We are celebrating Earth Day today.
Excentree have a wonderful offer on, today and today only they have 50% off everything online. Grab this chance to get a quirky tee and plant a tree at the same time. Don’t forget that 50p will be going to charity too.
How will you be celebrating today?
Starbucks are offering you free coffee all day tomorrow if you take your your own mug in!!
I’ll make mine a fairtrade coffee to go!! : )
Excentree is a website with a passion. Husband and Wife combo James McAloon and Mary McAloon are the founders of Excentree. The twist is a pleasant one with this online shopping website. When you purchase an Excentree garment, you also get a little tree to plant as well. It’s called the ‘Excentree tree planting promise’.
This isn’t the only good thing they do, 50p of all purchases is given to a charity they have sent up called Excentree ‘GIVE’ foundation. They aim to raise enough money to build and maintain orphanages in countries that have been affected by war.
Here are a couple of examples of the garments they have on sale….
Great, quirky and witty designs.
Excentree are only online at the moment but they have had stalls at the Sunday Up Market in London over the Christmas period. If anyone is interested in stocking Excentree on the high street or online, they are happy for you to contact them for more details, just go to there website www.excentree.com and there is a contact page.
Excentree are going to be stocking UNITDOT sunglasses soon, don’t forget to get yourself a pair of these ultra cool bamboo sunglasses.
Keep up to date with Excentree by checking out there blog, I know I will be. I love to read other peoples views on ethical fashion and any great finds they discover.
I am a lover of Aviator sunglasses so I wanted to explore some more. To my pleasant surprise I as informed that the pair in the picture above can be added to my ethical wardrobe as they are made from bamboo! Designed by a brand called UNITDOT, they use great design and fabulous materials to create sophisicately designed sunglasses.
I was first introduced to UNITDOT by Colin Ball. I thought a good way to find out more about these wicked sunglasses was to ask Colin a few questions. Here we go….
How did you discover UNITDOT?
Full name UNITDOT EYEWEAR PRODUCTION HOUSE ..
I actually found UNITDOT by chance. When I left school many years ago I became a carpenter / joiner .. And I grew a love for natural look and the smells and finishes of different woods .. But after 25 years I felt that a change in career direction was needed .. I had travelled to Thailand and Malaysia the past few years. Their I noticed that in the shopping malls in Thailand they had small stands selling optical eyewear in very fashionable designs ..for as little as 200 baht (£3.00 at the time I was there ). In the UK opticians would sell the same of similar for £100 plus lenses . So when I returned home to UK I did some search online and looked for suppliers in china etc so I could sell online reading glasses and other eyewear.. About 6 months later I came across this new designer which was using wood carved polished finished Bamboo. The designs to me was eye catching mainly because of my love of natural woods I guess! And this was UNITDOT they were looking for people to market there new concept in different countries and I was more then happy to do so. I deal directly with Cyrus Wong the designer of UNITDOT eyewear .. And we have become good friends and have a very good working relationship.
How long have you been working with UNITDOT?
I have been working to promote UNITDOT eye wear for just over a year.
Do you know why UNITDOT choose to use bamboo for the frames?
Colin kindly asked the creative director of UNITDOT – Cyrus Wong. This is his answer – The design and look of the sunglasses were inspired by scandinavian nature and European style. Bamboo was the material that best fitted the look UNITDOT wanted. UNITDOT saw a gap in the market and went for it!
I have a personal favourite pair of UNITDOT – the Aviators, do you have a favourite design?
My personal favourite is the black Acetate Aviator style with the thin Bamboo arms
They feel very comfortable to wear but even though they may look heavy because of the wood they are surprisingly very light . I would also like to point out that the optical frame designs look very Retro and stylish at the same time ! I think Gok Wang should buy from me too lol…
Thats something to aim for…
So where can we get our hands and eyes on a pair of UNITDOT sunglasses?
They are due to be released for sale online from www.excentree.com
Within the next few weeks I have a posting press release due on Friday 2nd April 2010 at www.eco-fashionista.co.uk
With every sale that is made, I will donation to the Charity . UNICEF .. For the orphaned street children in the world.
How much will they set me back?
RRP is around £100 to £120 …per pair
At first they will be available at a promotion price between £80 to £85 .. From www.excentree.com .
Which I feel they are a well priced considering they are the only eco friendly real bamboo sunglasses in the UK ..
