A Green Christmas

Anne and I are like ships in the night at the moment. She's still working her day job and we've only been communicating via email. Feels a little strange so hopefully we will catch up face to face before Christmas when things slow down a little.

I've been working my way through my Christmas list and am slowly getting there. I have bought 2 - 3 gift vouchers for things like experiences and charities as well as musical instruments, craft activities and toys for the children in my life. It's not easy being green - I'm conscious of buying things that are not made of plastic or with too much packaging.

As for Christmas Day, which I am hosting for my family this year, well don't even get me started. Real tree or plastic? Bon bons or not? Meat or seafood - which of the two is more sustainable/environmentally friendly? Aaargh! I am sure I'll get there in the end and at the end of the day, Christmas is not about the bright lights and tinsel, it's about the love we share with our friends and family and a time to be grateful for all that we already have in this lucky country of ours.

Geek chic

No. This is not a post about oversized spectacles a la Megan Washington. It's about coming to terms with the fact that Anne and I have had to become tech heads given we have an online business.

Having some Pantene issues getting our e-newsletter out but it will happen sometime soon. I've done some reading about female entrepreneurs and besides being risk-averse, apparently many women do not embrace technology which definitely does not help us sisters!

Anyway, the purpose of this post is simply to promote our special Christmas offer. Our first 20 customers to buy Green Eyed Monster online from today will receive a FREE Christmas card boxed set and gift tag pack from our friends at Earth Greetings. There. I've done it.

The Sustainable Stylist

I've just discovered another gorgeous blog called The Sustainable Stylist. Also known as the Frockerphiliac, Kim Kneipp is a sustainable designer, personal stylist and workshop facilitator formerly from Melbourne but now living in spa country in regional Victoria.

Kim's principles include the desire to grow more, make more, shop less and waste less. She is currently exploring the design challenge of looking stylish in both country and city guises without relying on spending any money to get a retail fix or achieve a new look (which includes not being able to buy any pre-loved clothes!).

I'm not sure that I could ever be that disciplined but I do admire her ideals and I look forward to hearing more about her journey. Less can definitely be more sometimes.

The business of fashion

Make no mistake. Fashion is a business. You only need to look at the major and minor department stores to know that. Years ago, when I worked for Aveda, I was told that our population here was too small to really support fashion and beauty, but that many companies launched in Australia as a platform to get into the Asian market.

I've been reading about the Stella McCartney range at Target already being marked down with no major PR launch to fashion media (bar bloggers). My best friend who is a fashion buyer also fronted up to work this week to find out that four of her fellow buyers were made redundant. It is cut throat out there and like any business, it's sell or die.

On a more positive note, I've also been reading about the Australians in New York Fashion Foundation for up and coming young Australians. Susan Joy who is a friend from a long time ago is one of the honorary members of the foundation. She went to New York many years ago to launch her career and now has her own styling and creative services business there. Now that is truly inspiring.

In with the in crowd

There's been a number of articles recently on online retailing. I've noticed David Jones has started selling things (mainly giftware) online.

Even Google is trying to muscle in on the action with plans to launch 'boutiques.com' - a website that will offer celebrity influenced trends, designer information, blogs and ‘shop the look for less' tips. You won't be able to purchase but you will be able to click through to specific sites to then buy online. Check the article out for yourself on Patty Huntington's Frockwriter blog.

Made in Australia

I also subscribe to Ragtrader's e-newsletter for fashion industry insiders. There's an interesting blog article written recently by iconic Australian fashion designer Jenny Bannister on 'inside the business model of emerging designers.'

It states that there is only a 5% niche of fashion designed and made on our continent with the remaining 95% of our fashion production being made overseas.

Anne has also commented that a lot of our retailers have a preference for Australian made and designed product over and above us being sustainable. I'm not sure the situation is likely to change in the near future but it sure is hard competing against $30 knock offs made in China from conventional cotton...

The beautiful Miranda

I've been reading about the very pregnant, and very beautiful, Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr. Nude shots of her photographed by Patrick Demarchelier have just appeared in W magazine. And she is going to be the first pregnant model ever featured on the cover of Australian Vogue.

What I love about her is that she also loves eco fashion as well as being into organics, buddhism and yoga. She's appeared in a number of eco specials in Australian magazines including the same OK! Magazine feature we were in earlier this year. I wish her all the best with her new journey into motherhood.

Tweet Tweet!

