Page 8 Fall 2009 Positive Minds
PERRY ORANGE
ORGANIC FABRIC
FASHIONS…
Designer/Creative
Director Teres Mc-
Clen will introduce
her new Perry
Orange Collec-
tion - made entirely
of certified organic
fabrics, such as
cottons, bamboo,
hemp, and silks
that meet Fair Trade
standards.
Ready-to-Wear:
The Perry Orange
Collection is charac-
terized by extraor-
dinary elegance
and strong stylistic
content, intended
for the female client.
Not only is Teres
a well established
Designer, but she
is also an excel-
lent visionary and
entrepreneur. She
is involved with
multiple businesses,
which stems from
Real Estate & Devel-
opment ventures.
Teres McClen, will present a new and
lively Fun, Flirty, and Fashion-forward
Spring 2010 collection which is also
friendly to Mother Earth. “This collection
of fine goods pays tribute to four genera-
tions of designers and models in Teres’s
immediate family.”
Inspired by her mother—who has a
playful sense of style—Perry Orange in-
cludes day to evening dresses, chic little
jackets, and stylish pants. The collection
will also include accessories such as shoes,
hats, and travel bags.
The McClen Fashion Group is known
for their beautiful silhouettes and excep-
tional attention to detail.
Perry Orange color— is a combina-
tion of her family’s name and her mother’s
favorite hue being orange – will always be
present in the collection, much as Valen-
tino’s favored red.
Teres’ men’s wear collection, compris-
ing of custom-made suits, ready-to-wear
pants, shirts, and shorts, will offers uncom-
mon versatility.
The men’s collection will also include
a variety of stylish messenger bags. The
men’s wear collection has garnered Ms.
McClen a variety of an enthusiastic nods
from the fashion industry. She was one
of the men’s wear finalists selected for
Fashion Group International’s Rising Star
Awards.
Teres will launch her light-hearted col-
lection of luxury women’s wear under the
label Perry Orange at NOLCHA in associa-
tion with Bel Esprit & Aveda, being held in
2009. To learn more contact Sonia at
sonia@teresmcclen.com or 1-310-437-7156.
Article presented by Public Relations Direc-
tor - POSITIVE MINDS/Eileen Smith. To
contact Eileen email her at Eileen_bmdpt@
yahoo.com
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Teres McClen @ Shecky's Girls Night Out
We are looking for three great sales person to work short term temporary job for two days.
Please forward information:
Teres McClen at Shecky's "Girls Night Out"
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
December 9th & 10th
must be 21 or older
This is a perfect opportunity for the eco-minded designer, merchandiser, or sales rep.
The job is commission based or hourly it depends on their experience
Also paid internship is available for managing the project from beginning to end (designer showroom to the retail event ends)
www.mcclen.com - www.teresmcclen.com
www.sheckys.com
Contact Sonia
1.310.437.7156
info@teresmcclen.com
Please forward information:
Teres McClen at Shecky's "Girls Night Out"
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
December 9th & 10th
must be 21 or older
This is a perfect opportunity for the eco-minded designer, merchandiser, or sales rep.
The job is commission based or hourly it depends on their experience
Also paid internship is available for managing the project from beginning to end (designer showroom to the retail event ends)
www.mcclen.com - www.teresmcclen.com
www.sheckys.com
Contact Sonia
1.310.437.7156
info@teresmcclen.com
Friday, October 16, 2009
Before Chanel, CoCo was Eco
Not since Scarlett O’Hara upcycled those curtains to make a crazy green velveteen dress have we seen such industrious textile make-overs on the screen.
Yes, Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel is the quintessential tweed rags-to-riches saga, in which a poor but clever French girl and her sister climb the ladder from the orphanage to the chateau by making great contacts at a tavern where they sang a funny ditty, entitled Coco (hence the nickname for Gabrielle Chanel).
I took away much from Audrey Tautou’s brilliant portrayal of the iconic designer, mainly a reminder why monochromatic, pared-down simplicity has always ruled in the chic department, and how this can be arrived at with the three R’s: recycling, reducing and reusing.
Coco’s early homemade ensembles were reconfigured men’s tweed suits and women’s work aprons – a collection you might spot on Etsy or other sites where crafty visionaries are putting their green spin on fashion. She takes an old tablecloth plaid dress and embellishes it with a white ribbed bib and cuffs. Her lover’s suits become her riding clothes. Sailor tops she spotted in Deauville inspire simple, blue and white striped cotton tees.
You’d never know this was the genius who would put quilted handbags, designer perfume and the famous pocketed Chanel suit on the map, becoming the true first lady of fashion.
Any Project Runway addict will love watching the textile transformations in the film which yielded both handsome and hideous results. You can just hear host and judge Heidi Klum snort, “It’s just so Octoberfest!”
Would the early Coco have had a chance on Project Runway? Certainly in a green competition, you know, one of those challenges in which designers are tossed newspaper, candy wrappers or high volume acrylic wedding gowns and ordered to remake them into something Tim Gunn finds has the wow factor.
The wow emerging in the extraordinary executions was the lack of wow, the architectural lines and basic black palette which allowed the most important aspect of glamor to shine through: the woman. That was the magnet for “Boy”, her painfully handsome lover who appreciated her gift, and that is what attracts a recession-strapped audience to the sullen-eyed heroine.
In a decadent and wasteful Edwardian society married to costumed corsets, frills and other excess, Coco proves women of real style can wear curtains and still be the belle of the ball.
