Fashionably green

>> Look to the small vintage shops to meet
your eco-friendly clothing needs

LOTS TO SEE: Rien à Cacher

We may aspire to wear green clothes—recyclable, recycled, organic, vegan, sustainable, ethical, fair trade or locally made. But the problem with buying eco-friendly is that we wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the clothes if it meant looking like a strolling patch quilt. 

Luckily, an increasing number of labels and designers are fashioning trend-setting green clothing. Major brands, like H&M, Levi’s, Lululemon and La Senza, are offering green solutions for their spring-summer 2007 standard products.

But buying bamboo fiber pajamas, biodegradable underwear, pesticide-free bras or eco-friendly jeans from major chain retailers that offer new styles every two weeks to encourage consumption might not be the most ethical move to save the planet. And with major label styles echoing trends of the ’50s and ’60s this summer season, the most earth-friendly—and wallet-friendly—option is vintage shopping.

Montreal has an abundance of thrift stores, from Salvation Army and Village des Valeurs, to our own Fripe-Prix Renaissance, a local chain of non-profit thrift stores that help with the social and professional reintegration of Montrealers. And you will find a cluster of smaller vintage shops on Mont-Royal, between St-Laurent and St-Denis, and on St-Viateur, between the Main and Parc.

One of Montreal’s most unique vintage stores, however, is la Gaillarde (4019 Notre Dame W., (514) 989-5134), which is also a little ecological fashion centre. They have vintage, sure, but also sell textile waste, organize fashion shows, and offer all-level sewing classes, courses on how to restore or refashion your fabrics, create a pattern and make recycled jewellery. Furthermore, the shop collective sells crafts by local eco-friendly designers, such as Oöm Ethikwear’s line of silk-screened t-shirts, or Posch’s bags made of recycled pillowcases and sheets.

Another jewel on Montreal’s ecological shopping scene is Rien à Cacher (4141 St-Denis, (514) 907-6187), which has a great selection of sustainable, locally made and designed brands. They sell Rejet’s bags, made out of recycled car scraps, and Goo’s second-hand leather purses. They also have On and On’s unique clothing items, all of which are created with used textiles in their atelier at 6600 St-Urbain. Grace and Cello, another Montreal-based brand that makes stuff like wrap dresses, empire-waist tops and slim pants all in organic cotton, bamboo and other green fabrics, is sold there too. Rien à Cacher offers non-Québécois labels as well, like the Toronto-based Preloved (they have lovely slick tube dresses, perfectly cut skirts and vests made from old trench coats right now, which are also available at their store, 4832 St-Laurent).

Finally, Rien à Cacher supports a number of international fair-trade and ecological brands, particularly Veja shoes. This French brand’s idea is to finance a small cluster of Amazonian cotton farmers and natural rubber makers, instead of marketing campaigns. Today, the word of mouth approach has worked so well that there is worldwide shortage of Veja shoes, the demand being higher than the rate of possible production.

Let the aesthetical green revolution begin…

SPRING-SUMMER STYLINGS: (L to R) Preloved, Rejet bag, On and On

Eco-friendly Fashion Show, Wednesday,
May 23,6 p.m., at La Gaillarde friperie
(4019 notre-dame w.), (514) 989-5134.