OK. I have succumbed to Twitter at long last. Anne and I are actually both really enjoying using it. It's put us in touch with a whole new world of those into eco-fashion and beyond.

And by new world, I mean global contacts which really does take us to different people and places all in the comfort of our own homes (with me anyway, Anne is actually out and about a bit more mixing it up with real people). A big hello to all our followers and the people we follow!

That time of year...

I mentioned Christmas the other day...eek! I have actually started Christmas shopping as I hate doing things last-minute and want to avoid the crowds. Needless to say I love online shopping and buying gift vouchers (so that my family can enjoy experiences) at Christmas time. I've also discovered a gorgeous eco toy site - www.ecotoys.com.au

Anne and I support the Australian Conservation Foundation all year around not just at Christmas time. We also support givenow.com.au - a commission-free website listing thousands of good causes and creative ways to give. We want to encourage people to donate their used clothing including our stuff at the end of their life so someone else can benefit.

Give Now week is coming up at the end of this month (29th November - 5th December). There's some great tips for individuals and families including a good gifts guide if you're searching for ideas.

Can you feel it?

I'm being forced to eat my words...I wasn't feeling terribly confident on getting much publicity after sending our Spring Summer media release out but now the tide seems to be turning. Kelley from Peppermint Mag - Australia's own independently published eco-fashion magazine - has been in touch and will be featuring our kaftan top in the next issue.

I like to think that I'm slowly getting our name out there and that our profile is rising. I've also been liaising with a couple of other publications so we'll see if anything else happens.

Connections...

Must admit I am still getting used to networking online. I'd much rather meet people face to face but then again, I am a gen Xer - this stuff is all new to me...Anne and I will also be ramping up our social media activity in the New Year.

Our second lot of production is now ready so Anne will be doing deliveries to our retailers over the next week and we should also have more to sell online. I ended up getting in touch with Heide from Earth Greetings just to let her know I'd mentioned her cards here and now we're doing a Christmas cross promotion with her! Our brand values are pretty similar - designed and made in Australia, sustainable, stylish etc so that's the nicest thing about hooking up with a like-minded person. I'd actually previously bought her cards when Anne and I were sending product to celebrities earlier this year.

Also been working on our next e-newsletter which will hopefully go out in the next week or so.

Christmas is coming

I can't believe I'm already talking about Christmas. It seems to sneak up on me every year these past few years. We will do some kind of Christmas promotion as a lot of people actually buy our clothes as gifts for friends and family. I've already given my mum (who lives in Queensland) a couple of T-shirts - groovy chick that she is.

In case you're thinking about Christmas cards, I did want to let you know about Earth Greetings. Their Peace on Earth Christmas cards are printed carbon neutral in Australia, with vegetable ink on 100% post-consumer waste paper. You can buy them online from two of our fave retailers Ethikl (www.ethikl.com.au) and Blue Caravan (www.bluecaravan.net). Best of all, they will donate to Trees for Life (to enable volunteers to plant trees) for every pack sold.

There's also some great information on responsible gift giving if you check out the Green Home Shop Smart section (under 'Campaigns') of the Australian Conservation Foundation website.

And the winner is...

Jaydee Paino! Yes, the girl who won Fashions on the Field in Cairns won The Oaks Day Fashion on the Fields final today. What a star! And I love that she won it wearing an $18 vintage dress. You don't need a lot of money to have real style.

It's been a good day. Today, we got mentioned in The Balm (www.thebalm.com.au) - a lovely Australian blog which showcases beauty, wellbeing and eco-travel. And, I also found out Green Eyed Monster did get a mention in the Sydney Morning Herald Essential Style section a fortnight ago. We are slowly getting our name out there even if it's baby steps.

Working it

We're in How Big is Your Eco today! What a great idea Matt Paroz has come up with - an all Australian eco-ethical fashion directory. It's inspiring to be in such good company.

And I followed up Heide Museum of Modern Art today and had a chat to Claire, the store manager and buyer. They are going to re-schedule the Heide Design Square event for early next year so we will definitely put ourselves forward again. They have also traditionally had a preference for Australian designed and made product which a lot of our retailers share.

There's been a lot of publicity on the Australian dollar nearly at parity with the US and it's not necessarily good news for Australian retailers with potential customers choosing to buy online from US sites. Strangely, I don't think about it a lot - maybe because we're in the eco fashion realm and maybe because we're Australian designed and made...I think our customers are pretty loyal to us for both reasons.