Online Vegan Fashion Boutique: ASOS – Green Room “Eco Edit”

Asos Vegan Products

ASOS Green Room “Eco Edit” is a great online boutique dedicated ” collections with an ethical or eco-conscious story to tell. ”

Since it’s the middle of Summer, if you’re like me, you love an easy breezy dress to throw on with a cute pair of sandals and be on your way. Well ASOS has a great selection and they mostly priced under $100! You can also shop other categories as well so basically it’s a great place to find all kinds of cool eco-friendly fashion. Check out the site HERE! 

 

Asos

Calico Dragon Vegan Bags

Calico Dragon Vegan Bags

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Calico Dragon is a super cool line of vegan bags and the best part it was started with the sole purpose of benefiting animals.

Not only does the brand donate a portion of their sales to various animal charities, but they also have cruelty-free messages incorporated into the designs. According to their website, the “bags are completely vegan and constructed from up-cycled materials. Since we order such a small number of bags, the fabric used to make our bags is purchased from factories out of their “scrap” material, which would otherwise end up in a landfill. Heavy duty construction along with a bold message presented in an artistic fashion make these bags truly unique!”  Love it!!  The bags are such a bargain as well! Priced from as little as $15.00. Check out these cool bags on their website!

 

calicodragon

Freedom of Animals

Freedom of Animals Vegan Handbags

Freedom of Animals is another brand I found through Peta…they make high-end luxury handbags that are animal free and made in the USA.

What I love about them is that they are partnered with the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya to which they donate a portion of their sales and also encourage their customers to donate and they name most of their bags after orphaned elephants that are rescued from the wild because their mothers were killed by poachers and taken to the Sheldrick Foundation. A gentle reminder of how precious all of our animals our to our world and how important it is for us to take care of them. The bags are sleek, timeless and classic in design which can easily go from the office to a night on the town. Check out their website.

Freedom of Animals Vegan Handbags

Stella McCartney: Vegan Fashion Line

Stella-McCartney vegan fashion

I’ve been a fan of Stella McCartney since she launched her brand back in the early 2000’s and now even more after discovering that her line can be considered vegan fashion!

I had no idea…while her line might be a bit on the pricey side, I definitely think it’s worth the investment to snag at least a couple of her pieces for your closet. Her designs are timeless, colorful and super chic. I’ve put a couple of outfits together with peices from her newest ready-to-wear collection? You can shop them on her site. You can read more about Stella and her achievements in the fashion industry HERE.

vegan fashion

Delikate Rayne: Quality, Cruelty-Free, U.S. Manufactured Fashion Brand

Delikate-Rayne vegan fashion

Delikate Rayne is a great vegan fashion line if you are looking for the perfect leather alternative.

The vegan line is clean with a classic yet edgy feel and the price range is reasonable for the quality that you get. All garments are made in the U.S.A. by a family owned manufacting company that provides an cruelty free, clean and safe working environment for all it’s employees. The brand was started by two sisters, Komie and Kim who have Eastern Indian roots. They believe in quality over quantity, so most products have a limited quantity available, which helps eliminate unnecessary excess waste and lowers carbon emissions. Their goal is to “provide only the highest caliber of animal friendly fashion while foregoing fast fashion practices.”

Here are a few of the peices that caught my eye, but check out more for yourself on their website

 

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La Isla Swimwear: Sexy & Cruelty Free!

La Isla swimwear is vegan fashion

If you are looking for a new swimsuit for the upcoming summer but want to make sure you are also contributing to a better planet, then I suggest you check out the sexy and cruelty free brand La Isla Swimwear as featured in Sports Illustrated recently.

It has a reputation built on quality and straight up sex appeal! These suits are fire! Makes sense as they are manufactured out of Columbia where sexy girls in sexy swimwear are definitely part of the culture. The facility where the swimsuits are made is cruelty free, uses mostly natural lighting and for the 2015 season they implemented using recycled spandex for many of their suits which is definitely something I like. Additionally they are supporters of Oceans Future Society which is an “organization focused on inspiring and educating people throughout the world to act responsibly for the protection of the ocean”.  We need a whole lot more of that! Our oceans are so precious. 😉

The average price for a suit runs around $150…they also offer men’s board shorts that are made for “an active lifestyle” offering versatility from the water to the gym.  I noticed they seem to be sold out on quite a few websites I checked out, so if you find one you like, you better go ahead and snag it! 

Here are a few of suits that caught my eye:

 

Cruelty Free brand La Isla Swimwear

 

Brooks Running Company: Environmentally Conscious & Employee Friendly!

Brooks Running Company Eco-Friendly

Brooks

For any of you who are avid runners such as myself, you may know that it is not easy to find a great running shoe, much less vegan running shoe, that can support the wear and tear hitting the pavement can put on your knees and feet.

Even more challenging is finding a brand that is also environmentally conscious… well I found one! Actually I know this brand well from back in my days of executive recruiting and they are awesome! Brooks Running Company is based in Seattle, Washington and not only are they conscious of the environment but they also treat their employees like gold and invest a lot of time and energy into really creating an exceptional running shoe. There is not another brand that I can think of that focuses specifically on running like Brooks does and their customers are usually loyal for a lifetime! They offer a great variety, with plenty of bold or neutral designs to choose from. They not only sell shoes, but additionally apparel and gear all designed specifically for runners. I am certainly a fan and if you don’t have a brand you love when it comes to running yet, I highly suggest you check them out. They are sold across various retailers all over the U.S. and you can also shop online.

