Eco Fashion Editor Loves

As the days get darker, nothing brightens your spirit like beautiful things that are fairly made and good for you.  Thanks Johanna Bjõrk for including Refresh Agency's client Nisolo in this fabulous Fashion Editor Loves in Coco Eco Magazine. 

5. NISOLO LORI COLOR BLOCK TOTE
No matter how many bags I have in my closet, I always reach for a tote bag. Nisolo’s Lori tote is one of those ultimate carry-alls. Handmade in Peru from caramel and navy leather that is soft yet sturdy, it will only grow more beautiful with time and wear. $178, nisolo.com 

 To read the full digital version of the magazine 

Social-Impact Fashion Label, Nisolo, Selects Refresh Agency as Communications Agency of Record

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE // Boulder, CO -- Nisolo is an up & coming social-impact fashion label in growth start-up stage, based in Nashville, TN & Los Angeles, CA. The company chose Boulder, CO & Copenhagen, Denmark based Refresh Agency to assist building the brand through visionary communication strategy, PR and social PR efforts.

“Refresh Agency is the perfect match with Nisolo’s key positioning within the fashion, sustainability, and social-impact realm. Successfully building brands similar to Nisolo in both the USA and internationally, Refresh Agency’s global perspective is invaluable to the company’s growth and expansion strategy.” – explains co-founder and CEO of Nisolo, Patrick Woodyard.

Nisolo, which means ‘not alone’ in Spanish, designs and manufactures high-quality, handmade leather shoes and accessories for women and men and is currently sold in 23 countries, with primary market in the USA.

The company’s dual focus on quality, style, price and comfort & social-impact through empowered job creation and income generation in the developing world, makes Nisolo a pioneering leader in taking the social-impact business model to the next level. The products are designed in the USA, and produced by hand-selected craftsmen- and women in the developing world, initially in Peru. The majority of materials are sourced locally to ensure the largest possible economic impact in the local communities. Nisolo’s tagline is ‘Wear Change.’  Website: Nisolo.

“We select our clients based on common values, quality of product, commitment to sustainable and 

social-good business & scalability. Nisolo has it all, and Nisolo has the potential to become a 

large-scale international brand, creating jobs and social & economic opportunities for many people 

in developing countries. The fashion industry is in need of raised awareness in it’s business practices, 

being one of the most polluting and socially unsustainable industries in the world, Nisolo leads as an example  – that’s a mission I am passionate about.” – says Sandja Brügmann, CEO and founder of 

Refresh Agency.

About Refresh Agency

Refresh Agency is a Boulder, CO & Copenhagen, Denmark based communications agency with visionary international business acumen, merging authentic leadership, communication, psychology, PR and social media tools to build brands in the USA & Europe. Refresh Agency offers a pioneering visionary global business perspective and an extensive client portfolio dedicated to conscious lifestyles, sustainability and social-good business. Website: Refresh Agency.

Levi's makes life-cycle assessment part of its fabric

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools began increasing in popularity a few years ago as sustainability-minded companies sought ways not only to better understand their products and mitigate their impacts, but also to communicate their efforts to consumers. These tools are data management systems that help companies measure and track the impacts of products from the design stage to end-of-life.

Rather than using ready-made LCA software, companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. began building their own proprietary tools to enable them to better measure their unique inputs, outputs and impacts. (In Levi's case, it commissioned PE Americas to conduct the original lifecycle-analysis study -- led by Thomas P. Gloria -- of a Levi’s 501 jean and Dockers Khaki back in 2007. Since then, Levi's has worked with Gloria, now owner of Industrial Ecology Consultants, to develop and evolve the Evaluate tool.) 

Now Levi's is working to take LCA out of the sustainability silo and into the design room. The company's clothing designers are using its Evaluate tool on a daily basis to make decisions about things like fabric choices, washes and dyes.

"As designers, we only know what we know and so often the decisions we make about what we design and the materials we use are made absent of understanding the environmental impacts of those choices," says Paul Dillinger, senior director of global design for Levi's Dockers brand.

Dillinger and his team can use Evaluate to reach down to the material level to assess the impacts of various components. The design group recently went through the process of evaluating "chassis" fabrics -- core fabrics from which a line is made -- and were able to use Evaluate for the first time to help make design decisions.

"Typically we evaluate fabrics with respect to quality, price, and versatility, but do we know that they're sustainably made?" Dillinger explains. "Have they been woven, spun, dyed in ways that are appropriate? Before Evaluate had no insight into that. Now we have 16 core fabrics we'll put through the tool to further hone the assortment -- so all that information will be available to us prior to the design process. Rather than audit our choices later, this gives us a chance to start off with the right fabrics."

Other examples and the rest of the article is available at Green Biz

EcoBeautiful Feature: SLOWCOLOR

Fairtrade. Coop. Handloomed. Naturally plant dyed. Restoring artisan indigenous textile techniques. Flax linen. Socio and planetary visions and commitments. Beautiful luxurious scarves & shawls. For me. You. Her and him.



www.SLOWCOLOR.com
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Now also available at www.vickerey.com