Fashion-Conscience : Clothing and accessory designers are using their talents to help causes ranging from the environment to animal rights.
Buy a T-shirt or a bracelet these days, and you might be helping to save the rain forest, find a cure for AIDS or protect an endangered species.
Call it politically correct style. A growing number of clothing and accessory designers are using their talents to help causes ranging from the environment to animal rights.
In Orange County, more shops now carry the wares of these designers and manufacturers, attracting customers who want to advertise their political beliefs by the clothes they wear, the makeup they use or the jewelry they buy.
At the Giorgio boutique in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, the new motto is “shopping with a conscience.†The store promotes designers who use their creations for a good cause.
“We support local designers who want to give something back to the community,†says Joann Bolduc, manager of the boutique. “They’re in a position to get the word out.â€
Accessory designer Al Beres of Huntington Beach, for instance, often donates his Western-style belts to various charities, especially those benefiting children. He recently donated $1,000 worth of belts for the Hollywood Charity Horse Show to benefit the Pediatric Pavilion of the Los Angeles County Hospital/USC Medical Center. He also donates proceeds to Parent Help USA, an Orange County charity for abused children.
“It’s the least I can do,†Beres says. “I don’t know any other way I can help. I’m too busy to give my time, so I’m using my talent to help.â€
The Beres family epitomizes the P.C. life style. While Beres gives of his talent, wife Valerie volunteers at Orangewood Children’s Home, a home for abused children in Orange County. The Beres children also pitch in, raising stray kittens until the animals find new homes.
Giorgio carries Beres’ Art Deco-inspired belts with silver buckles for $235, along with belts adorned with Indian beading and silver conches that start at $180.
Susan Cummings of Santa Monica uses proceeds from her silver jewelry to aid wildlife and the environment. She recently donated funds to the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species.
“(Fashion) traditionally is an industry based on extravagance and trends,†Cummings says. “As individuals and as a company, we have chosen to express our longtime concerns for the destruction of our valuable wildlife by designing around these themes.â€
Giorgio has her line of bracelets, necklaces and earrings that come with realistic animal charms. One silver charm bracelet features highly detailed African beasts and another has barnyard animals. They cost about $400.
Anni + Co., a Santa Fe-based jewelry company, supports several causes, including organizations for AIDS research and saving the rain forest. Half of the proceeds from its “Decade†tag, which resembles military dog tags with stick-like figures, went to AIDS research.
Designer and owner Juan Geyer “has been in New York and met a lot of people who have contracted the disease,†says Beverly Foust, Geyer’s assistant.
Animal rights activists have caused many fashion designers to change their stripes. They’ve persuaded them to remove fur trim from their lines or to replace it with fake fur.
“We have fake fur on a lot of merchandise that would have been done in real fur,†says Colleen Espinosa, buyer for the Mykonos boutique in Santa Ana. “So many people are against the use of real fur, and designers want to sell†their merchandise.
The Linda Bentley Boutique in Newport Beach carries a sportswear line by Iceberg of Italy that has embroidered appliques of endangered animals on leggings, T-shirts, shorts, cocktail dresses and after-ski jackets.
Iceberg’s fall collection had penguins and seals adorning suits, jackets and sweaters, while pandas appear on the spring line. In addition, Iceberg has used clothing to draw attention to the Alaskan oil spill and no-drinking-and-driving campaigns.
“Designers believe strongly in what they’re doing, and (the clothes) are a vehicle for expressing their feelings,†says Linda Bentley, boutique owner. “A lot of them feel if one person buys their creation and thinks of that cause when wearing it, they’ve come one step closer to their goal.â€
Concern for the earth and animals has also changed the face of the cosmetics and skin care industry.
Next to Nature in Laguna Beach sells only environmentally friendly, “cruelty-free†skin and hair products--those that have not been tested on animals or carry any animal ingredients.
“It’s a subtle approach (to animal rights). There are no pictures (on the walls) of animals being tested,†says Rae Ann Gomez, co-owner of Next to Nature. “We’re just quietly helping people change their habits.â€
The shop uses natural ingredients instead of chemicals in its skin care formulas, giving rise to appetizing product names such as Peppermint Foot Lotion, Raspberry Ripple Bubble Bath and Banana Conditioner.
“They’re pretty close to edible,†Gomez says.
The Body Shop also sells skin care products that sound good enough to eat, are not tested on animals and come in minimal packaging.
“In the cosmetics industry huge dollars are spent on packaging,†says Kamran Zandnia, co-owner of the Body Shops in Brea Mall and South Coast Plaza. “Simple packaging brings the price down.â€
Each Body Shop has a refill bar to further reduce unnecessary waste by giving a 25-cent discount to customers who bring back their empty containers for a fill-up.
The company also supports human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Cultural Survival and distributes pamphlets on animal testing and environmental issues in the stores.
While conceding these steps alone might not change the world, designers say their actions will at least cause some shoppers to think twice about important issues such as endangered wildlife when picking out a pair of earrings.
“This allows us a platform on which to speak on issues,†Cummings says. “We’re educating our customers as to the critical nature of the situation.â€