BrooksRunningCompany

Moo Shoes: Eco-Friendly Shoes & Bags

Moo-Shoes are Vegan Friendly

Moo Shoes is a vegan retailer with stores in New York City and LA as well as an online cruelty-free boutique.

This vegan company is family owned and they offer a variety of items for both men and women, expanding beyond footwear. They carry more than 30 different brands which are all Eco-friendly, socially and environmentally conscious. I recognized quite a few on the list and from browsing through the site I found a lot of cool stuff I could see myself or my babe rockin! Definitely focused in the comfort/lifestyle category, but an all around nice variety and a great way to discover new vegan brands! Check them out at mooshoes.com.

Here are some items I snagged for you to take a peek at…. 🙂

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Eco-Friendly Swimwear Brand: Jungle Gurl

Jungle-Gurl-Swimwear

I love this eco-friendly swim line by Natalie Golonka: Jungle Gurl… this is what I call vegan fashion! 

Former model turned designer, Natalie Golonka’s swimwear brand, Jungle Gurl is a line where she takes vintage garments and transforms them into stylish and funky bikinis. Sounds like something I would do and I love the suits! They are so cute! She started her brand because she could never find a swimsuit that she liked and what a creative way she chose to do that. The best part is since she uses vintage materials, it means that the suits are one-of-a-kind which I also love. I love knowing that whatever I’m wearing is original and even better knowing there is a history besides coming off the production line at a huge manufacturing company. Everything is better when it’s made with LOVE. : )

You can find her designs in Barneys, Fred Segal and Intermix just to name a few. There is a full list on the website at www.junglegurl.com or even better buy one on line and have it custom made which is totally the route I would take. Love the Hawaiian inspiration and she didn’t leave the boys out so check out what she has for them as well! Way to go Natalie for creating something truly unique. Love it!

May

Vegan and Proud: Meet Julia Veli

Julia Veli Contributor

Hi there… 😉 My name is Julia Veli and I am an artist known for creating fashion and art all from recycled materials, including vinyl records, Julia Veli FashionCD’s, newspaper and baseballs. I also spent seven years as a consultant in the fashion industry specialized in the areas of executive recruiting, fashion show production, buying/selling of end of season fashion inventories and had my own blog focused on the footwear industry. I traveled to trade shows all over the country learning about and working with 100’s of brands, including Prada, Puma, Vince Camuto, Nine West and Crocs just to name a few. I also discovered a lot of really awesome vegan brands as it was just becoming a big trend right before I left the industry to become an artist full-time. So I will be the Sexy Fit Vegan fashion contributor and I’m excited to share with you some cool and unique vegan fashion…including some of my own.

By nature, I have always been environmentally conscious and considered myself to be a healthy eater but as of last week I can proudly say I am officially vegan thanks to Ella! Three years ago when I first met Ella, to me, being vegan was something I never thought I would call myself. EVER! Since I’ve never been a big meat eater anyway and have always loved my veggies, I was happy with my diet and didn’t see a need to change. I’ve had vegan friends in the past who shared their perspective with me and while I respected their views, I just didn’t think it was for me and honestly one of the biggest turn-offs was going to a restaurant with them and watching the server get completely annoyed as they were grilled about the ingredients in everything. I’m not a fussy person when it comes to things like this, so I couldn’t imagine having to be such a pain in the ass. lol…

Well things have changed and over the past 6 months my awareness of what I am putting into my body has increased simply by having been blessedJulia Veli Swimwear to spend time with Ella and being able to observe her lifestyle. I decided to follow her lead and give being vegan a try but would only commit to six days a week. lol… I instantly noticed how I had more energy, my workouts became better and even my moods were better. It made me happy to know that I was putting the most healthy things into my body and I started to think more about the chemicals I was thoughtlessly ingesting  without even realizing the impact they were having on me. Why would I even consider putting chemicals into my body that are unnatural and only used to grow food faster and make it prettier?? That now seems so crazy to me! It really is that simple. So thank goodness Ella came into my life and was able to SHOW me the way to eat in the most healthy and still enjoy food. I haven’t missed out on anything and I really don’t miss any of the food I used to eat although I am sure I will have moments where I would love to smash a slice of pizza, haha…but there are alternatives! I found it interesting that even on my one cheat day, I often didn’t. What finally caused me to go all the way and become fully vegan was last week when Ella encouraged me to watch the documentary “Cowspiracy”. It was perfect timing and I knew as soon as I pressed play that it was going to be a done deal by the time I finished and that is exactly what happened! I had NO IDEA that the agricultural industry was destroying our planet in such an aggressive way. It changed my perspective and instead of vegan being a selfish decision, it became an unselfish decision and one that I am very proud of.

I am truly thankful to Ella and no matter where our lives take us, I will always remember the positive impact she made in my life.  I’m happy to a part of the amazing work she is doing and excited to see the difference we can make together.