Eco Chick Escapes To: Livia Firth’s Eco Age Boutique in London!

Eco Age’s front window

During my most recent trip across the pond, I stopped by London to check out London Fashion Week and visit my best friend, Jenn, who lives in my second-favorite city in the world (the first is NYC baby!). And thanks to a fortuitous hookup by the lovely Rachel Sarnoff over at Ecostiletto, I got a chance to connect with Livia Firth (yep, wife of Colin!) who runs Eco Age, a fabulous boutique in the Chiswick section of London.

And talk about walking the talk; Livia, as the wife of a Hollywood star, (Colin recently starred in Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, A Single Man), is expected to turn up at red-carpet events looking fabulous, and this past Spring she took up Vogue UK’s ‘Green Carpet Challenge‘ – and came off beautifully, exploring all the ways of being sustainably stylish, from repurposing to seeking out designers who use ethical fabrics and dye techniques. Eco fashion at the Golden Globes and the Oscars? Livia did it!

Thanks to Livia Firth for the awesome tour of her store in London!

Livia gave me a tour (see video above) of her store, which carries her own carefully edited (and strictly vetted) selection of eco fashion, home decor, and great gifts, and in the basement, an eco-materials consultancy (which I had no idea of until I was on the tour!). The amazing thing is that with the breadth of categories she covers with what she sells in the store, her awesome recycled furniture initiatives for London Design Festival, and the learning space and consultancy for eco materials (think flooring, tiles, fabrics and wallcovering) Livia’s doing so much besides running a store.
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Eco Chick Giveaway: Adrian Grenier’s Nautica T-Shirt for Oceana

Adrian Grenier at the Tribeca Film Festival: Image by David Shankbone

You might be familiar with this hot hunk from Entourage, however Adrian Grenier has a new agenda: saving the ocean.  Grenier claims his passion for the environment turns the paparazzi and media off (not us!) but no matter what he is determined to make a difference.  He believes his responsibilities on a “human level” are to “give and contribute”.  In fact, in 2008 assisted by a team of green experts, Grenier’s Alter Eco TV show premiered on Planet Green. The show is about better, sustainable, and more ecological methods to transform living space using eco-lovable products. 

We see celebrities talking about saving the environment, but Grenier takes it one step further and has made it a passion of his to see what he can do to change the environment.  He believes it is most important to, “….see first hand what is happening”.  
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TOMS Wedges: Now Perfect for Autumn Too

If you regularly ready Eco Chick, you know that I’m a huge fan of TOMS shoes, the company famous for the ‘buy a pair and a child in need gets a pair of shoes too’ (they recently dropped their millionth pair!).

Their program is called One for One and it’s a simple idea that makes a tremendous difference for the kids who aren’t able to go to school unless they are wearing shoes. Shoes also protect kids in developing countries from getting soil-transmitted diseases, or cuts or sores on their feet.

The new wedges are available in (my fave) ash, cranberry, and black for $69, and unlike the summer styles, have a fabric-covered wedge instead of an espadrille style, making this version perfect for Autumn and Spring.

Oil Spill Art? ‘Mired in the Bayou’ Exhibit Explores BP’s Toxic Legacy in the Gulf

The BP oilspill is an unmitigated disaster, underestimated by everyone from British Petroleum to the United States government. The only group of people not downplaying its destruction and long-term effects are those living along the Gulf coast, who know that their beaches and waterways (and the animals and plants that live there too) will never be the same.

An upcoming exhibit explores one community, for which the BP oilspill is only the latest in a long line of deteriorating events, including foreign imports, rising fuel costs, the destruction of Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, and overfishing. The exhibit includes various media, created after the artists ‘…traveled to the small fishing community of Bayou La Batre in July, 2010 to document the effects of the disaster. But rather than unveiling the narrative of a single tragedy, the three explore a community, which with time, has become well acquainted with catastrophe.’
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New York Fashion Week Greenshows: Bright Young Things Debut is About Extreme Wearability

Classic lines, without dropping into Preppie territory; funky proportions give these pieces a strong whiff of cool.

Bright Young Things designer Eliza Starbuck was the creator of the dress behind the much-lauded Uniform Project (the concept was which suggested, beautifully, how a single dress could serve as the backdrop or frontspiece for a year’s worth of sartorial choices).

The BYT show during New York Fashion Week at the Greenshows at the Metropolitan Pavilion featured about half of the Uniform Project’s LBD’s accessorized to the hilt, moving from supersexy to ubercomfy boho to work-appropriate and back again. The second half of the show expanded the idea of great quality basics (8 multifunctional pieces including shorts, blouses, trousers, skirts) that could purposefully be worn every which way (see video of runway show below to get a feel for how the clothes really move).

For those of us who can’t (or more properly, don’t want to) live with one dress alone this debut collection really worked the ’simple is good’ concept to its logical conclusion with pieces in neutral colors and uncomplicated, wear-anywhere fabrics, made from sustainable textiles like organic cotton and linen.

To top off the ’simple + real = beautiful’ motif exemplified by her collection, designer Starbuck also chose models of varying ages and sizes to walk in her clothes. “It was great to feel special in conjunction with the diversity of lovely models that BYT designer, Eliza Starbuck, had hand-picked. In addition to a line up varying body types, ethnicities, and professional backgrounds, Eliza also included two women considerably older than your average runway nymph…” said Abigail Doan of Ecco Eco who walked the runway with major verve! (see below)

Army jackets may be in this year, but they are also a perennial classic, never truly going out of style.

Abigail Doan shows off a boxy silver-grey cocktail-sleeve jacket that screams Jackie O elegance, working beautifully with a skirt, as shown here, or your favorite jeans.

Bright Young Things Runway Show from Eliza Starbuck on Vimeo.

The Bright Young Things runway show.
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