Yes, Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel is the quintessential tweed rags-to-riches saga, in which a poor but clever French girl and her sister climb the ladder from the orphanage to the chateau by making great contacts at a tavern where they sang a funny ditty, entitled Coco (hence the nickname for Gabrielle Chanel).
I took away much from Audrey Tautou’s brilliant portrayal of the iconic designer, mainly a reminder why monochromatic, pared-down simplicity has always ruled in the chic department, and how this can be arrived at with the three R’s: recycling, reducing and reusing.
Coco’s early homemade ensembles were reconfigured men’s tweed suits and women’s work aprons – a collection you might spot on Etsy or other sites where crafty visionaries are putting their green spin on fashion. She takes an old tablecloth plaid dress and embellishes it with a white ribbed bib and cuffs. Her lover’s suits become her riding clothes. Sailor tops she spotted in Deauville inspire simple, blue and white striped cotton tees.
You’d never know this was the genius who would put quilted handbags, designer perfume and the famous pocketed Chanel suit on the map, becoming the true first lady of fashion.
Any Project Runway addict will love watching the textile transformations in the film which yielded both handsome and hideous results. You can just hear host and judge Heidi Klum snort, “It’s just so Octoberfest!”
Would the early Coco have had a chance on Project Runway? Certainly in a green competition, you know, one of those challenges in which designers are tossed newspaper, candy wrappers or high volume acrylic wedding gowns and ordered to remake them into something Tim Gunn finds has the wow factor.
The wow emerging in the extraordinary executions was the lack of wow, the architectural lines and basic black palette which allowed the most important aspect of glamor to shine through: the woman. That was the magnet for “Boy”, her painfully handsome lover who appreciated her gift, and that is what attracts a recession-strapped audience to the sullen-eyed heroine.
In a decadent and wasteful Edwardian society married to costumed corsets, frills and other excess, Coco proves women of real style can wear curtains and still be the belle of the ball.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
FGILA
Contact Sonia Ffrench-Pitts sonia@teresmcclen.com |
Press Release
FASHION GROUP INTERNATIONAL OF LOS ANGELES (FGILA) KICKS-OF LA FASHION WEEK BY HONORING LOS ANGELES
MOST PRESTIGIOUS AND RESPECTED DESIGNERS
A VIP cocktail reception called, “MEET THE DESIGNERS” on the red carpet among the honorees will be
Teres McClen
Los Angeles, CA October 12, 2009—Fashion designer Teres McClen, will be one of the honorees walking the red carpet “Meet the Designers,” VIP cocktail reception on the stunning rooftop of the downtown Standard Hotel.
Teres McClen is one of Los Angeles’s most influential fashion designers that will walk the FGILA Red Carpet with her muse in celebration to her contribution and dedication to the fashion world. This event will give homage to the most endearing designers and their muse.
McClen has earned a loyal following by marrying style, function, and comfort. McClen said, “Unless the fabric feels like something you can sleep in, I’m not interested in it.” Featuring elegant lines and exceptional attention to detail, the line is made entirely of certified sustainable fabrics such as, lyocell, cottons, silks, and wools – all meeting the Fair Trade standards. Her menswear and womenswear line has garnered many accolades throughout the fashion industry and clienteles.
For more information about the McClen Fashion Group brands or the company, and scheduling an interview with Teres McClen, contact Sonia Ffrench-Pitts at sonia@teresmcclen.com.
www.mcclen.com
www.teresmcclen.com
Monday, April 27, 2009
First Lady Michelle Obama
First Michelle Obama Fashion Tome About to Drop
By Alisa Gould-Simon April 27, 2009
The debut Michelle Obama fashion book is gearing up to hit bookstore shelves May 5, just in time for the First Lady’s “100 days in Washington” benchmark (a smart move on the publisher’s part, since it’s likewise just shy of Mother’s Day). As for the pitch behind the tome: “It’s her journey to the White House through the filter of her style,” says author Mandi Norwood of the book, Michelle Style: Celebrating the First Lady of Fashion. So, in other words, the book simply documents the looks that have so far garnered the First Lady her reputation as a fashion icon (surely with some style musings and tips). The concept isn’t exactly earth-shattering, but considering it’s the first of its kind, the title is sure to sell well.
In the meantime, if you’re ever in need of a Michelle Obama fashion fix, check out New York magazine’s ever-expanding gallery of every look the First Lady has donned since her first days in office. Regardless, don’t expect the First Lady fashion book trend to let up anytime soon. The folks behind the First Lady fashion blog Mrs. O have a book in the works too. And in all likelihood, a few more will follow suit before total Mrs. O style oversaturation occurs.
By Alisa Gould-Simon April 27, 2009
The debut Michelle Obama fashion book is gearing up to hit bookstore shelves May 5, just in time for the First Lady’s “100 days in Washington” benchmark (a smart move on the publisher’s part, since it’s likewise just shy of Mother’s Day). As for the pitch behind the tome: “It’s her journey to the White House through the filter of her style,” says author Mandi Norwood of the book, Michelle Style: Celebrating the First Lady of Fashion. So, in other words, the book simply documents the looks that have so far garnered the First Lady her reputation as a fashion icon (surely with some style musings and tips). The concept isn’t exactly earth-shattering, but considering it’s the first of its kind, the title is sure to sell well.
