From Hippie to Hip

There's an interesting article in today's Age on the Australian organic industry in the grocery sector. Not sure if you've seen the latest Woolworths' TV ads but they last year bought the Macro Wholefoods Market chain and have now adopted it as their own in-store organic brand.

Apparently Australia is already home to the most certified organic farming lands in the world and organic farming is tipped by analysts to be one of the fastest growing industries this year. For more info - check it out for yourself at http://www.theage.com.au/national/sector-is-ripe-for-the-picking-20101031-178w9.html

Hot to trot

Things are slowly happening. Matt Paroz from How Big is your Eco is going to feature us at some stage soon! That's really exciting. Heide Museum of Modern Art has also got back to us - the organisers have decided to postpone the Design Square due to technical problems but I'm going to follow them up anyway next week just to have a chat with the Heide Store manager.

Been reading all the Spring Racing Carnival publicity leading up the Melbourne Cup. I have to say I'm not really into the races (maybe because I don't drink or gamble) but I do love looking at the fashion.

I love the fact that Jaydee Paino who won Fashions on the Field in Cairns last weekend wore an $18 vintage dress bought online from Nashville. Have also been looking at some of the luxury brands' latest print advertising. Interestingly Edun - the eco fashion brand created by U2 singer Bono and his partner Ali Hewson - has actually teamed up with Louis Vuitton in its newest campaign supporting the Cotton Conservation Initiative in Uganda.

From little things, big things grow

I ended up emailing my responses to Maggie and Betsy in the US for their book 'Defying Gravity'. I'm not sure where it will lead but I've been happy to share the story about Anne and me and our partnership.

I've also been reading about other female entrepreneurs. Marie Hatzis from Hussy and Yeojin Bae are both in partnerships with their sisters who look after the financial/operations side of the business. Anne and I also subscribe to Clare Lancaster's Women in Business newsletter and one of her articles today is on women who've been so successful with their blogs that their partners have been able to give up their day jobs http://www.womeninbusiness.com.au/_blog/Style_and_Substance/post/Full_Time_Female_Bloggers/

It is inspiring. When I first met Anne I gave her a number of articles to look at, one was on our design hero Lisa Gorman. We both love her stuff even though not all of it is organic. She has also had to go off shore to stay in business. Doing sustainable fashion isn't easy. Anne and I would like to keep GEM organic and continue to make it here but time will tell.

Living an eco-fashionable life

It's one thing to work in sustainable fashion, it's another thing to actually live it. I've long had a green sensibility and that's a values thing. Living it can actually be more tricky and I'm aware of the contradiction of working in an industry that can be seen as more about consumerism than anything else.

I don't buy a lot of clothes. Aside from Green Eyed Monster, I don't have the time, budget or desire to buy lots of new clothes. I have a wish list of things I'd like and wherever possible I stick to it. This tends to be high quality, classic, timeless pieces if I buy new but I also love buying pre-loved clothes at op shops, markets and on ebay. I also try to buy eco household and organic products wherever possible and when my budget (we are on a single income) permits.

Similarly, I've furnished my home with Art Deco items I've found at antiques centres and vintage shops. Perhaps I'm just lucky that my taste happens to be about 'sustainable' items but I also think it's a better way to live. I also think things were often better made in previous times and I love the idea of handing items down from one generation to the next. If you're wanting to live a greener life, there are lots of good books around. One is 'Greeniology' by Australian author Tanya Ha which is more about green households, and the other is 'The eco chick guide to life' by American author Starre Vartan which is more about eco fashion, beauty and style. See if you can get a copy from your local library or bookstore.

Money, money, money...

Anne is taking a day job for a little while. I don't blame her. It's hard working on something for so long that isn't providing an immediate financial return for our efforts. Green Eyed Monster really has been a labour of love for both of us. It's something we both believe in and believe has a future in this country. Earlier this year the Mobium Group estimated the sustainability market here being worth $19m with textiles being one component of that.

While GEM is making money, everything we've earned thus far has been channelled back into the business. One day we hope it will be profitable enough to support a regular wage for both of us but for now, it's just a matter of staying the course, trying to raise awareness of who we are and getting more people (potential retailers and customers) to buy our product.

We've had to postpone our phone interview with Maggie and Betsy in the US today as my nanny's daughter is sick. They've sent us some interesting questions on being in a partnership and I'll be interested in reading the book ('Defying Gravity') when it comes out.

Who loves ya baby?

There is some love coming back to us at the moment. Not from the media but some of our friends in the organic, eco fashion and beauty world. Grace from Pure and Green Organics got in touch with me yesterday. They are launching their first retail store this weekend so we'll do a Green Eyed Monster cross promotion with them.

And Anne and I went to Alex Hume's Ecofashionista Preview Night last night. Alex is a former lawyer, started her online store Ecofashionista after having her son Max and is now getting married! Her Spring range is suitably gorgeous - I bought some Good Society jeans from her a little while ago which go wonderfully with Green Eyed Monster T-shirts.

We also got to meet Joyce from Cycle Style who is pregnant but still riding her bike everywhere with all her cute cycling accessories. I've mentioned it before - it's nice to feel part of a little community in the world of online retailing and eco fashion. We are feeling the love!

It's nice to be wanted

I mentioned the other day that I wasn't expecting a lot of love back from our traditional Spring Summer PR effort. Sometimes I do feel like I'm pushing water uphill so it's been nice to have some interest from other people!

Firstly, there are a couple of women Betsy and Maggie from Mulberry Tree Consulting in the US who are writing a book called 'Defying Gravity' on female partnerships. They were interested in our story - the fact that we are from Australia and that we work with organic fabrics. They'd contacted us a little while ago wanting to interview us but we'd knocked them back as we felt it was early days in our partnership and because our partnership arrangement is an informal one at the moment.

Secondly, we'd also been approached by Jacinta Burchall, who runs the Black Cat boutique in Healesville, regarding her sustainable fashion competition - the 9lives project. Again, we had pulled out of the race but she's also been in touch again encouraging us to participate.

So we've said (or I've said) yes to both requests. I'm more than happy to share our journey with people who are interested in our story and the best thing about the 9lives project for us is the opportunity to be mentored by someone like Tiffany Treloar - a leading Australian sustainable fashion designer - should we be successful.

Tip of the Day: Balance a critical eye with an open mind when it comes to requests - a little kindness can sometimes go a long way and many opportunities can come from unexpected places.