Backstage at the Crouse Hospital Auxiliary benefit fashion show student designer Caitlin Young made the final fitting adjustments to her 1920s flapper dress. After a glance, the junior fashion designer major ruffled the skirt and straightened the shoulder line before she was finally satisfied with the model’s appearance. The dress looked perfect, like it just came off the rack at a department store, but this dress almost ended up in the trash.

The theme of the evening’s fashion show, “Recycle with Style,” challenged participants to create original outfits from pre-owned apparel donated by the Salvation Army. Young’s classic replica was constructed from a blazer, men’s dress shirts and a neck tie. Other designers used table linens, felted wool and recycled paper doilies to produce their masterpieces. While these materials aren’t luxurious silks or cashmeres, they are part of the next big movement in the design industry: eco-friendly fashion.

“[People in the fashion business] are really trying to push the textile industry towards eco-friendly,” Young said. “We are one of the last [industries] to do it.”

At a time when everyone is trying to decrease pollution and carbon emissions, eco-friendly clothing is the hottest new trend to hit the runways and excite consumers. Everything from recycled fabrics to buying vintage to environmentally-friendly textiles is hailed as the way of the future for the fashion industry.

            “I just think it’s a new twist and I really care about the environment,” Young said. “I don’t think all the designers will change over, especially the older ones who are set in their ways, but eventually I think a lot of the new, up- and -coming designers are going to push for it.”

            One newcomer who strongly supports the green fashion movement is celebrity stylist Danna Weiss. A 1995 Syracuse University graduate, Weiss visited SU’s fashion design department in January as part of the Shemin Family Lecture Series to discuss the fashion industry’s effect on the environment and ways students can work to amend the problems.

            “Cotton occupies only 3 percent of the world’s farm land, but uses 25 percent of the world’s chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers,” Weiss said. “And that’s you fashion students. If you’re choosing cotton with chemical, you’re choosing destruction.”

            According to Weiss, by continuing to use these products the fashion industry is adding to the pollution affecting our earth’s environment. To combat the problem she recommended using materials like organic cotton, which does not use pesticides in its production. Weiss’s other suggestions included buying vintage clothing or using other eco-friendly textiles like hemp, naturally spun silk, bamboo, corn and wools from animals that are treated humanely.

            “The good news is you don’t have to look like a tree-hugger to wear eco-friendly stuff anymore,” Weiss said. “Surf the Internet for cheap organic options or you can create your own look with vintage.”

            Weiss believes that being environmental conscious is not only the right path to follow, but the trendy way to work and live.

            “[Eco-friendly fashion] is coming,” Weiss said. “It’s not 100 percent there yet, but that’s why I’m telling you guys to get on the band wagon because it will be here and it will be huge.”

            While a 100 percent commitment hasn’t been made, the fashion industry has recently made efforts to show its support of the environment. In January, 28 of the world’s top designers partnered with the non-profit environmental group Earth Pledge’s FutureFashion initiative to open the New York Fashion Week with eco-friendly clothing. Leslie Hoffman, the executive director of Earth Pledge, cited this collaboration as a significant step towards addressing the issues.

            “For the first time, in most cases, the most prestigious leading-edge designers were coming together and exploring new materials,” Hoffman said. “It doesn’t often happen in a runway show and it really indicates that this is an idea whose time has come and that the designer community leadership is ready to step up.”

            While fashion is one of the last industries making the move towards greener practices, Hoffman believes as textile technology advances, the movement’s pace will pick up speed and the fashion industry will be leading in eco-friendly practices. To educate designers on these revolutionary fabrics, the FutureFashion initiative recently hired a new textile research team for its material library. Hoffman hopes it will become a kind of environmental service bureau for the fashion industry. The initiative also promotes sustainable fashion and the use of recycled materials.

            “When you realize that two-thirds of the carbon footprint in the average lifecycle of a garment comes after the customer owns it, you realize how we care for it has a major impact,” Hoffman said. “There are lots of issues and lots of ways to address them and I always say, ‘Perfect doesn’t exist. What matters is that there is the curiosity, the energy put into innovation and the commitment to lessening the environmental footprint.’”

            Sparking interest in designers and consumers might have been difficult in the past, but now the barriers are breaking down. With mainstream outlets like Wal-Mart, Costco and The GAP offering organic cotton T-shirts, the idea of green fashion is becoming more economical and attainable. According to Hoffman, some of the biggest challenges are in continuing to help the farmers makes the transition and giving the design teachers the resources they need to understand the issues. 

            “The challenge is to enthuse everybody so that the innovative spirit is what gets stirred, Hoffman said. “I think the rate of change will keep increasing. I look forward to seeing what they can create on both the material side and the design side.”

            Luckily for SU fashion designer majors Joanne Gilbert, a professor of design drawing, has been hunting for eco-friendly resources they can learn from and incorporate into their projects. Gilbert, who strongly supports a greener fashion industry, has asked various fabric supply houses to donate eco-friendly fabric samples to create a learning lab. She is also trying to locate design internships that include students working with organic and recycled materials.

“We understand that as a university we have the obligation to be looking toward the future with our curriculum and we believe that with the future of fashion we need to prepare designers for a changing world of materials and labor,” Gilbert said. “We understand it’s a hot item right now. Every industry is talking about how to be greener and we should not be ignoring that.”

According to Gilbert, the design part is what will make eco-friendly products sell. Consumers will not buy eco-friendly products if they are not packaged the way people are used to seeing them in society.

“It shouldn’t be that high fashion is the poisonous stuff, and that ugly fashion is the eco-friendly people,” Gilbert said. “We are going to blur the boundaries and make it all look good.”

Just look in the SU bookstore and you can see the worlds of attractive collegiate fashion and eco-friendly garb have met in a selection of earth-toned, organic T-shirts and sweatshirts produced by TLC Sportswear Inc. According to Gale Youmell, the bookstore’s divisional merchandise manager, these products were introduced into the college market to make a statement.

“Everyone is moving towards eco-friendly products and we wanted to move along and provide products with that appeal,” Youmell said. “Everyone wants to do it. It’s a need to take care of the environment.”

            While the Bookstore’s eco-friendly options do not yet include traditional orange and blue options, the products sales have been good. Next fall Youmell hopes to expand the line and she has been in contact with several manufactures looking for a variety of colors and styles. She is also researching the possibility of merchandise made of bamboo.

            Slowly but surely eco-friendly fashion is reaching the public and it is receiving a positive review. Lisa Ruggero, a freshman environmental biology major at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, received her first organic T-shirt as a Christmas gift. Ruggero, who considers herself to be environmentally conscious, was excited to learn fashionable eco-friendly clothing exists.

            “I’d love to incorporate more eco-friendly fashion into my clothing,” Ruggero said. “As long as it wasn’t over priced, I’d definitely buy more.”

            While Ruggero might have to wait for the price barrier to fall, there is no denying the aesthetic appeal of her “green” shirt.

            “Wears the same, washes the same and I get a lot of compliments.”