In the meantime, if you’re ever in need of a Michelle Obama fashion fix, check out New York magazine’s ever-expanding gallery of every look the First Lady has donned since her first days in office. Regardless, don’t expect the First Lady fashion book trend to let up anytime soon. The folks behind the First Lady fashion blog Mrs. O have a book in the works too. And in all likelihood, a few more will follow suit before total Mrs. O style oversaturation occurs.
Acia (ah-sci-ee)
The Acai berry's is an all natural fruit native to the brazilian rain forest that inherently contains more antioxidants than any other edible fruit currently known in the world.
Health benefits of Acai
Acai berry's contain a healthy combination of antioxidants, amino acids, essential omegas, fiber and protein
Antioxidants are substances that prevent dmage to your body's cell by free radicals
The combination of antioxidants in Acai slows the aging process
Antioxidants have been proven to slow and possibly prevent cancer*
Acai contains essential fatty acids omegas 6 and 9
The fatty acids in Acai help lower "bad cholesterol" (ldl), while maintaining "good cholesterol" (hdl)
Acai provides a sustained healthy caffeine-free boost of energy
Acai smoothes is available at Robeks
Robeks offers four delicious products from the purple pigmented super food:
Awesome Acai smoothie*
Acai energizer smoothie*
Acai energy bowl*
Super Acia bowl*
* trademarks of Robeks
Robeks.com
Health benefits of Acai
Acai berry's contain a healthy combination of antioxidants, amino acids, essential omegas, fiber and protein
Antioxidants are substances that prevent dmage to your body's cell by free radicals
The combination of antioxidants in Acai slows the aging process
Antioxidants have been proven to slow and possibly prevent cancer*
Acai contains essential fatty acids omegas 6 and 9
The fatty acids in Acai help lower "bad cholesterol" (ldl), while maintaining "good cholesterol" (hdl)
Acai provides a sustained healthy caffeine-free boost of energy
Acai smoothes is available at Robeks
Robeks offers four delicious products from the purple pigmented super food:
Awesome Acai smoothie*
Acai energizer smoothie*
Acai energy bowl*
Super Acia bowl*
* trademarks of Robeks
Robeks.com
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Bethenny Frankel's Skinny Girls Margarita
Low-cal mojito
Love this Cuban cocktail, but hate the calories? Some mojitos pack up to 250 empty calories, but Frankel's version contain only 150. Using fresh lime juice and honey, instead of processed mixers and sugar, this drink is light and fresh, just like it was meant to be.
Try this recipe: Low-Cal Mojito
The Skinny Girls Margarita
On the Rocks
What you’ll need:
* 2 oz of clear Tequila (100% agave, Patron Silver)
* (count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)
* A splash of fresh lime juice
* A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
Combine all ingredients over a glass of ice
Garnish with a lime wedge and salt (or sugar) if you’d like.
Makes one serving
More about Bethenny Frankel
Love this Cuban cocktail, but hate the calories? Some mojitos pack up to 250 empty calories, but Frankel's version contain only 150. Using fresh lime juice and honey, instead of processed mixers and sugar, this drink is light and fresh, just like it was meant to be.
Try this recipe: Low-Cal Mojito
The Skinny Girls Margarita
On the Rocks
What you’ll need:
* 2 oz of clear Tequila (100% agave, Patron Silver)
* (count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)
* A splash of fresh lime juice
* A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
Combine all ingredients over a glass of ice
Garnish with a lime wedge and salt (or sugar) if you’d like.
Makes one serving
More about Bethenny Frankel
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Spa
The challenge of ‘eco’ demands on spas
By Caroline Brien
Published: April 18 2009 01:24 | Last updated: April 18 2009 01:24
On an indulgent eco spa break, it’s only natural that you would want to leave the worries of the world behind. But what if the term “eco” doesn’t live up to expectations?
Your luxury paradise may recycle waste into fuel or use water from ancient boreholes, but hot showers and piles of fluffy towels are two energy-guzzling eco-crimes that spas commit daily.
“If you define ‘green’ as being carbon-free, then no business on earth is [green],” says Patrick Wahlberg, sustainability and project manager for Raison d’Etre, a leading spa management and development company that has set up more than 50 spas worldwide. “The label is often used where it’s not warranted. We’re really talking about shades of green.”
SpaFinder, the world’s largest spa marketing company, predicted in 2005 that forward-thinking wellbeing businesses would be going green and have found that, four years on, customers are pushing for more.
“Consumers expect that social and environmental commitments are being made, so they aren’t solely indulging themselves,” says SpaFinder’s european executive director, Cassandra Cavanah.
There’s no denying that self-styled eco spas such as Titanic in Huddersfield in west Yorkshire, Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa in Australia, Natura Park Beach Eco Resort & Spa in the Dominican Republic and the Six Senses resorts across Asia and Europe (including Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, which claims it will be carbon-free by 2010) are tackling environmental wastage by using sustainable trees to power energy, ensuring buildings are carbon neutral and sourcing food and building materials locally.
Yet the definition of “eco” is so open to interpretation that some spas put their own spin on it. And meeting the exact demands of the term “eco” can prove challenging.
“Spas have a natural affinity with the environment, but I’ve struggled with the concept,” says Susan Harmsworth, CEO of international spa empire ESPA. “Thermal suites and hot showers can be eco-friendly in new buildings, but it’s the electrical elements that are the real culprits. We still need air conditioning in the Middle East and heating in Russia; it’s in those extreme climates where we face real challenges.”
