Eco-Chic Gift Ideas

This holiday season, be of good cheer, and be sure spread it to friends, family, and the environment with gifts that give back. Try carbon-neutral fashion made using sustainable textiles, furniture crafted from recyclable materials, and edibles like chocolates which donate to charitable causes and coffees sourced using fair trade practices.

Stuck on where to start?

Here are some ideas to check off everyone on your holiday list:

Custom Chocri Chocolate for Your Taste Buds & the Kids (in Ivory Coast)

We love having our way with the world, especially if it comes custom...and covered in chocolate. Chocri has already created a tasty buzz in their native Germany with their design-your-own chocolate bars, and are set to launch stateside in early January.  Start with the kind of chocolate you love - dark, milk, or white chocolate - and then choose from more than 90 toppings grouped by Dried Fruit, Nuts, Spices, Grains (like coffeebeans & pretzels), Decor (gold flakes; sprinkles), and Extras including Cappucino Drops & Gummy Bears. More than 10 billion (!) combinations are possible, and once you narrow your choice to a maximum of 5 toppings, you get to choose a name for your very own choco creation(s...why stop at just one?).

BEST OF 2009 AWARD WINNERS! Fashiontribes Editor Faves

Tons of great fashion & beauty products are introduced (& re-introduced) each year, and while we give most everything that comes across our desks a look-see (so you don't have to), some products just really stand out: they're innovative, feature a clever design, or are just too flat-out cool to live without.

So what rocked our world this year?

WINNERS OF THE FASHIONTRIBES BEST OF 2009 EDITOR FAVE AWARDS:

Luxe Must: the Venus Handbag from Ayélé Designs

My dream bag:

- multitasks as a fabulous shoulder bag
- functions as a glam makeup bag
- is not carried by every woman on the street

Dreams apparently come true as evidenced by the Venus Bronze bag, designed by Ayélé Locoh-Donou, the founder of Ayélé Designs. Made from bronze colored Italian calf skin and lined in satin, it has a magnetic closure & optional shoulder strap, and is further adorned with a metal accessory inspired by the jewelry of the Touareg people, a nomadic group originally from North Africa. Evoking the sizzle and glamour of the Jazz Age in Paris during the ‘20s and ’30s, the inspiration and muse for both the bag and the new collection is Josephine Baker.

A Glam Rhinestone Rhino Brooch that Helps Save Real Rhinos

Crafted in the Czech Republic, this piece was hidden away in the vault of a Prague jewelry house for at least 50 years - and epitomizes the vintage glamour of the Mad Men era when women dressed to kill...and men enjoyed the thrill!

50% of the price (£29.99) of these limited edition Rhinestone Rhinos goes to the WWF, which is fighting to save the world's many animals on the edge of extinction - notably the elusive black rhinos of Kenya.

Available at MadAboutJewellery.com.

- Lesley Scott

This Year, Give a Gift from Aveda That Gives Back

Lately, it seems like every new product on the market ties back to charity. “The boom of the late 2000s brought an acceleration of cause marketing as luxury brands became more involved," confirms a recent New York Times article. "Almost every high-end lipstick, it seemed, was joining the Cause of the Month Club…”

Aveda, however, is no Do-Gooder-Come-Lately.

Founded in 1978, Aveda (Sanskrit for all knowledge) has a thirty year history as a pioneer of beauty that gives back. This Holiday season, they are introducing eight limited-edition gift sets that honor the beauty of the 500 year-old craft of Nepali paper-making while helping support the indigenous communities and craftsmanship of northwestern Nepal. Every gift set is embellished with Lokta paper handcrafted by men and women in Malika and Dolakha — two forest regions high in the Himalayas. Aveda’s sourcing of Lokta paper helps support this local industry which not only keeps families together, but reverses local deforestation in the region.

Louis Vuitton Raises Serious Money to Help the Red Cross

Louis Vuitton recenlty paid tribute to the 150th anniversary of the Red Cross by collaborating on unique special orders with six masters of savoir-faire: the chef Ferran Adrià, the artist Damien Hirst, Annie Leibovitz (photographer), Gustavo Santaolalla (musician/composer), Marc Jacobs, and Patrick-Louis Vuitton, the head of Louis Vuitton’s Special Orders department and a 5th generation member of the Vuitton family. The special orders were made in the historical Asnières workshop, similarly celebrating a century and a half of savoir-faire, tradition and innovation.

The auction was co-hosted by Sotheby’s London at its New Bond Street premises, and sold for a total of £495,000. All proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross Fighting Malnutrition Program in Africa, which is dedicated to fighting acute malnutrition and mortality in expectant & new mothers, and children under five.

Beauty & the Berbers: Kahina - Giving Beauty

Since the age of 12, Katharine L’Heureux had always dreamt of creating a beauty company. Almost 30 years later, her search ended with the creation of Kahina – Giving Beauty, a new organic skin care line intended for women like her who are looking for a simple organic skin care program that works and that women can feel good about buying. Based on 100% organic argan oil sourced from women’s cooperatives of Morocco, all Kahina – Giving Beauty products contain high concentrations of 100% organic argan oil combined with other beneficial organic and natural ingredients for a luxurious and highly effective regimen. They are formulated according to EU organic standards that guarantee the highest measure of responsibility toward consumers and the environment. All products are 99% natural and use organic botanicals whenever possible. Kahina – Giving Beauty never uses parabens, synthetics, sulfates, petroleum, GMOs, animal byproducts, artificial colors or fragrances.

Not just beauty products, they are an economic lifeline to many disadvantaged Berber women of Morocco.

Gossip Girl Artist Richard Phillips Teams Up with Intermix

 

If this looks familiar, that's because you probably remember seeing it featured on Gossip Girl in the Van der Woodsen loft - albeit re-created as "Prop Art."  And for a limited time, you can buy a limited edition, ready-to-hang printed canvas reproduction of "Spectrum" by Richard Phillips measuring 30"x 36.5" for $250 exclusively at the Soho INTERMIX (98 Prince Street). Better yet, 100% of the proceeds benefit the Art Production Fund, a non-profit dedicated to facilitating ambitious art projects, reaching new audiences, and expanding public participation & understanding of contemporary art.

Amnesty International & Temperley London Candle for Human Rights

Recalling a favorite Chinese proverb, "Better to light a candle than curse the darkness," Amnesty International founder, Peter Benenson once asked one of the original members of the group to design an emblem.  The candle encircled by barbed wire became the now-iconic symbol of the organization, and the first Amnesty International candle was lit in London at St Martins-in-the-Fields parish in 1961.

This year, to mark Human Rights Day on December 10th, long-time Amnesty International supporter Alice Temperley has partnered up with the human rights organization to help shine light on the world's darkest corners with a gorgeous fragrant candle.