Showroom 400: Bahar Shahpar, Olsen Haus, Ashley Watson, Cri de Coeur, Sublet & Lara Miller
July 05 2009
There are stylish women. And there are eco-conscious women. But every once in a while, we come across a woman who influences both.
Meet Bahar Shahpar, a New York based designer of ridiculously gorgeous, wearable, cutting-edge clothes. The kind of clothes that make people stop you in the street to ask, “Where did you get that?” and that Forever 21 can’t knock off because the construction is so damned complicated—and flattering. The kind that forever change people’s minds about eco-friendly clothing when they realize the pieces are made from sustainable fabrics like organic cotton, linen and silk.
Like the Cowl Wrap Dress pictured on our home page. Destined for some Marilyn Monroe-channeling eco-minded starlet, the dress features an ever-so-sexy back and a waistband that can be worn five different ways (even, in one case, creating a faux bustle), all wrapped up in organic cotton dyed with plant dyes and speckled with iron oxide.
But Bahar’s influence goes beyond just creating her own line. She also is one-half of the eco-power duo behind Showroom 400, which is showcasing some of the hottest sustainable clothing and shoe lines under one roof for stores to peruse. Love that organic cotton dress you discovered at Anthropologie? Chances are the buyer found it at 400.
Same goes for the seriously hot Olsen Haus vegan eco-stilettos, which we’re featuring in our Contest this month. Ashley Watson recycled leather bags. And Cri de Coeur, which makes the most gorgeous riding boots we’ve seen outside of “National Velvet,” but they’re vegan.
Or Sublet, which we fell in love with back when we were Green Girls, and which is showing the most perfect flirty remnant silk Deborah dress and Dancey shorts that we can’t wait to layer up with tights this fall.
Lara Miller’s transitional pieces should see us through to that season, since they’re all designed to be worn a multitude of ways, with scoop-necked dresses flipping around to bare the shoulder blades, and cowl-neck tanks turning upside-down to create a mini-dress. We especially love the short-sleeved Niki Coat in organic cotton, which flops from cardigan to shrug with one quick flip.
All haute. All sustainable. Take that, haters who think ecoistas only wear hemp.
