Green Fashion Forward
An eco-friendly, stylish wardrobe makes a difference.
Words by Nicole Cammarata
Sara and Erica Kubersky didn’t mind getting their feet wet. After all, this was a matter of principle. Even with a blanket of snow covering the sisters’ native Queens, New York, they nestled their feet into canvas shoes.
Wearing leather just wasn’t going to happen.
The two began their anti-leather advocacy after a family trip to Israel as young girls. “I was snuggling up with a calf when I suddenly realized that my hamburger was made from my new beloved friend,” says Erica, who was eight-years-old at the time. “I just made a connection with the cow and asked my parents about it.”
Erica, now 28, was deeply impacted by her encounter with her bovine friend—it immediately inspired her to become a vegetarian. A few months later, Sara, 33, followed her younger sister's burger-free path. Eight years after that, both decided to become full-fledged vegans. It wasn’t an easy choice—a vegan is someone who chooses to completely avoid using or consuming animal products.
Eco-inspiration
Cutting animal products from your diet is difficult but do-able—if you’re diligent. But making sure that everything you own—including clothes, shoes, and accessories—are cruelty-free and eco-friendly can be near impossible. Faced with this dilemma, Sara found her inspiration. “About 10 years ago, Sara found a store in England called Vegetarian Shoes,” Erica says. “Ever since then, we’ve always been excited about the idea of [starting] a vegan shoe store.”
Eco-friendly fashion got its start in Brighton, England in 1990. Robin Webb, the pioneer of vegan footwear, founded Vegetarian Shoes—the store that inspired the Kubersky sisters’ business. “When I started the business back then I made all the shoes by hand,” Webb says. “Then I made an exciting discovery—a synthetic micro-fiber material used for yachting upholstery. It looked and felt like leather but was ‘breathable’ unlike other plastics. I realized this was what I had been looking for, and Vegetarian Shoes was born.”
Motivated by Webb’s ingenuity, the sisters decided to open MooShoes, one of the few stores in New York City to sell vegan shoes and accessories, in the fall of 2001. Hundreds of animal-friendly boots, sneakers, pumps, flats, belts, and handbags line the shelves of their retail store.
“All of our products are free of leather, wool, and silk, and all of our glues are water-based,” Erica says. “We really jumped into the retail business. I’m glad we were so naive. If we weren’t I think we would’ve been too afraid to open the store.” The duo launched MooShoes.com a few months later.
Leather dilemma
The next time you shop for shoes, think twice before slipping into those suede pumps. According to CowsAreCool.com, a division of the largest animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one pair of leather shoes sentences an animal to a lifetime of suffering—intense confinement, painful mutilations, deprivation, and harmful hormone and antibiotic injections during transport. And it’s not just cows that are suffering—leather can be made from dogs, cats, pigs, goats, sheep, alligators, ostriches, and even kangaroos.
Animal-friendly fashionistas are now able to flock to MooShoes’ shelves to find leather alternatives. “Without MooShoes, I’d be in trouble,” says Amy Trakinski, 44, a lawyer in New York working to support animal rights. “They’ve made my life so much easier, and they use every opportunity to educate people about ethical fashion. They’re very socially conscious and really believe in the work they do.”
Since choosing to go vegan 11 years ago, Trakinski works to represent animal protection groups, individuals, and nonprofit organizations. She says it’s now easier than ever to practice a vegan lifestyle. “Finding ethical clothes was tricky a few years ago,” she says. “I think it’s terrific that it’s becoming more popular.”
The growing of green
Eco-friendly fashion is certainly on the rise. Up until six years ago, Payless was one of the few stores that sold ”green” footwear. “Since more stores like ours have opened, our business has only grown, which leads me to believe that this is a growing market,” says Sara. Today many companies specialize in making cruelty-free products, such as Novacas and Matt & Nat, which sell their vegan products through chosen vendors all over the world. Mainstream companies and designers, like Saucony and Birkenstock, are also producing vegan clothing lines. “Manufacturers are recognizing that there are more vegans in the United States,” says Trakinski. “It’s great to be able to buy more things that are better for animals and the environment.”
Bourgeois Boheme, another successful ethical fashion company in the United Kingdom, opened in May 2005. An online boutique for women and men, Bourgeois Boheme aims to facilitate compassion toward animals, humans, and the environment. “We want to educate consumers that their conscious choice of an ethical product will benefit, not only themselves, but animals and the environment as a whole,” says Alicia Lai, director and founder of Bourgeois Boheme. “Slowly but surely, people are seeing that being vegan is not a compromise of style and is a big plus for animals, the environment, and workers, too.”
Like MooShoes, Bourgeois Boheme sources its products from companies that ensure an ethical supply chain and ship their cruelty-free products around the world. Even their leather alternatives are biodegradable. “We’re always on the look out for more eco-friendly, natural alternatives as our commitment to environmental friendliness,” says Lai, who has been vegan for three years and vegetarian for 11. “We recycle everything we can and endeavor to use recycled products where possible.”
Build an eco-wardrobe
There are increasing options when looking for cruelty-free heels and handbags, and green style doesn’t have to break the bank. According to New York-based artist Jen Mazer, it’s possible to find cheap cruelty-free clothes and accessories. Mazer, 26, has been a loyal customer of MooShoes ever since their opening. She also recommends Kaight, a high-fashion “eco-boutique” in New York that sells cruelty-free clothing including jeans, jackets, shoes, and accessories. This green fashion warehouse opened in 2006 and features designers from the U.S. and the U.K. who make clothes that push green fashion limits. “All of their clothes are really trendy, high fashion,” says Mazer. “They have recycled leather bags, cruelty-free jackets and organic jeans. Being a vegan one day a week, riding a bike instead of driving, buying non-leather shoes, all these things make a difference in the environment.”
Even big-box stores are getting in on the eco-friendly action. Wal-Mart began selling women’s shirts made of organic cotton at its Sam’s Club stores in 2004. Today, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest buyer of organic cotton and has sold five million units of organic cotton ladies’ apparel since July 2006.
Going for green
The Kubersky sisters took a risk. With no retail experience, they pursued entrepreneurial careers based on a dream of providing others with cruelty-free and eco-friendly clothes. “As far back as high school I remember telling everyone about my career path, and it still amazes me that this is what actually became of me,” says Erica. “Thank goodness, because I really didn’t have a backup plan.”
After moving three times to larger locations all over lower Manhattan, MooShoes’ revenue increased about 30 percent last year to just over $1 million. “Our store is making a difference,” Erica says. “We’re doing what we can for the environment by making people aware of other options.” Not a bad way to make some green.
