Fashion for style, and sustainability

By Liz Browning | gargoyle@flagler.edu  

When most people shop for clothes, they consider key factors such as style, fit, comfort and affordability. Yet, have you ever considered how the garment was made? Where it came from? How it’s composition affects the environment, and even your own personal health?

Designers Naz Harounian and Courtney Barriger want to get clothes shoppers thinking about these questions before they purchasing clothing. That is a big part of why they created the high fashion, sustainable clothing line Naz & Court, which they presented at the St. Augustine Fashion Week last month.

“Your skin is an organ that absorbs chemicals, just like your stomach does when you ingest food that contains chemicals, and most people do not think about this when they buy their clothes,” said Barriger.

Naz and Court are a team of fashion designers from Los Angeles. The designing duo combined their passions for both fashion and the environment by coming up with their own definition of sustainability, and then combining it with clothing. Their fabrics are made up of organic materials that have the low carbon footprints and few chemicals. Not only are they about helping the environment, but they also want better treatment of workers.

“I discovered that I could do something that I love and make the world a better place at the exact same time,” said Barriger.

Their favorite piece that they have designed is their leather jacket. A typical leather jacket that you buy is made from a cow skin or “pleather” — it is  melted down and dyed with chemicals. Although their leather is from a cow, it is from a free-range animal. The cow skin is processed with natural plants, vegetables and fruits to create a durable leather jacket. This process is known as vegetable tanning. The inside is made from Lyocell, an organic material found in Eucalyptus, which allows for comfort as well. They use this technique and other organic materials to design the rest of their clothing as well.

Even the zippers they use are sustainable — they may not necessarily be made from organic materials, but their longevity makes them that way.

“If you buy something that’s good quality, than you’ll have it forever and that’s what makes it sustainable because you’ll never have to throw it away,” said Harounian

The designers hope to expand their brand beyond clothing as they are seeking to create sleepwear, purses, shoes, and perhaps even perfume. Their hope is to make a positive impact on the fashion industry, which is the second most polluting in the world.

“We want to be the brand that is the advocate for sustainability and ethical treatment internationally,” they said.

For more information about their clothing and how they are saving the planet one garment at a time check out their website:

http://nazandcourt.bigcartel.com