What’s more, although clientele are increasingly looking for buzz-words like “sustainability” and “locally sourced”, that doesn’t mean that they demand any less luxury when they arrive.
“Consumers are very savvy,” adds Harmsworth. “They will put social responsibility high on their list of priorities, but when you’re paying lots of money, you don’t want to suffer. Spotless treatment rooms can mean flushing cleaning chemicals back into the ocean, as could treating the water to ensure the hydrotherapy pool is exceptionally hygienic.”
“It’s tricky,” agrees Cavanah. “A commitment to sourcing food and employment locally, rather than shipping them in, is the area that’s having the most positive impact, because it’s what the guests get to see.”
In the hope of clearing up this conundrum, Green Globe, an organisation that benchmarks environmentally responsible hotel and resort development, is now aiming to give the green seal of approval to spas.
“The Green Globe certification is a good step forward in making eco spas more credible,” says Wahlberg. “But a small independent spa in a developing country might not be able to afford the official stamp of approval [$3,800 (£2,548) for a hotel with over 100 rooms].”
Where real progress can be made is in building spas from scratch. “The industry needs visionaries,” explains Harmsworth. “It’s hugely expensive to create a true eco spa, but responsible developers, great architects and excellent engineers are the starting point.”
Do any new spas yet meet those criteria? “Ask me in a couple of years,” says Wahlberg. “It takes a long time to get this kind of complex project just right.”
Sean Harrington, managing director of Elemis, agrees. “I’m not convinced that eco spas exist as yet – but they are coming.”
..................
spa finder
By Caroline Brien
Published: April 18 2009 01:24 | Last updated: April 18 2009 01:24
On an indulgent eco spa break, it’s only natural that you would want to leave the worries of the world behind. But what if the term “eco” doesn’t live up to expectations?
Your luxury paradise may recycle waste into fuel or use water from ancient boreholes, but hot showers and piles of fluffy towels are two energy-guzzling eco-crimes that spas commit daily.
“If you define ‘green’ as being carbon-free, then no business on earth is [green],” says Patrick Wahlberg, sustainability and project manager for Raison d’Etre, a leading spa management and development company that has set up more than 50 spas worldwide. “The label is often used where it’s not warranted. We’re really talking about shades of green.”
SpaFinder, the world’s largest spa marketing company, predicted in 2005 that forward-thinking wellbeing businesses would be going green and have found that, four years on, customers are pushing for more.
“Consumers expect that social and environmental commitments are being made, so they aren’t solely indulging themselves,” says SpaFinder’s european executive director, Cassandra Cavanah.
There’s no denying that self-styled eco spas such as Titanic in Huddersfield in west Yorkshire, Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa in Australia, Natura Park Beach Eco Resort & Spa in the Dominican Republic and the Six Senses resorts across Asia and Europe (including Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, which claims it will be carbon-free by 2010) are tackling environmental wastage by using sustainable trees to power energy, ensuring buildings are carbon neutral and sourcing food and building materials locally.
Yet the definition of “eco” is so open to interpretation that some spas put their own spin on it. And meeting the exact demands of the term “eco” can prove challenging.
“Spas have a natural affinity with the environment, but I’ve struggled with the concept,” says Susan Harmsworth, CEO of international spa empire ESPA. “Thermal suites and hot showers can be eco-friendly in new buildings, but it’s the electrical elements that are the real culprits. We still need air conditioning in the Middle East and heating in Russia; it’s in those extreme climates where we face real challenges.”
What’s more, although clientele are increasingly looking for buzz-words like “sustainability” and “locally sourced”, that doesn’t mean that they demand any less luxury when they arrive.
“Consumers are very savvy,” adds Harmsworth. “They will put social responsibility high on their list of priorities, but when you’re paying lots of money, you don’t want to suffer. Spotless treatment rooms can mean flushing cleaning chemicals back into the ocean, as could treating the water to ensure the hydrotherapy pool is exceptionally hygienic.”
“It’s tricky,” agrees Cavanah. “A commitment to sourcing food and employment locally, rather than shipping them in, is the area that’s having the most positive impact, because it’s what the guests get to see.”
In the hope of clearing up this conundrum, Green Globe, an organisation that benchmarks environmentally responsible hotel and resort development, is now aiming to give the green seal of approval to spas.
“The Green Globe certification is a good step forward in making eco spas more credible,” says Wahlberg. “But a small independent spa in a developing country might not be able to afford the official stamp of approval [$3,800 (£2,548) for a hotel with over 100 rooms].”
Where real progress can be made is in building spas from scratch. “The industry needs visionaries,” explains Harmsworth. “It’s hugely expensive to create a true eco spa, but responsible developers, great architects and excellent engineers are the starting point.”
Do any new spas yet meet those criteria? “Ask me in a couple of years,” says Wahlberg. “It takes a long time to get this kind of complex project just right.”
Sean Harrington, managing director of Elemis, agrees. “I’m not convinced that eco spas exist as yet – but they are coming.”
