Written by Oceana Lott,

The City of Angels has much to offer the eco-fashionista.  Recently, I visited two such stores. Starting near the heart of downtown in the hamlet of Echo Park, Rhianon Jones has established arguably one of the best collections of eco-friendly fashion in the area at her shop,  EPIC – Echo Park Independent Co-op.  Natural light filters in through the glass storefront to prominently display the creative work of locally grown Los Angeles designers. The beautifully curated collections, designed and manufactured in and around Los Angeles, cover the spectrum of eco-fashion, from the use of sustainable fabrics and upcycling to local production.

Rhianon is committed to a vision of supporting the local artisans of the L.A. community. You’ll find an authentic community vibe in her store where people come in just to visit and chat about a piece of jewelry or the artwork on the walls.  A tastemaker as well, I found a dozen pieces to try on. Popomomo, Stewart & Brown, Osei-Duro, and Dear Creatures were among the items in my dressing room.  I ended up going home with some of Rhianon’s pretty copper earrings and a fun scarf made of strands of recycled tee shirts by SKRF, a company that uses a portion of their profits to help women in shelters.


Next stop, West L.A. to Rachel Salzman’s bright little shop called In Residence.  She houses the art of designers and visual artists as if they are in-residence.  In researching eco-designers, I discovered that this is one of the places that carried Popomomo. It turns out this is the best way I’ve located eco-friendly stores – go to a designer’s websites and find out where their product is featured.

While In Residence is more about artisanal collections and does not claim to be an eco-friendly store, Rachel does carry a few eco-designers because they appeal to her aesthetic.  Fortunately, it was an aesthetic that also appealed to me. I found a Popomomo Marni dress on sale for 30% off.  Score!  To my delight, she also carried Study and Curator.  Rachel is also a capable stylist and we had a lot of fun talking through what to do with pieces that caught my eye.

Heading south to Manhattan Beach, I wound up in contemporary beach oriented Blvd. The dynamic-duo of Jen Moller and Brieana Altamura have created a community-oriented shop that put an emphasis on locally designed and American-made merchandise for people who live and play on the coast, which works out to about half of their inventory.

Jen with Woodleigh dress

They carry such notable locally made lines as Monrow, Fluxus, and Maribelle jewelry.

These are just a few of the many eco-friendly offerings in the Los Angeles area.

Oceana Lott is a California-based eco-fashion blogger traveling the US (mostly CA) in search of eco treasures and inspiring stories.  You can learn more about her eco style adventures at Oceana’s Canvas. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

(Source: www.ecofashionworld.com )