But as Inder Bedi, Matt & Nat's founder and creative director, sees it, style is key. "The product/design has to be there first. At the end of the day, when it comes to fashion, people still buy the product first and then the story."
And that impulse is helping move vegan style forward. "The new look of vegan fashion doesn't look any different from any new fashion. Period," said Rachel Sarnoff, founder-owner of EcoStiletto, a website (ecostilleto .com) that promises to unleash the "secret to smart and sexy green living." "It's indistinguishable from what's on the shelves in non-vegan fashion. You don't have to look like you're wearing green just because you are," said Sarnoff, a big fan of olsenHaus shoes, Urban Fox lingerie and Wasteland for vintage.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, September 16, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
Vegan fashion: An article on vegan fashion in the Aug. 23 Image section misspelled the URL of the EcoStiletto website as ecostilleto.com. The correct Web address is ecostiletto.com.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, September 20, 2009 Home Edition Image Part P Page 2 Features Desk 1 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
Vegan fashion: An article on vegan fashion in the Aug. 23 Image section misspelled the URL of the EcoStiletto website as ecostilleto.com. The correct Web address is ecostiletto.com.
According to Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, 26, founder and creative director of Vaute Couture in Chicago, "There used to be this idea that to be vegan is a sacrifice, and one thing you'd sacrifice would be style -- that people who are vegan don't care about expressing themselves through clothing or their looks," the vegan Ford model said. "A lot of vegans really exemplify a new standard."
Hilgart makes her case with the Vaute Coat she's debuting this fall. Setting out to make a fashionable winter jacket that was "cute and warm and animal-conscious" to get her through the brutal Chicago winter, she came up with peacoats and dress coats made from a 100% recycled Polar Tech fabric that offers thermal insulation but also a "pretty flirty drape" and an "elegant texture." The coats are made in Chicago by seamstresses who Hilgart said make a "living wage."
When she shops for vegan clothes, Hilgart said, she paws through the racks like everyone else at boutiques, department stores and vintage shops. She's just careful to read all the labels -- even "the little tiny labels on the bottom side" just to make sure no animal products were involved.
"It's not a sacrifice to be considerate of others. You can have everything," said Hilgart, who's contributing part of the proceeds from her new coat to the animal advocacy organization Farm Sanctuary. "You just have to be more careful about it, but you can be conscientious and have style too."
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susan.carpenter@latimes.com