..................
spa finder
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Spa- Dr Bronner
Organic Cheater Personal Care Lawsuit Proceeds to Discovery Phase
Fri Mar 6, 2009 11:00am EST
Dr. Bronner's Plans ANSI-NSF 305 "Made with Organic" Certification to
Supplement Existing USDA NOP Certification
ANAHEIM, Calif., March 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps
successfully fended off the last of Defendants Motions to Dismiss earlier last
month, with the San Francisco Superior Court rejecting Defendants arguments
that California's Unfair Competition Law was inapplicable to their organic
misbranding. The case now moves into discovery, and Dr. Bronner's has
requested defendants to explain precisely what the term "Organic" means to
them as they use it in their branding and marketing. Defendants include among
others: Hain-Celestial (Jason "Pure, Natural & Organic"; Avalon "Organics");
Levlad (Nature's Gate "Organics"); Kiss My Face "Organic"; Country Life
(Desert Essence "Organics"); Giovanni "Organic Cosmetics"; and the certifiers
Ecocert and OASIS (the latter is currently in Appeal).
Defendants' "Organic" or "Organics" products are generally composed of main
cleansing and moisturizing ingredients that are not organic, but rather are
made from conventional agricultural and/or petrochemical material, with
organic water extracts or aloe vera for an organic greenwash. Organic
consumers expect that the main cleansing and moisturizing ingredients in
"Organic" or "Organics" products are in fact made from organic material, and
are not simply conventional formulations with some organic tea on top. Dr.
Bronner's has made clear that Defendants must certify their products, by their
preferred certifier, to meet the following minimum criteria:
1. If a claim is "Made with Organic," main ingredients are made
from organic material as commercially available, without petrochemical
compounds, except some synthetic preservatives are OK. Hydrogenation,
sulfation and other processing of main ingredients that does not
incorporate petrochemical compounds into ingredients are acceptable.
2. There is at least 70% organic content not counting water.
3. However, if defendants make outright "Organic" claims in
branding or labeling (e.g. "Organic Lotion" vs. "Lotion
made with Organic Aloe Vera"), than those products must be 95%
organic, without any hydrogenating, sulfating or synthetically
preserving
ingredients; and main cleansing ingredients must be derived from
organic
rather than conventional agricultural material.
4. If defendants cannot live up to their organic claims, than they need to
drop those claims.
Dr. Bronner's is pleased that the NSF/ANSI 305: Made with Organic Personal
Care Products* standard was formally introduced to the market last month. Dr.
Bronner's famous liquid and bar soaps are currently certified under the USDA
NOP food standards as "Made with Organic Oils" which exceed the NSF standard.
However, the NSF standard represents a responsible compromise between organic
consumers and the cosmetic industry, with important requirements disallowing
petrochemical compounds in cleansing ingredients and problematic
preservatives. Dr. Bronner's hopes that clean brands with clean formulations
that do not qualify for current USDA NOP seal certification, will certify to
the NSF 305 standard. NSF should become entrenched in the marketplace against
competing permissive industry standards in the market that were developed
without consumer input.
*From
http://www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/press_releases/press_release.asp?p_id=16445
:
NSF/ANSI 305 is also the only consensus-based standard for made with organic
personal care products, which means it was developed based on balanced
participation from key stakeholder groups, including organic personal care
manufacturers, trade associations, regulators, organic program administrators,
organic product retailers, and other stakeholders from the organic products
community. The new standard allows "made with organic" claims for products
with organic content of 70 percent (O70) or more that comply with all other
requirements of the standard.
SOURCE Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps
Adam Eidinger, +1-202-744-2671, adam@drbronner.com, for Dr. Bronner's Magic
Soaps
Fri Mar 6, 2009 11:00am EST
Dr. Bronner's Plans ANSI-NSF 305 "Made with Organic" Certification to
Supplement Existing USDA NOP Certification
ANAHEIM, Calif., March 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps
successfully fended off the last of Defendants Motions to Dismiss earlier last
month, with the San Francisco Superior Court rejecting Defendants arguments
that California's Unfair Competition Law was inapplicable to their organic
misbranding. The case now moves into discovery, and Dr. Bronner's has
requested defendants to explain precisely what the term "Organic" means to
them as they use it in their branding and marketing. Defendants include among
others: Hain-Celestial (Jason "Pure, Natural & Organic"; Avalon "Organics");
Levlad (Nature's Gate "Organics"); Kiss My Face "Organic"; Country Life
(Desert Essence "Organics"); Giovanni "Organic Cosmetics"; and the certifiers
Ecocert and OASIS (the latter is currently in Appeal).
Defendants' "Organic" or "Organics" products are generally composed of main
cleansing and moisturizing ingredients that are not organic, but rather are
made from conventional agricultural and/or petrochemical material, with
organic water extracts or aloe vera for an organic greenwash. Organic
consumers expect that the main cleansing and moisturizing ingredients in
"Organic" or "Organics" products are in fact made from organic material, and
are not simply conventional formulations with some organic tea on top. Dr.
Bronner's has made clear that Defendants must certify their products, by their
preferred certifier, to meet the following minimum criteria:
1. If a claim is "Made with Organic," main ingredients are made
from organic material as commercially available, without petrochemical
compounds, except some synthetic preservatives are OK. Hydrogenation,
sulfation and other processing of main ingredients that does not
incorporate petrochemical compounds into ingredients are acceptable.
2. There is at least 70% organic content not counting water.
3. However, if defendants make outright "Organic" claims in
branding or labeling (e.g. "Organic Lotion" vs. "Lotion
made with Organic Aloe Vera"), than those products must be 95%
organic, without any hydrogenating, sulfating or synthetically
preserving
ingredients; and main cleansing ingredients must be derived from
organic
rather than conventional agricultural material.
