

anything really. You can rub it onto your face or you can dab it—

everyone’s skin is different so it’s a process of figuring it out. T

his is what I take on tour.

I also love macadam

ia oil for skin and hair. B

ut I don’t know

a lot about all-natural makeup

brands. Help m

e!

AK

: OK

! So in term

s of

makeup brands, there are a lot

of them. Ilia is a really great

brand—they have a lot of high-

ly saturated colors. This is m

y favorite lipstick by them

, it’s called “C

rimson and C

lover.” A

nother similar cosm

etic com-

pany is Jane Iredale— I love

their eye stuff, they have great m

ineral-based shadows. If you

look on the blog, we just did a

huge thing on lipstick compa-

nies like Bite B

eauty and RM

S. T

here are tons of them. People

should be able to wear a great

lipstick and eye shadow in a

way that’s healthy for them

.

SU

: Ah, I love these colors!

AK

: Also, Juice B

eauty is a new

er brand, which uses a lot

of juice formulations packed

with a ton of different fruits

and vegetables. Their green ap

ple brightening pads are really w

onderful. It’s high-quality stuff; there isn’t anything su-perfluous or toxic in there. You know

, less is more.

SU

: Absolutely.

AK

: S.W. B

asics is also a great line, and they’re B

rook-lyn-based. T

hey have a really w

onderful toner that is mostly

apple cider vinegar, which is

awesom

e for treating acne. T

hey have a great makeup

remover m

ade of jojoba and olive oil. People don’t realize you can just use essential oils for m

akeup remover. A

nd you can leave it on your skin!

SU

: Yeah, you don’t have to rem

ove the makeup rem

over! [L

aughs]

AK

: It’s so interesting how

people are so freaked out by oil. I guess I w

as, too, because you alw

ays learn, “Scrub the

oil away.”

SU

: As long as it’s good oil, it’s

really beneficial.

AK

: And nourishing for your

skin! What you put on your

skin is just as important as

what you put in your body.

SU

: Totally. Your body is so absorbent. It drinks things. It’s crazy.

AK

: I mean, there are also ex-

tremes of natural beauty—

I’m

more in the m

oderate spec-trum

. I think if I’m consum

ing responsibly then there are certain productsI can m

ake exceptions for. L

ike, I still dye my hair—

I’m

not 100 percent natural and that’s O

K. A

nd I still eat ice cream

. [Laughs]

“We l

au

nc

hed

a

blo

g c

alled

B

ea

uty

Lie

s T

ru

th

.

It’s

exc

itin

g t

o s

ee

ho

w m

an

y e

yes

w

e’v

e o

pen

ed

”

12 o

phelia

[Spring

issue]

oph

elia [Spr

ing

issue] 13

DIY

Bo

dy

Sc

ru

bH

ead to a posh spa and you can treat yourself (for a m

ere $100-$

300) to an all-over body scrub. O

r you can spend up to $

50 on a fancy body scrub. Why buy

when you can m

ake a homem

ade body scrub out of basic ingredients yourself?

All you need is salt or sugar, body oil and

a nice, warm

bath. Note: T

his scrub also w

orks great for the face.

Difficulty: E

asyT

ime R

equired: 10 minutes

ing

red

ients:

• salt or sugar• oil (organic extra virgin coconut oil, but you can use any type of oil)• a bow

l• essential oils if you choose• a spoon• loofah m

itt (or you can use your hands)

Her

e’s Ho

w:

1. For this body scrub, you can use salt or sugar. Sugar can be gentler on the skin. Just m

ake sure to choose a sugar or salt that has sm

all granules that won’t tear at skin. A basic table salt or sugar works wonderfully. If you have super sensitive skin, you m

ight opt for a dark brown sugar.

2.Choose an oil. You can use baby oil or any of the following: organ-ic extra virgin coconut oil (m

y absolute favorite, which you can buy at a health food store), sweet alm

ond oil, safflower, vegetable.

According to Allure, makeup

artist Joanna Schlip uses olive oil in the hom

emade scrubs she uses

on actress Eva Longoria.

3.You want 1 part oil to 2 parts sugar or salt. Place anywhere from

a few tablespoons to a cup of salt or sugar in a container. Place half that am

ount of oil. Mix

with a spoon. Don’t freak out if

the salt settles to the bottom. It’s

virtually impossible to keep it

mixed.

4. If you want your scrub to smell

divine, put 5 drops of an essential oil into your m

ixture. Mix with

spoon. Or do what actress Cate

Blanchett does and put in mint

(muddle it up first or put in a

blender) and lemon zest. See m

y list of essential oils.

