Narcisco Rodriquez ♥ Bottletop. Green Carpet Challenge founder, Livia Firth, awarded New York City designer, Narcisco Rodriguez, with the “Green Carpet Challenge” brand mark on Thursday for his work with Bottletop, a fair-trade label that employs artisans to create accessories using upcycled materials.
The Eco-Age creative director praised the Narciso Rodriguez ♥ Bottletop collection, which comprises a day bag (the “Candice,” named after South African model Candice Swanepoel) and a clutch (the “Jessica,” after actress Jessica Alba) made from deforestation-free Amazonian leather and recycled soda-can ring pulls, for its “marriage of ethics and aesthetics … connecting sustainable materials and design with real people in the supply chain.”
“The GCC brand mark represents sustainable excellence in all its forms,” Firth told British Vogue. “Each award symbolizes a beautiful journey from the raw materials to the finished item and is one that the consumer can trust. I hope that in ten years, that fashion truly slows down and that fast-fashion brands start to seriously tackle issues related to social justice, taking care of the garment workers who produce at speed and no cost. We have to reassess the business model as it just can’t be sustained at this speed.”
Bottletop emerged on the scene in 2002, the brainchild of Mulberry founder Roger Saul and his son Cameron. Profits from the line benefit The Bottletop Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young people and their communities, with a special focus on sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention, unplanned teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, gender inequality, low self-esteem, and vocational-skill deficits.
“People want to see a level of meaning behind what they buy, Narciso understands this,” Cameron told Vogue in February. “It’s been a true partnership.”
via Ecouterre