4. If defendants cannot live up to their organic claims, than they need to
drop those claims.
Dr. Bronner's is pleased that the NSF/ANSI 305: Made with Organic Personal
Care Products* standard was formally introduced to the market last month. Dr.
Bronner's famous liquid and bar soaps are currently certified under the USDA
NOP food standards as "Made with Organic Oils" which exceed the NSF standard.
However, the NSF standard represents a responsible compromise between organic
consumers and the cosmetic industry, with important requirements disallowing
petrochemical compounds in cleansing ingredients and problematic
preservatives. Dr. Bronner's hopes that clean brands with clean formulations
that do not qualify for current USDA NOP seal certification, will certify to
the NSF 305 standard. NSF should become entrenched in the marketplace against
competing permissive industry standards in the market that were developed
without consumer input.
*From
http://www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/press_releases/press_release.asp?p_id=16445
:
NSF/ANSI 305 is also the only consensus-based standard for made with organic
personal care products, which means it was developed based on balanced
participation from key stakeholder groups, including organic personal care
manufacturers, trade associations, regulators, organic program administrators,
organic product retailers, and other stakeholders from the organic products
community. The new standard allows "made with organic" claims for products
with organic content of 70 percent (O70) or more that comply with all other
requirements of the standard.
SOURCE Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps
Adam Eidinger, +1-202-744-2671, adam@drbronner.com, for Dr. Bronner's Magic
Soaps
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Spa
This months featured product 5bucks for 24 fl oz (710 mL)
By body essence
Olive & honey exfoliating body wash
Ingredients macadamia nut scrub, gently renews skin and olive oil & honey softens & recondition
Mild foaming action revitalizes skin and a subtle honey fragrance lingers lightly to keep your body feeling refreshed!
Product rate 98% from our team of experts
By body essence
Olive & honey exfoliating body wash
Ingredients macadamia nut scrub, gently renews skin and olive oil & honey softens & recondition
Mild foaming action revitalizes skin and a subtle honey fragrance lingers lightly to keep your body feeling refreshed!
Product rate 98% from our team of experts
Friday, March 13, 2009
Alexander McQueen
McQueen Leaves Fashion in Ruins
Thibault Camus/Associated Press
RECYCLING A McQueen ball gown in an Escher-inspired print, with a garbage heap of props from past collections in the background.
By ERIC WILSON
Published: March 11, 2009
Paris
The McQueen Mystique: A History of Provocation
Paris Fashion Wrap-Up
Alexander McQueen Fall 2009 Collection.
Related
Times Topics: Alexander McQueen
Christophe Ena/Associated Press
Alexander McQueen after his show.
Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
A double-umbrella hat by Philip Treacy.
Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
PUSHING BUTTONS A duck feather jacket and a hat that sprouts coral.
INEVITABLY, the talk of Paris fashion has been less about clothes than about money.
Retailers are worried about sales, and magazines are concerned with the loss of advertising. And most designers, listening to the bean counters, have played it so safe with their fall collections that they run the risk of choking. Fashion is in a fractured state.
Still, few designers are willing to admit that the expectations of fashion are changing, or to honestly question the future for luxury goods if the appetite — largely invented over the last decade with calculated marketing more than innovative design — no longer exists. Alexander McQueen’s exceptional collection shown here on Tuesday night, the most ambitious we have seen this season, was as much a slap in the face to his industry, then, as it was brave statement about the absurdity of the race to build empires in fashion.
With a runway of broken mirrors surrounding a garbage heap made of props from his own past collections, Mr. McQueen created a stage to symbolize the sudden crash of luxury exuberance. The clothes he sent out were a parody of couture designs of the last century, spoofing Dior’s New Look and Givenchy’s little black Audrey Hepburn dresses, as well as their reinventions by new designers at those companies in the last decade — himself included. It was a bit of a Marie Antoinette riot, poking fun at all the queens of French fashion.
“This whole situation is such a cliché,” Mr. McQueen said before his show. “The turnover of fashion is just so quick and so throwaway, and I think that is a big part of the problem. There is no longevity.”
Mr. McQueen, in effect, was calling fashion’s bluff when he opened his collection with a suit in a 1940s silhouette, with a nipped waist and flared skirt in houndstooth wool, worn by a model who walked with her hands on her hips and posed with the exaggerated gestures of an Irving Penn photograph. That was followed by a houndstooth print on a mink coat in a Poiret shape and wool jackets that were defaced with embroidery that looked like a Jackson Pollock painting.
All the models wore hats by the milliner Philip Treacy that were made of trash-can liners and aluminum cans, or recycled household objects; the makeup, inspired by the mad look of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil,” gave the models the appearance of plastic faces that were all lips. The music, as well, was a mash-up of songs from his prior shows, with bits of “Vogue” and Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People.”
This was, Mr. McQueen said, an ironic exploration of a designer’s reinvention. The irony is that designers say that fashion is constantly being reinvented, yet they continue to show the same shapes and trends of decades past. (Ergo, this season the collections have been fixated on the 1980s.)
After the triumphs of his recent collections, this was a risky show, entirely uncommercial and intentionally provocative, and it generated extreme reactions. Dennis Freedman, the creative director of W, was visibly ecstatic watching the show; but another magazine editor, afterward, compared the trash-bin styling to “a collection inspired by Wall-E.” And some questioned whether Mr. McQueen, by including such obvious references to trash, was targeting John Galliano’s version of Dior, which, in January 2000, included a couture collection inspired by hobos and that led to protesters wearing plastic garbage bags outside the Dior ateliers on Avenue Montaigne.