I agree
Will UNITDOT be at any fashion events this year?
There are plans to show the designs at the coming fashion show in Birmingham May this year ..
But its early days yet .. Maybe more shows in the future months
That’s the end of my mini interview with Colin Ball promoter of UNITDOT for the UK.
UNITDOT is trying to break into the UK and European retail market, so all comment would be kindly received.
Tell all your friends about them : )
Here a few more pictures of different designs by UNITDOT.
Yes I am indeed!
Many people in poorer countries go without shoes, Toms shoes want to spread awareness on the effects of this. Although food and shelter are the main concerns for people in these poorer countries, Toms shoes wants us to realise our feet are also a major issue. They came up with the ‘one day without shoes’ campaign to get their point across.
For more information go to www.onedaywithoutshoes.com.
I’ve been doing alot of online window shopping just recently, trying to work out what I want in my Spring wardrobe. There is alot of nautical themed items out there this season – which I LOVE!! It’s simple and stylish.
Red and white stripe 3/4 sleeve top from People Tree, Black skinny jeans from Monkee Genes and Blue Tangier Vegan classics from Toms Shoes.
This outfit would be perfect for a mild spring day.
A competition was created to design a t-shirt to get people to think, act and vote. The t-shirt has to have the words Think, Act, Vote on it. Think Act Vote teamed up with Komodo (the ethical label) to get the design made up in the most carbon neutral way possible.
The winning design was show cased at Ascension flagship store in London last night.
Here is the winning design.
Jesson Yip designed the winning t-shirt, he did a version for the ladies and gents. Truely a wonderful design with a big inpact.
Here are a few of the one that didn’t quiet make it to the finals but are still amazing.
Hopefully this will gee on people to vote a little more.
I’ve added a few more items to my wardrobe since my last update. I love the fact I now have more ethical brands in my wardrobe too.
So far I have items from People Tree, Komodo, Pozu, Beyond skin, Kuyichi and Si:Su. I’m hoping to add a Annie Greenabelle dress, a pair of Where shoes and a Julia Smith dress to my wardrobe very soon.
I’ve just purchased 2 lovely dresses from Si:Su made from recycled material and they even use recycled thread and buttons, how wonderful. Not only are the dress beautiful and really well made, I got a very friendly service from them. It feel good to know you are dealing with a real person and not an automated system.
From b-fair I recently bought a Komodo Roxie dress in purple, I teamed this with a cropped leather jacket (which was a present and I will keep forever and ever and will pass onto my grandchildren!!) and some big curls and felt great in it. I also purchased a pair of navy Beyond Skin pumps and a pair of Po Zu’s Pep ankle boots.
I also bought my boyfriend a couple of Kuyichi Organic cotton t-shirts and he was pleasantly shocked at how soft the material is : )
Whilst doing my regular browsing on the Internet for ethical finds, I came across Mohop.com and was intrigued about the shoes.
A bit about the shoe it’s self. You pick a base, so that involved a wood type i.e. maple, cherry or walnut wood, then pick the height you want your wedge either, low, mid or high heel and lastly you get to pick the ribbon you want.
The shoes are environmentally friendly and all handmade by Annie Mohaupt.
This shoe is wonderful because you can tie the ribbon in so many ways, you can have so many different laces/ribbons, you never need to wear the shoe the same way twice. Saving you loads of money to spend on a holiday showing your brilliant shoes off!!! That’s what I’d do anyway.
Here are a few examples of how you can wear the shoes.
Not only is ethical fashion becoming more well known, the big supermarkets are getting in on the action. We have Tesco’s wanting to be the biggest supplier of fairtrade products including clothing and Mark’s and Spencer’s are aiming to be the greenest company around.
Mark’s and Spencer’s have set there aim at all there food, clothing and home items are sourced from sustainable or ethical sources, this is all hoped to be in place by 2020.
Tesco’s were inspired when they saw clothes at Estethica made by the ethical company From Somewhere to start making clothes from recycled clothes, they will be teaming with designer who also design for From Somewhere.
This is great news for the anyone who wishes to shop ethical but doesn’t feel they can afford it as prices have said to be starting at £16 for a dress. Hopefully the big food giants won’t put any of the little business out of the race by such low prices.
It’s another triumph for the ethical world for sure : )
