green is the new trend in fashion.

a new clothing line from... cleveland? ready to launch in nyc in a couple of months, but for now, check out wrath arcane's fall 2006 line (no, you're not supposed to wear the cloth over your face - that's a political statement that i won't get into right now), which is only available if you go to cleveland, or beg online. ;) i can't help but notice that the line is slightly reminiscent of DDC Lab, with its color scheme (and even the little red square). but DDC Lab can get a little too bizarre and eurotrash for my tastes. i'd actually wear most of wrath arcane's stuff.

anyway, the trend in fashion - from new underground labels - to established labels like levi's has been heading towards eco-friendliness, anti-sweatshop and/or general sustainability. wrath arcane, like american apparel did in L.A., intends to open its own factory in the U.S. i meant to write about the trend towards making social consciousness sexy at some point, but i could never get my act together. anywhere, i'll just link to this CNN article, because i'm too lazy.

sure, you're going to pay a premium, because it's more expensive to pay people an honest wage to make your clothes, and it's more expensive to use organic cotton, but if you make socially conscious clothing hip, fashionable, and place them in the luxury goods category, vanity will take over, and people will buy them. people buy them because they're fabulous, and they also get to brag that they're being socially conscious as well.

also, a friend of mine is involved in this charity, which he said stands out because the focus is to make charity sexy. (his words, not mine.) they revamped the website, hired a designer for the labels, and are courting various hip channels. and look at the "red" campaign for AIDS in africa. sleek clothes and gadgets in red marketed by the gap, motorola, etc. (note: this campaign, although ubiquitous, wasn't that successful. i think it's because red is too bright a color to wear most of the time...)

marrying social consciousness with vanity and sex appeal is the way to go. it may not seem pure, but who cares if the result is achieved. gone is the day of the image of the "smelly crunchy anti-capitalist hippie." now if you want to be socially conscious, you go to barney's and buy a $150 pair of loomstate jeans created by rogan gregory.