Throughout his career, Mr. McQueen has relished pushing people’s buttons, though maybe less obviously since moving his shows from London, where he had developed the reputation as the enfant terrible, to Paris in 2001 after he sold his company to the Gucci Group. Mr. McQueen turns 40 next week, so he is no longer an enfant, though his work remains challenging and confrontational, especially this season, when it seems like the right moment for a deeper exploration.
While he is mocking the establishment for running circles over fashion history, isn’t Mr. McQueen as guilty as the rest?
From 1997 to 2001, he was the designer for Givenchy, one of the luxury brands owned by LVMH, and his tenure there was frequently marked by conflicts with management and mostly negative critical reviews. Before he showed his first collection, succeeding Mr. Galliano, who had moved to Dior, Mr. McQueen offended many French journalists by declaring that the original work of Hubert de Givenchy was “irrelevant.” Amy M. Spindler, the New York Times fashion critic, wrote of Mr. McQueen’s couture debut in 1997: “This was basically a pretty hostile collection from a gifted designer who seems in conflict about his role in the Givenchy studio. How members of the audience responded to the show depended on whether they were fascinated by that hostility and vulgarity or repelled by it.” The same could be said today.
During his early days in London, Mr. McQueen’s collections were sometimes described as misogynistic. The shows made audiences uncomfortable, and equally fascinated, most controversially in 1995 when he referenced the ravaging of Scotland by England by showing brutalized women in a collection called “Highland Rape.” He later transformed models into animals with horns on their shoulders or wearing leather masks like falcons; and in a 2000 collection, he showed models in a setting that looked like a mental hospital. The historian Caroline Evans, in “Fashion at the Edge,” noted that McQueen’s aesthetic of cruelty was actually culled from historic sources, “the work of 16th- and 17th-century anatomists, in particular that of Andreas Vesalius, the photography of Joel-Peter Witkin from the 1980s and ’90s, and the films of Pasolini, Kubrick, Buñuel and Hitchcock.”
So much informs Mr. McQueen’s collections that things get lost or obscured. In addition to Dior and Givenchy and Pollock, the new fall collection, titled “The Horn of Plenty,” included leather coats and poof dresses with a pattern inspired by Bauhaus and clowns, a magpie print inspired by the drawings of M. C. Escher, and dresses made of duck feathers after Matthew Bourne’s production of “Swan Lake.” The invitation showed an image of a woman with a trash bag on her head by Hendrik Kerstens, photographed in the manner of Dutch portrait artists, which was the starting point for Mr. McQueen’s exploration into recycling. (The image was recreated in a hat by Mr. Treacy.)
Some of the fabrics were made to look like refuse, including a wet-looking black paper nylon that resulted in dresses that resembled Mr. Givenchy’s chic styles, only made of Hefty bags. A charcoal silk cape looked as if it was made of bubble wrap.
“I’ve never been this hard since I’ve been in London,” Mr. McQueen said. “I think it’s dangerous to play it safe because you will just get lost in the midst of cashmere twin sets. People don’t want to see clothes. They want to see something that fuels the imagination.”
It’s an interesting issue that Mr. McQueen raises by challenging the status quo. While he did not exactly propose an obvious solution for the times, he at least suggested a viable alternative to the never-ending recycling of other designers’ fashion, which was to recycle his own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/fashion/12MCQUEEN.html
Thibault Camus/Associated Press
RECYCLING A McQueen ball gown in an Escher-inspired print, with a garbage heap of props from past collections in the background.
By ERIC WILSON
Published: March 11, 2009
Paris
The McQueen Mystique: A History of Provocation
Paris Fashion Wrap-Up
Alexander McQueen Fall 2009 Collection.
Related
Times Topics: Alexander McQueen
Christophe Ena/Associated Press
Alexander McQueen after his show.
Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
A double-umbrella hat by Philip Treacy.
Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
PUSHING BUTTONS A duck feather jacket and a hat that sprouts coral.
INEVITABLY, the talk of Paris fashion has been less about clothes than about money.
Retailers are worried about sales, and magazines are concerned with the loss of advertising. And most designers, listening to the bean counters, have played it so safe with their fall collections that they run the risk of choking. Fashion is in a fractured state.
Still, few designers are willing to admit that the expectations of fashion are changing, or to honestly question the future for luxury goods if the appetite — largely invented over the last decade with calculated marketing more than innovative design — no longer exists. Alexander McQueen’s exceptional collection shown here on Tuesday night, the most ambitious we have seen this season, was as much a slap in the face to his industry, then, as it was brave statement about the absurdity of the race to build empires in fashion.
With a runway of broken mirrors surrounding a garbage heap made of props from his own past collections, Mr. McQueen created a stage to symbolize the sudden crash of luxury exuberance. The clothes he sent out were a parody of couture designs of the last century, spoofing Dior’s New Look and Givenchy’s little black Audrey Hepburn dresses, as well as their reinventions by new designers at those companies in the last decade — himself included. It was a bit of a Marie Antoinette riot, poking fun at all the queens of French fashion.
“This whole situation is such a cliché,” Mr. McQueen said before his show. “The turnover of fashion is just so quick and so throwaway, and I think that is a big part of the problem. There is no longevity.”
