Fashion can be inh

FASHION STATEMENTS

GET MORE style with less
stress on the planet by choos-
ing environmentally friendly
fashion.

Though great advancements -
have been made to provide innova-
tive new fabrics, the environment is
now paying the price of apparel
technology. Fashion enthusiasts can

do their part by reducing, reusing
and recycling within their
wardrobes,

Proving that the ecology issue is
not simply a passing fad, many new
companies are successfully creating
clothes in harmony with nature, and
making a healthy profit.

New York's Wellman Inc. takes
garbage “from curbside to closet”
with a remarkable new fibre called
Fortrel EcoSpun, created entirely
from recycled plastic bottles.

Since EcoSpun is made from
food and drink containers, the plas-
tic bottle’s quality has already been
rigorously controlled by the gov-
ernment, and when melted down
results in excellent polyester fibre.

Not only does it make an unusu-
al conversation topic, the fibre is
very versatile. ft can be knitted or
woven into colorful fine and coarse
fabrics, soft plush materials, strong
cording and can be blended with -
cotton, wool or spandex.

Wellman Inc., the world’s
largest plastics recycler, increased
capacity to 240 million pounds of
bottles annually to make the fibre,
and has estimated that the energy
saved each year by using these bot-

Photo Chris M. Rogers

AWARDS FOR environmentally positive designs were recently
presented by Wellman tnc., a company that has developed a
new fabric made from post-consumer plastic bottles such as
soft drink bottles. This design, by Maya Levy, won second

place.

DALLAIRD'S

GRAND RE-OPENING
TUESDAY MAY 19

AT OUR NEW LOCATION
PARK ROYAL SOUTH (Next To Marks & Spencer)

tles instead of virgin raw materials -
is enough to power the city of
Atlanta, Georgia.

Last year, the first item of cloth-
ing, an EcoSpun sweater, was made
by Patagonia, and il quickly sold
out. Many American apparel manu-
facturers followed with thermal
underwear, spandex active wear,
polar fleece pullovers and hiking
jackets, knitted jersey separates and
dresses, children’s wear and sleep-
ing bags. Last month at the New
York ready-to-wear collections the
fibre was first introduced to an”
international market.

For more information, contact
Fortrel EcoSpun, Wellman Inc.,
1133 Avenue of the Americas, New
York, N.Y. 10036, or call (212)
642-0781.

Canadians make earth-
friendly fashion

A new company from Ontario
insists that one woman's trash is
another woman’s tote bag.

Extredz Recycled Rubber
Products creates briefcases, knap-
sacks, belts, purses, motorcycle
saddle bags and eyeglass cases
from tire inner tubes. The company
retrieves the cast-off rubber,
removes its odor (and its stigma)
and sells it as very affordable, up-
to-the-minute fashion.

Huge tires from farm equipment,
earth movers and caterpillars,
which are considered rejective rub-
ber (can’t be recycled ia any other
way), are now sent directly to
Extredz because the tire plants save
$150 per ton in the cost to dump it.

Extredz finds the material easy

“Call your friends” and plan a
picnic!

Wear a beautiful summer nat
from MARIELLE and cell your
lady friends to do the same.
Make some goodies, bring the
camera and Beethoven and have
fun.

| Silane Le —|

accessory houtique 926-6828
2 rember to sign up Oe yout Club Royal

§ tnember card & collect points at the concierge desk

to work with since it folds well, is
extremely strong, waterproof, salt
proof, stain proof, easily washed,
and will last forever.

The major setback was the
smell. The firm refused to use an

environmentally damaging remover -

or added scent, so it discovered a
way to heat and clean the rubber to
entirely remove the odor.

The accessories are assembled
without stitching or glue, using
strong rivets fastened with manual
pressure. The belts and bags are
sold on the North Shore at a new
store in Park Royal South Mall
called Essence Casual Wear. Prices
for the line range from $15 to $85.

We have all been told it is better

to wear natural fibres than synthetic

ones because artificial fabrics are
made from petroleum, a non-renew-

able resource which undergoes pol-

luting processes during manufactur-

ing and is not biodegradable.
However, some natural fibres .

also use damaging chemicais dur-

See Organic page 17

Photo submitted

UP TO haif of new cotton Is
wasted between the cotton.
field and the cutting room
floor. Eco Fibre is a new fibre
aimed at closing the loop of
production and re-use in the
fashion industry. It is spun
from recycled textile fabrics.

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