Bath

Time

1.Now onto the bath itself. I find

scrubs work best on dry skin. Step into a bath tub and put on loofah m

itts. I like the exfoliating gloves that you get in health food stores. Th

ey work very well to scrub away the top layer of dead skin cells, leaving your skin feel-ing super soft. If you don’t have a bath m

itt, don’t worry, you can use your hands.

2. Take a spoonful of the mixture

into your palms or your gloves

and then rub the mixture all over

your body in a circular motion.

If you feel the salt is too harsh on your skin, rinse off the bath m

itts and then spoon only the oil onto the m

itts to continue.

3. Once entire body is scrubbed

well, rinse thoroughly.

14 o

phelia

[Sprin

g issu

e]o

phelia

[Spring

issue] 15

KO

WT

OW

For fashion chicks who favor m

ini-m

alism, look no further than K

ow-

tow. T

he forgiving silhouettes, rich hues, and crisp fabris aren’t just on-trend this season- the cotton is 100%

fair trade and organic, and the brand even offers a peek at its “seed to garm

ent” manufacturing

process on its website. K

owtow

-clothing.com

1.

2.

3. 4.M

INA

+ OLY

A

Rich, tonal patterns

and a feminine

aesthetic are this Am

erican label’s MO

—as

is choosing sustainable, organic fabrics for their flow

ing skirts and cool cut-out jumpers.

Founders Mina Yazdi and O

lya Dzilikhova also

like to tap into their heritages (Iranian and R

ussian, respectively) for design inspiration—and w

e love the global twinge that results in

the clothing.

5. A P

EA

CE

TR

EA

TY

This jew

elry line’s Deco look is totally cool, not

kitsch—any one (or w

ell, several) of the stack-able bangles, m

other-of-pearl pendants, or geo-m

etric earrings are enough to elevate an outfit to the next level. T

he label’s part in sustainability? Founders Farah M

alik and Dana A

rbib have com

mitted to w

orking with

village artisans in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, India, and N

epal who have trouble finding

work otherw

ise. We’ll gladly take

a virtual trip across the globe w

ith one look at these gorgeous, hand-m

ade baubles.6.A

MO

UR

VE

RT

For Goop/G

wyneth diehards and breezy

fashion chicks alike, Am

our Vert is totally on point—

in fact, Paltrow recently team

ed up w

ith the brand to design a capsule collection. T

he spring collection’s nautical leanings and bright pops of color are perfect for the w

eath-er’s upsw

ing into summ

er, and the zero-waste

philosophy, sustainable fabrics, and low-im

pact dyes m

ean that your conscience will feel as

good as you look.

7.H

&M

CO

NS

CIO

US

CO

LL

EC

-T

ION

You know and love the fast-fash-

ion brand, but H&

M has recently

wheeled out a m

ore environmen-

tally conscious solution—that is,

local, sustainable fabrics—to its

lightning-fast product cycle. What

it doesn’t sacrifice in the process, how

ever, is the Sw

edish retailer’s com

mitm

ent to cool and afford-able style.

7 BRA

ND

S TOKN

OW

NO

W

SV

ILU

For those who tend tow

ard a more

relaxed, bohemian vibe, S

VIL

U’s com

-fortable silhouettes, rom

antic colors, and pretty little details w

ill likely call your nam

e. Founders Britt C

osgrove and M

arina Polo have some serious

style cred to back up their fashion-for-w

ard aesthetic—Polo trained at C

entral S

aint Martins and apprenticed at

Vera Wang, w

hile Cosgrove’s resum

e includes Peter S

om for Tom

my H

ilfiger. T

he label, which uses locally produced,

organic fibers also nabbed the 2013 C

FD

A/L

exus Eco Fashion C

hallenge, a holy grail for any fledgling sustainable brand.

FR

EE

DO

M O

F A

NIM

AL

S

This isn’t the first tim

e we’ve w

axed poetic about this ultra-chic accessories brand-and for good reason. It’s easy for faux-leather to look, w

ell, faux, but Freedom of A

nimals looks

anything but. The label creates its C

e ́line-es-que goods from

recycled materials (like w

ater bottles) and organic cotton using a painstaking process that not only requires 70%

less energy than m

any of its peers, but guarantees a luxe, buttery texture that could easily rival the real thing. G

orgeous two-toned clutches and uber-

cool backpacks are the happy outcome.

16 ophelia [Spring issue]