Mr. McQueen, in effect, was calling fashion’s bluff when he opened his collection with a suit in a 1940s silhouette, with a nipped waist and flared skirt in houndstooth wool, worn by a model who walked with her hands on her hips and posed with the exaggerated gestures of an Irving Penn photograph. That was followed by a houndstooth print on a mink coat in a Poiret shape and wool jackets that were defaced with embroidery that looked like a Jackson Pollock painting.
All the models wore hats by the milliner Philip Treacy that were made of trash-can liners and aluminum cans, or recycled household objects; the makeup, inspired by the mad look of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil,” gave the models the appearance of plastic faces that were all lips. The music, as well, was a mash-up of songs from his prior shows, with bits of “Vogue” and Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People.”
This was, Mr. McQueen said, an ironic exploration of a designer’s reinvention. The irony is that designers say that fashion is constantly being reinvented, yet they continue to show the same shapes and trends of decades past. (Ergo, this season the collections have been fixated on the 1980s.)
After the triumphs of his recent collections, this was a risky show, entirely uncommercial and intentionally provocative, and it generated extreme reactions. Dennis Freedman, the creative director of W, was visibly ecstatic watching the show; but another magazine editor, afterward, compared the trash-bin styling to “a collection inspired by Wall-E.” And some questioned whether Mr. McQueen, by including such obvious references to trash, was targeting John Galliano’s version of Dior, which, in January 2000, included a couture collection inspired by hobos and that led to protesters wearing plastic garbage bags outside the Dior ateliers on Avenue Montaigne.
Throughout his career, Mr. McQueen has relished pushing people’s buttons, though maybe less obviously since moving his shows from London, where he had developed the reputation as the enfant terrible, to Paris in 2001 after he sold his company to the Gucci Group. Mr. McQueen turns 40 next week, so he is no longer an enfant, though his work remains challenging and confrontational, especially this season, when it seems like the right moment for a deeper exploration.
While he is mocking the establishment for running circles over fashion history, isn’t Mr. McQueen as guilty as the rest?
From 1997 to 2001, he was the designer for Givenchy, one of the luxury brands owned by LVMH, and his tenure there was frequently marked by conflicts with management and mostly negative critical reviews. Before he showed his first collection, succeeding Mr. Galliano, who had moved to Dior, Mr. McQueen offended many French journalists by declaring that the original work of Hubert de Givenchy was “irrelevant.” Amy M. Spindler, the New York Times fashion critic, wrote of Mr. McQueen’s couture debut in 1997: “This was basically a pretty hostile collection from a gifted designer who seems in conflict about his role in the Givenchy studio. How members of the audience responded to the show depended on whether they were fascinated by that hostility and vulgarity or repelled by it.” The same could be said today.
During his early days in London, Mr. McQueen’s collections were sometimes described as misogynistic. The shows made audiences uncomfortable, and equally fascinated, most controversially in 1995 when he referenced the ravaging of Scotland by England by showing brutalized women in a collection called “Highland Rape.” He later transformed models into animals with horns on their shoulders or wearing leather masks like falcons; and in a 2000 collection, he showed models in a setting that looked like a mental hospital. The historian Caroline Evans, in “Fashion at the Edge,” noted that McQueen’s aesthetic of cruelty was actually culled from historic sources, “the work of 16th- and 17th-century anatomists, in particular that of Andreas Vesalius, the photography of Joel-Peter Witkin from the 1980s and ’90s, and the films of Pasolini, Kubrick, Buñuel and Hitchcock.”
So much informs Mr. McQueen’s collections that things get lost or obscured. In addition to Dior and Givenchy and Pollock, the new fall collection, titled “The Horn of Plenty,” included leather coats and poof dresses with a pattern inspired by Bauhaus and clowns, a magpie print inspired by the drawings of M. C. Escher, and dresses made of duck feathers after Matthew Bourne’s production of “Swan Lake.” The invitation showed an image of a woman with a trash bag on her head by Hendrik Kerstens, photographed in the manner of Dutch portrait artists, which was the starting point for Mr. McQueen’s exploration into recycling. (The image was recreated in a hat by Mr. Treacy.)
Some of the fabrics were made to look like refuse, including a wet-looking black paper nylon that resulted in dresses that resembled Mr. Givenchy’s chic styles, only made of Hefty bags. A charcoal silk cape looked as if it was made of bubble wrap.
“I’ve never been this hard since I’ve been in London,” Mr. McQueen said. “I think it’s dangerous to play it safe because you will just get lost in the midst of cashmere twin sets. People don’t want to see clothes. They want to see something that fuels the imagination.”
It’s an interesting issue that Mr. McQueen raises by challenging the status quo. While he did not exactly propose an obvious solution for the times, he at least suggested a viable alternative to the never-ending recycling of other designers’ fashion, which was to recycle his own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/fashion/12MCQUEEN.html
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Feel good Look good Be good!
A new series about sustainable environments, health, wellness foods, and being good to yourself. a monthly review on feel good, look good, and be good! healthy meals, wellness information, and helpful information to live a sustainable lifestyle.
Friday, January 9, 2009
New!
Don't decorate the curb AFTER the holidays
Hassel free christmas tree removal
- curbside pick-up or in home service
- give to the earth and seed the future
- trees are recycled into mulch
- portion of the proceeds fund CAWT 4 kids community youth programs
1.888.XMS-TREE - 1.888.967-8733
As low as $25
10% if schedule before the holidays
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)